New to the Forum and heavy equipment in general so I'll have a ton of questions. First I'm not sure if my excavator qualifies as "Heavy Equipment" as it is just a 2 ton excavator but it is heavy to me. I bought it new (XCMG) with a d902 Kubota and to this point it has done everything that I had hoped for and so far it has 70 hours on it. I have done the general maintenance (greasing and an oil change at 50 hours). I have been clearing a house lot, a road to my sawmill, and dug a few holes and and have had only minor issues... battery, thumb damage (repairable) and yesterday a hydraulic hose on the thumb let loose and spit out what appeared to be a good amount of hydraulic fluid (but since this is my first hydraulic issue I'm not sure what is a good amount or not???) I thought the hose had ruptured but after inspecting the hose nut to the thumb block was completely loose. I tightened it and checked the hydraulic site glass and it dropped a little past the half way mark (Before it was right at half). After restarting the machine a code popped up on the screen but it went away quickly before I was able to get a good reading and it didn't come back so not sure what that was all about??? Anyway, I continued to hammer out 2 more hours of work and the excavator worked completely fine and I noticed no loss in power. My question is...how concerned should I be for air to be in the lines and should I add more hydraulic fluid? It didn't appear to be down all that much but I know someone here would have good advice. Google says I should have a pressure test done and add more fluid??? I have no idea what type of fluid I should use (that is a topic for another thread) so I was hoping I could continue. I probably shouldn't have continued work but I did and as I said it worked the same and there was no loss of power.
Hello and welcome to the HEF. Great introduction. I recommend topping off the hydraulic oil level with whatever your operation & maintenance manual recommends. IDK, without looking it up myself. Read up on the importance of hydraulic oil cleanliness. It’s super important. Purchase a hydraulic oil that is clean enough to go directly into the machine without pre-filtering. Most new hydraulic oil is not clean enough. Say what? Yes. Most new oil is not clean enough. Straight out of the packaging. It’s not clean enough. As per ISO 4406 standards and Kubota standards. You can purchase Chevron Hydraulic oil, in a package that is clean enough. It’s labeled ISO clean. Good stuff.
Xcmg site shows Xe20/ excavators use iso vg46aw hydraulic oil .
Hydraulic oil expands a lot when hot, and for an excavator in particular boom position is very important as well. Check your manual for proper procedure for your machine. In my experience it is far more common to overfill hydraulics than to have problems from them being under filled. Typically a single loose fitting will not put you out of operating range assuming you fix it when it is noticed. A good rule of thumb is that if there is oil in the site glass(anywhere) it is safe to start and warm up for a proper check. Don’t worry about air, modern hydraulics are self bleeding, however cleanliness is extremely important, typical procedure when opening a hydraulic system is as clean as possible with a rag or brush, no visible debris, then clean again with brake cleaner. Have fun, when it comes to operating equipment you learn by doing.
It might not hurt to go around and check all of the hydraulic hose fittings for proper tightness. If one was loose then maybe someone putting the new machine together was distracted or having a bad day. I have twice knocked a boom/stick fitting loose getting in too close to tree branches. Operator error...and thankfully didn't break a fitting. I also blew a seal on a valve block assembly on my new Kubota tractor (rear hydraulics). Apparently the assembly wasn't tightened sufficiently when installed new at the dealer. They sent a mobile mechanic to repair it. Meanwhile, I took a shower and threw away clothes...since I was showered with hydraulic fluid. BTW as a relatively new guy to heavy equipment (had and excavator Kubota U55-4 and Kubota LX3310 tractor for a number of years) also just remember big or small these machines can kill or injure you in the blink of an eye. Use this site to learn all you can. The guys here have been great, patient teachers and likely kept me alive. Have fun and be safe.