Hi there! I'm hoping to get some pointers as to what the hell I can do about our b****ing Åkerman excavator. It is a rather old machine (1995), but it has been working quite alright up until a month ago. One day, the turret suddenly stopped turning. Everything else works like a charm - we can dig, drive it around, you name it. But the turret is stuck in one position. The first thing our mechanic did was to repair a pump in the "selector block" (not sure what it is, but that's what he told me). Photos of that part can be seen below: With this repaired, we we're hoping to get up and running with the gold mining again. But so it happened, that the turret still didn't turn. We brought a new mechanic on site, who couldn't figure it out. And then another, who couldn't understand it either. Finally, we found a third mechanic willing to venture out into the Amazon jungle to take a look at our excavator. He concluded that it was a problem with the selector block, and that we had to change a broken part. A photo of that part can be seen below: I asked him for more photos of where this part would go, since I am not onsite myself at the moment. These are the pictures I received (they make very little sense to me, although it is possible that they convey a lot of information to anyone with basic mechanic skills or more): imgur-album Had to post these on imgur and link to that album, since it is not allowed to upload more than 5 images per post. So, my question is this: * Which potential problems should we focus on eliminating as the underlying cause to the turrets inability to swing? The only thing I can think of, is hooking it up to a scanner to check if there's some electronic issue. Wouldn't surprise me with the humidity. But I really haven't got a clue, hence my call for help. Any thoughts are most welcome! Kind regards, TropicDigger
What are the symptoms? Machine stopped turning while it was running? Or machine stopped turning after it was started after sitting? What is the pressure with the circuit dead headed? (Motor hoses capped) Is there pilot pressure to change directions? I can't tell by your pics but some old German excavators had hydrostatic swing system. Straight pump to motor to pump set up? etc.
Good day Tropic digger First and for most check what pressure you have from the swing pump (the odd one of the three) engage the cab lock operate the slew I can check what pressure you should have but you should see 250-300 bars. The engine note should change when you operate the slew. No pressure indicates that the issue is with hydraulics - pressure indicates that the issue is with the slew drive. I can give you illustrations if you need drop me an email via the forum and I can maybe help some more.The last illustration is of the acceleration retardation valve should be installed to the small valve block in the centre of the machine. Kind regards Uffex
Sorry for not clarifying that part: it stopped turning after it was started again after about an hour or so of sitting. Correct me if I am wrong, but I assume that you are referring to the hydraulic pressure when no work is being done, only the engine idling - right? I do not know what the pressure level it is at right now. I am told that our machine has no in-built pressure gauge (although I know that most Åkerman models have that, and possibly also the EC200 - could be that it has been removed on our machine by a previous owner, for some reason). Neither do we have any mobile pressure gauge on site (although with all these issues, I think it might be a good investment). The only time we had the pressure gauged was before the machine was transported into the jungle. It was +200 bar (but way beneath 300), although my companion can't recall the exact number. From what he gathered at that time, the machine had a perfectly normal pressure, and it is also what they told him at the mechanic workshop. I do not understand the question 100 %, since I have no idea what pilot pressure is. But guessing from your question regarding the change of direction, I think you might be referring to the machines ability to move forward/backwards and to turn left or right using the tracks. If that is your question, then the answer is that it is working perfectly fine. We can drive the excavator forwards, backwards, turn left and right, and even dig as normal (which implies that there is normal pressure in the hydraulics that operate both tracks and the cylinders on and beneath the boom). Please correct me and elaborate your question if I have misunderstood it. I am sorry, but I do not understand the question due to the fact that I do not know what a "hydrostatic swing system" is, neither what a "straight pump to motor" is. I would love to leave all this headache producing problems in the hands of a good mechanic, since I am hopelessly ignorant when it comes to these things. But it seems like we need some help to figure out what the problem can be, in order to get the mechanics to search for the right thing(s). As it is now, they all come out into the bush, and either don't understand what is wrong, or start repair jobs that still don't make the turret to swing as it once did. Any qualified guesses from you guys would be worth a lot to us at this point.
Hi uffex! I would love to have them check the pressure from the swing pump, but I do not know how to do so and apparently none of the mechanics on site have been able to do it for some reason. Like I stated in my answer to mikebramel, my companion told me that there is no in-built pressure gauge, which I find quite strange. Reading your description, I am led to believe that there is supposed to be one somewhere - right? If the pressure vs no pressure issue is our first step to narrow down the potential range of problems, then my question is: are there several "circuits" of pressure in this type of excavator? More specifically: A) Can we assume that the swing system has full pressure since we know that the boom and the tracks have full pressure? B) Or is there a separate set of hoses and circulation system for just the swing mechanism? If there is only one hydraulic system in the entire excavator, then it sounds like we can rule out that the issue is with hydraulics - is that correct? I tried to PM you for more info, but received this message when I did so: "TropicDigger, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons: Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system? If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation." Not sure if the PM function is available only when you have a certain post count, or if there is some other reason as to why I can not communicate with you this way.
