Unblocking Your Hydraulic Lines: Three Approaches You Can Take
When you work in an industrial setting, there is almost always a lot of minute debris that get caught up inside the equipment. Even hydraulic lines occasionally experience some blockages and failures because of debris particles. If your hydraulic lines are not as powerful or forceful as they once were, you might want to try one of the following approaches to clear the lines and help them work better again.
Flushing the Lines with Greater Pressure
If your lines can handle additional pressure and you have just never used them above a certain pressure level, you can try this approach. Cut the air pressure to this line via its individual valve. Then crank the air pressure up above the amount you usually send through the line to accomplish daily work tasks. When the pressure is really high, open the release valves into these blocked lines and wait for the blockages to blow out the open ends. You should see some sort of debris exiting the line and then feel air pressure returning to normal.
"Threading" the Lines
"Threading" is a process whereby you send an instrument through your lines to push out or break up blockages. You will need to disconnect the lines from the air compressors first. Then remove the decompression valves on the service ends of the lines. With both ends of the hoses clear, feed your instrument of choice through one end of the line until it hits the blockage. Then gently twist and push against the blockage until your instrument moves past or through it, and then it can thread through the rest of the line until it comes out the other end.
Using a Hose Cleaner
There may be some pressure hose cleaners that can help too (it depends on what is stuck inside the lines, like paint chips, sawdust, etc.). These industrial cleaners can be purchased through an industrial equipment and supply chain. The cleaners are fed through the detached lines and then allowed to sit a few minutes to work on the blockages. You can then reconnect one end of a line to the air compressor to blow out the cleaner and the blockage that has been broken up by the cleaner. Be sure to remove the decompression valve from the working end of each line you clean and point this end away from everyone and everything important. If you can, point this end into a floor drain in your plant before turning on the air pressure to blast the cleaner and blockage out.
For more information, contact a company like Cam Co.
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