Slowly building up the my hydraulic testing set but I'm trying to figure out what to store it all in. Obviously everything is covered in hydraulic oil, usually leaks a little bit, gauges are bit delicate so can't just shove them in a loose box (or can I?), leads are long and bulky, and of course lots of adapters and fittings. I was thinking of a cantilever tool box. What system do you guys use: totes, multiple boxes, 5 gal bucket?
Rubbermaid action packers for the bulky stuff. Old school Caterpillar tool boxes; the orange panted sheet metal ones. If I was starting from scratch, I would use Milwaukee Packout and Kaizen foam.
Mobile or shop? For shop I found small trays for my gauges that keeps the oil contained to the tray and as a bonus they fit in my shallow toolbox drawers (the very shallow kind that are mainly good for screwdrivers, punches, etc) Hoses I have connectors that loop them with the quick connects and I hang them on a peg on the side of a steel cabinet fittings I keep in plastic grinder/milling machine tooth boxes or ammo boxes.
I just use a plastic tote type toolbox you can get at most hardware/box stores. I do have to clean it at least once a year.
Good point about ammo boxes. That’s how I store caps & plugs.
Trying to store stuff and make it handy is a never ending problem. Just when you think you have it figured out you out grow it and have to start over agin.
We’ve had some good discussion on this topic in the past. I’ve tried all sorts of ever-evolving storage solutions. I’m very impressed by the Milwaukee Packout line. I hope Milwaukee doesn’t lower the quality or move Packout umanufacturing to China.
Can you put some oil sock pieces in the bottom, and then burn them for heat every 6 months or so.
Mine are in my truck and I have most in Pelican cases, the only issue is they are quite bulky and fairly heavy when loaded full. But they don't break and will not collect moisture.
I have put several sets together for companies where I worked. I had access to some old Craftsman steel tool boxes. I got some cheap open cell foam I got for another project and cut it to fit. My original box got a little too small so I got a little bigger box from a relative throwing it away. Here are some photos.
The foam is from the old box so doesn't quite cover the bottom. I don't do much of that work anymore an don't have the foam right now anyway. Here are the gauges sitting on the foam. The biggest storage issue is what to do with the hoses. Right now they are just sitting on the floor from the last job that I used them for. I set this all up so that I could just throw everything in the truck when I thought I was going to do a troubleshooting job. Normally all this sits on a shelf in my shop.
Durham pull out drawers is what I use and hoses just get coiled up
Thanks guys. It's in a shop now, if I were mobile I'd honestly have more room than what I do now. It looks like I need to find a tray or tool box to set up.