Leaking Hydro...Poor Design

Hydro developed a slow leak. Gradually got worse and thanks to some help from buzz-saw i determined it was from failed tape on a connection. Some tinkering yesterday and i got it fixed...for a short time. Started leaking again and ill redo the tape today.

IMO this is a poor design. The part with the lever attached "floats" and when lever is pulled it can tilt 5- 10* forward or back and no way to tighten it. Anyone have any hacks/modifications or experienced a similar problem?
Ill get better pics today. First pic is where it leaks.

 

Is it leaking from the fitting that your finger is by on that first picture? I would try some pipe dope on that fitting. You can use dope and tape together as well. We use a product called expando but it gets hard when it dries and makes it really hard to undo so I would only go that route as a last resort.

 

That valve really needs to be supported probably from some sort of a mount to the cylinder.
It is relying on just the short nipple that goes from the retract side of the cylinder to the valve.

Certainly not the best design.

 

What kind of tape?

Not sure hot hot that connection gets, but I'd think plumber's tape should fill any extra space.

 

The more i used it and the first time it tilted i thought the same. Too much stress.

 

yes, plumbers tape...teflon. I did it cold and it doesnt get too hot. It had tape on it before i fixed it so factory applied

 

Just wasn't tightened up enough, that's all. Simple fix, just remove the rigid pipe connecting the cylinder to the control valve and remove the elbow that's leaking, dope it up and re-install it making sure it's tight enough. Then just re-install the pipe. I believe the piped ends have o-rings.

Most all cheap consumer grade splitters have the control valve being supported by the fittings, nothing new there. My Speeco was the same way as is my TSC Countyline (made by the same company who made yours). I have the exact same setup as you have.

Just need to tighten/dope up the fittings. All mine were tight, as I went through the whole machine before hand to make sure I had no surprises when I started splitting. I have ~18 cord through it now and I haven't had any surprises......yet.

 

I think I see a pattern here. Broke saws, bars, axes, mauls, and now splitter.
Man you are hard on equipment.

 

That ole' boy got some " man=hands"

If it ain't broke just give it to BRAD= it will be.

 

It's getting dicey every time he heads for the bathroom.

 

I agree.
Tape isn't really what seals the threads, it just acts as a lubricant so you can get it tight enough that the tapered threads will seal themselves...now then, the fact that the tape (or dope) can help fill tiny little imperfections in the threads doesn't hurt anything though either.
But tape should really not be used on hydraulic systems, "pipe dope" made for hydraulics is what it should really have on it (I like the kind that sets up when it dries) A simple hydraulic system like a log splitter will be fine with tape on it though...but in some shops, if you use tape on a more sophisticated hydraulic system, you very well may get fired! Little strands of that tape can get into the oil and plug up oiling orifices, etc...and that can be catastrophic!
I know some years back Honda came out with a bulletin to their dealers to not use tape on external oil lines on their bikes...they had a couple failures turned in for warranty when the engine locked up from someone using thread tape...and it blocked a small oil passage...not sure if they covered it or not, but it certainly was not their responsibility at that point!

 

LMAO! That was funny!

Dismantled and retaped this afternoon. Fired it up and no leaks. Ran it for a good hour too.

 

Well in my defense ive never broken a saw by use. Ive had them break down (purchased used) and my 460 had a tree land on it! Theres always a first though.

Im hard on the PU and it still going strong. Im not abusive, but i dont "baby" tools either. My brother was even tougher on things. Back when fiberglass handled mauls/axes came out my dad got one and it didnt take long for my brother to break it. He could break stuff by looking at it! Pull ropes on OPE was another thing he'd break with ease.

 

I was doing some research online this morning and several said not to use tape. Im wondering why the mfr. would use it then? I was careful when i wrapped the threads so no tape close to the inside.

 

I use yellow or blue tape, it's thicker. It keep it back from the end a couple of threads and make sure I clean the threads out in the hole when I take it apart. Some folks are not careful. Cleaning it out of the hole when removing old fittings is important, otherwise it will get pushed into the system when the new fitting is installed.

I don't think a valve should ever be supported solely by fittings, except for inline applications with minimal vibration/force.

 

Did they? Or was it the flunky kid at "Log splitters R us" that assembled it? And the "boss" (just an older flunky) told him to use tape on it...
When I bought my Champion it came assembled by the store...they had the hoses on at some really weird angles...first thing I did was fix it.

 

A lot of hydraulic systems use flared fittings like a JIC fitting. The flare and an o ring make the seal. NPT/pipe thread relies on the tightness to make the seal. Assuming your machine has pipe thread I wouldn’t worry to much about Teflon tape. Brenndatomu is correct though, the industry norm is to not use it on hydraulic systems.

 

Knock on wood, but his saws have been holding up pretty well.

 

This....

Things like log splitters are simply pipe thread, not JIC/ flare/ o ring fittings. In this case, use dope or Teflon tape and call it a day.

Oh yeah...