Hi everyone, Forgot to mention that we did repair one pump related to the swing mechanism a couple of weeks ago, but it still didn't resolve the turret issue. Here are some pictures of that pump, in case it is a piece of the puzzle we're trying to solve:
Good day Tropicdigger Sorry it would appear that the machine has been dismantled with no diagnostics, dare I say this is not a god way to identify the problem. The EC200 had the pressure gauge omitted from production, the valve that was used for control was found to be suspect. I will try to explain some details - the machine has three working hydraulic pumps P1 P2 P3 - to control those functions you have three modes indicated by diodes on the display - HLD mode = Pi Slew only - P2 Arm only - P3 Boom & Bucket. ECO mode P1 slew only P2 & P3 combine flow to provide fluid to power Bucket - Arm & Boom. CAP mode all three pumps combine to increase the flow to all services. In the event of power loss to the slew common practice would be to install a pressure measuring dvice to the port marked "A1" of the suspect pump (P1)if there was no pressure when the slew was stalled using the swing lock, then select CAP mode and stall the arm engine at full speed. If you have pressure the pump is the considered to be working as normal, no pressure indicates pump or main relief valve. Forgive me I am a little confused as to the jungle in Sweden? maybe I have missed some point. A crude way of checking was to watch the hose pump kick when you operated the differing options. I can see the P1 has been removed along with the slew motor and slew lock device. Why has all these components been removed ? My best recommendation is that the machine is re-assembled and then I can talk you through fixing the problem step by step. Kind regards Uffex
Hi again uffex, Many thanks for the detailed answer. Let me answer the easiest question first: the jungle in question is the Amazon jungle, within the borders of Suriname. We have zero jungles in Sweden, as you would expect given the somewhat cool climate. But I am Swedish, and I live here - far, far away from the EC200 and the oozing rainforest. Me living here and the EC200 being in the Amazon jungle, means that the actual mining operation is run by one of my business partners. He is good at organizing mining crews, analyzing the ground, and other things that are necessary for running a mine. However, he has very little mechanic skills, so we have to rely on hired workforce for that. So far, it has yielded mixed results, to say the least. We're pulling our hair out trying to find someone who can give us a correct diagnostic, instead of telling us that this or that is the issue, repair the parts, charge good money, and then leave us with a turret that still doesn't swing. The parts you are wondering about (P1 + slew motor + slew lock device) were removed because the first mechanics told us that they had to be repaired, and that our issue with the turret not swinging like it should was caused by damage to one (or all, can't remember now) of these components. Supposedly, he repaired what had to be repaired, and charged us several hundred US dollars for the work. After that, everything was re-assembled, and our issue with the turret remained. That was about a month ago. The last reparation (of the part you identified as the acceleration retardation valve) was done less than a week ago, and was and the part was refitted where it was taken from (by your explanation, I understand that it fits into the small valve block in the center of the machine). It was the small, gray pin on the photo that had to be substituted, although our mechanics suggested that we also substitute the bigger, blackish part above/to the right of the gray pin and the spring (inserting the picture again): This means that the machine is completely re-assembled now, but at the moment my colleague is in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo (looking for mechanics), so we'll have to wait until he gets back to the mine (possible with another mechanic, and an operator) in order to try the step by step guidance you so kindly offer to provide. Can't tell you how much I appreciate the offer. I will call my partner tomorrow and see which day he is back onsite. Would you say that it is necessary to buy a pressure gauge before we even begin to try to fix the problem the way you are thinking? If so, I have to let my partner know so he can pick one up before he leaves civilization. I suspect it might be necessary since you mention it being common practice to measure the port marked "A1" on P1 with a presure gauge - but I want to double check with you. If the answer is yes, would any liquid filled pressure gauge that can measure up to 5 000 PSI do? Like this model , for instance. Would we need to buy any special fittings to be able to measure at por "A1" on P1? I really appreciate all the help you guys are giving me here, and given the vast knowledge so many of you have, I believe that the turret issue can be resolved even though we are unable to get any topnotch (or even mediocre) mechanics on site.
Good day Tropic digger I will try to respond to your post as best I can - Yes you will be able and need to trouble shoot with a pressure gauge, I would suggest a 600bar glycol filled unit (8500 p.s.i) will be better suited these are available from multiple sources. You will also need a connecting hose I suggest long enough that you can read the results from the cabin, along with the hose you will need to connect to the pump with a 1/4" BSP male connector. I have interpreted that the machine is re-assembled and ready for diagnostics to take place, if you can Email me a photo of the pump house and the small valve block in the valve house attached to the swing drive I will make specific instructions for the repair process. We only check the forum from time to time so for us it would be far more beneficial that we help with direct email connection, drop me a line via the forum email service with your Email address and we can correspond quicker. The Akerman excavator was of high quality it is unlikely that one pump should fail with out other symptoms, often such issues are very small details which cost almost nothing to fix. From your correspondence it would suggest that you are using the wrong people to fix the machine with little experience of the product. It would be of great help that we deal with the issue direct if possible, however it may be that we will have to make the best of the Amazon jungle. Kind regards Uffex
Good night, uffex! I have sent you an e-mail via the forum e-mail service, so we can continue the discussion of the repair process that way. Sincerely, TropicDigger
Thanks TropicDigger We have responded. KR Uffex