HF 22 ton splitter: bleeding the system?

[GrantC]

Got my Harbor Freight 22 ton splitter the other day. I got the thing assembled, followed the instructions to the letter, and....the ram moves slowly and in jerks!

I suspect air in the system. HF's manual regarding bleeding the system says to loosen the filler bolt, turn the motor over a few times while operating the valve, then tighten the bold. Trouble is, loosening that bolt doesn't do anything - it's already open to the atmosphere because it has vent holes in it!

I'll call HF tomorrow, but I suspect they'll just tell me what the instructions say, which I know isn't correct.

So, anyone with this splitter care to tell me exactly how to bleed this thing?

-=[ Grant ]=-

 

[kevin j]

keep cycling it.
are the cylinder ports on top, or on the side? If on the side, air can get trapped in the top part of the cylinder. just keep it moving under NO LOAD until it clears.

Air doesn't hurt anything unless it it compresed under high pressure, Then it can act like an accumulator and cause big flow surges when the cylinder is moved to the other direction. The valve and return line and filter can see big surges of flow real fast for a split second as the compressed air blows extra oil out.

most importantly is there a suction line leak, or low oil in the tnak so it is sucking air?

Otherwise, jsut keep it cycling until it clears out.
Unless there are other issues. Quite a few posts here on HF ones that have sticky or sezing cylinder seals and pistons.....

 

[triptester]

To bleed the system by cycling the ram has to be fully extended and fully retracted.

 

[kevin j]

what is this filler bolt they refer to ?

 

[legrandice]

I have this exact splitter and it was the same way for the first few hours of operation. Just split a few rounds with it and the jerky motion should go away. I have now split around 10 cords with it and have no problems. It has something to do with the seals on the cylinder seating in or something. This splitter is not the fastest machine but it has the power to go through anything I have thrown at it.

 

[GrantC]

Thanks folks...

Checked the oil level - it was just below the "min" line. (It seems that when I filled it yesterday, I didn't account for the amount that would reside in the filter housing, pump, and hoses. That was enough to bring it below the minimum, and it was probably sucking air.)

Refilled, fired it up, cycled a couple of times, and it was off to the races!

Attached is a shot of it going through a 34" maple round. I wondered if it would handle such big stuff - I needn't have worried. It had no problem at all splitting them.

-=[ Grant ]=-

 

[Gooserider]

I'm copying this to multiple threads that talk about the HF splitter as I feel it's important information. Hope the duplicates aren't a problem- GR

I just got off the phone with Harbor Freight technical support and they gave me a very emphatic message - I was asking about the specs on the hydraulic fluid, as I could not find ANY information on what I should use in the actual manual… The tech support guy I talked with sounded like he knew what he was talking about (much better than some that I have encountered)

He gave two useful items of information - First off, even though the manual says the thing takes 2.5 gallons, it really will take more like 4.5 gallons.

More importantly, and most emphatically he said

DO NOT use DEXRON III or Mercon III ATF

The given reason being that the ATF’s have a solvent in them that does not like the nitrile seals being used in the valve - actually he wasn’t 100% clear on whether it was the seals inside the valve, or the ones at the hose/valve body junctions, but either way, he said that the use of ATF would cause the seals to rapidly get eaten, and cause leaks…

The HF recomended fluid is AW 32 Hydraulic oil - other hydraulics would work, but aren’t as suitable.

Gooserider

 

[CK-1]

Thanks folks...

Checked the oil level - it was just below the "min" line. (It seems that when I filled it yesterday, I didn't account for the amount that would reside in the filter housing, pump, and hoses. That was enough to bring it below the minimum, and it was probably sucking air.)

Refilled, fired it up, cycled a couple of times, and it was off to the races!

Attached is a shot of it going through a 34" maple round. I wondered if it would handle such big stuff - I needn't have worried. It had no problem at all splitting them.

-=[ Grant ]=-

Happy Splitting :coolsmirk: