Hey guys. I scored a filter cart at auction yesterday and need to buy some new filters for it. It has 40 & 10 micron filters in it now. What rating would you recommend for hydraulic oil? The filtered oil will be used in my excavator. Thanks, Andy
@treemuncher might have a recommendation . . .
The 40 is the first, coarse filter and should be all that is available for that primary position. The secondary filters can be 10 micron micro-glass that will remove any moisture from the oil OR a 2 micron paper filter for final polishing of the oil. Unless I am concerned about water ingress, all I run is the 2 micron paper filter. The gauge on the side of the secondary will tell you when it needs to be changed out. I normally empty my hydraulic tank into a clean 55 gal drum with the cart then recirculate through that 55 gal drum for 30-60 minutes before pumping the oil back into the machine's tank. This is done whenever the machine is brought in for service or repairs. It likely sees an oil polishing ever 100-250 hours. Filters are available via Napa and other sources. Let me know if you need numbers. I think I have them written down in the shop.
Thanks for the replies. I appreciate all the help you guys have given me. This is a new to me machine and I have no idea what the maintenance schedule was. Would you recommend sending out a sample before spending the $800 on a drum of oil? I’ll polish the oil inside the drum before putting it back in the machine. Yes, I’d appreciate the filter numbers for the 2 micron. PARKER Hydraulic Filter Element: 40 micron. 924448 Parker: 5 micron/ 924450 I need to use the machine for some trenching (10-15hrs) before I can put it up for a few weeks for service. The oil looks clean without any water in it. It needs pins/bushings and the cylinders need repacking. I’ll do everything at once but if I can save some money on oil I’m all about it.
Looks like the filters might be 20 and 3 micron ratings according to my notes. I was going off memory on the prior post. You should set up a chart with all of the filter options for these carts if more numbers are available.
Donaldson and probably Parker too have many different filters available and also filters specifically for removing water. If you're starting off with new oil I think the 20 and 3 micron filters treemuncher mentioned would be good or even 20 and 5. First filter could also be a 10 micron. If you're also filtering existing oil you can always run the oil through the filter cart 2 or more times. I seem to recall the place I rented a filter cart from said that some oil may be a little thick/wrong viscosity for filtering lower than 5 microns. I think there's 4 micron filters as well. The shop I went to had their oil for the test bench go through a continuous loop 24/7 to ensure it was the absolute cleanest possible. I was surprised by that. Biggest issue is the filters cost about $100cad. each. They don't need to be changed too often if running new oil but if cleaning an existing system could get a little costly if there's a lot of contamination. Still much better than taking a chance that all the contamination is removed.