Hydraulic cylinder leak

[gzecc]

My splitter has developed a small leak around the rod. Its an occasional drip down the rod in the verticle position. Should I replace now or are small leaks common and I should wait till it gets worse?

 

[LLigetfa]

Switch to horizontal and faggeddaboudit! LOL

J/K... I would not be bothered with a small drip. My spool valve has been letting out a drip or two for years.

Just keep an eye on it and if it starts to get worse, order up the parts to have on hand.

 

[salecker]

I wouldn't worry about it.
You could try some Lucas power steering additive in it.It worked on a seal on my Kenworth,and it gets used in all temps.So it might soften the seal.
Thomas

 

[greg13]

Some seepage is nothing that I would worry about. Are there any nicks or dents in the rod?

 

[gzecc]

Some seepage is nothing that I would worry about. Are there any nicks or dents in the rod?

The rod is new (< 6 mos old). Looks fine.

 

[velvetfoot]

I had leakage that turned into major leakage on a 30 ton harbor freight splitter. Luckily, someone else on the forums had the same issue and discovered that the big nut holding things together hadn't been torqued properly during assembly. Mine had the same problem. Anyway, keep an eye on it.

 

[blades]

Ya that was a common problem a couple years ago, now they do not sell any over about 7 tons, and that is electric, no gas units in the 15-30 ton class to be found. They must have got burned. I never heard anything about any suits though.

 

[velvetfoot]

I'm just thinking that a group of cylinders from a factory in China went into several makes of splitters and that it was something to keep in mind. Also, something else I just thought about, was that an extra set of seals was included with the splitter, so I'm sure a shop could replace the seals. On another note,

My spool valve has been letting out a drip or two for years.

My right boot toe is now oil preserved from a similar drip or two. Then again, I split vertically.