New (used) splitter. A few questions.

[Snotrocket]

Bought a new to me splitter this morning. It's made by Brave. Got a good price on it, but the control valve has a leak out the back of it. My first thought was that it needed a gasket of some sort. After a little reading it looks like I'm better off replacing the entire valve.

What would be a good replacement valve for this unit? A few pictures.

The valve in question. Oil leaks at a pretty good rate from around where the silver cap on the back attaches to the rest of the valve. Other than the leak the valve is tight.

Thanks for the help!

 

[riverat]

if you are mechanical inclined rebuild it ,I wouldn't waste my money on a new pump probably needs new o rings and seals

Jeff

 

[JustWood]

Tighten the bolts first. If that doesn't work replace the gasket . Might be an o-ring instead of a gasket. I've seen them both ways.

 

[Snotrocket]

I'll take the cap off later and report back. I tightened the screws up a bit, but not much. Not enough to stop it from leaking.

 

[Hogwildz]

Gasket materials &/or O rings are cheap at the auto parts store. I bet much less than a new valve assy.

 

[Snotrocket]

Underneath the cap. Doesn't look like it's ever had a gasket or O ring on it. Would it be okay to make a gasket?

 

[sepulvd]

You can make your own gasket or rtv it.
It looks like a relief valve. From the pic

 

[triptester]

Do not put a gasket between the cap and the valve body. It is only a dust cover in fact if you look closely you will see a slight groove in the cover that acts as a vent. The leakage is due to a damaged o-ring.
The cover is for the detent assembly operating the valve with the cover removed can cause the assembly to come apart.

(broken link removed to http://www.energymfg.com/online-catalog/log-splitter-valve-accessories.html)

 

[claydogg84]

It is in fact a detent cover. If you take the detent apart please be careful as there is a spring and a larger ball bearing that will shoot out the end. I'm not concerned so much for your safety as I am worried about you losing the parts as I did . There should be an o ring that should be replaced - That assembly should thread out of the valve body. When re assembling put some thread lock on it or it will back off.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

It is in fact a detent cover. If you take the detent apart please be careful as there is a spring and a larger ball bearing that will shoot out the end. I'm not concerned so much for your safety as I am worried about you losing the parts as I did . There should be an o ring that should be replaced - That assembly should thread out of the valve body. When re assembling put some thread lock on it or it will back off.

Oh are those 3 little balls and spring a bear to get back together. Don't ask me how I know.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

Tighten the bolts first. If that doesn't work replace the gasket . Might be an o-ring instead of a gasket. I've seen them both ways.

That will not fix the problem, The bolts are supposed to be tightened to a max of 70-90 in pounds.

This is a schematic and if you download the instruction how to fix it.
(broken link removed to http://www.energymfg.com/online-catalog/log-splitter-valve-accessories.html)


With shipping it cost me almost 30 bucks for the O-rings.


It made me mad enough to go to the local hydraulic shop and have them make me up 3 more sets of O rings/gaskets. I also bought a hydraulic pic tool to take them out. Total cost for 3 sets and tool was $6.

These are the part #s from the hydraulic shop for the O rings and gasket:

55-010
55-211
55-013
55-118
HH 575-118

This first time I put it together it did not work because the piece with the 3 balls was in backwards. It locked it forward and not when retracting. DO NOT TAKE the 3 ball assembly apart. I spent and hour before I figured out how to do it. The valve leaked worse and failed very quickly. Turns out I nicked an O ring during assembly.

I was about to buy a new valve and figured I would give It one more go. This time it worked fine. It had an ever so slight weep. Now after 3 cords it has sealed up good. O rings swell slightly when exposed to the hydro oil.

Do not force anything! Tolerances are very tight and when they just slide together when aligned correctly.

 

[Snotrocket]

Thank you for all the advice. I'm probably going to replace the entire valve and rebuild the old one to use on a different project at a later time. I had a feeling it was something bigger than just making a gasket.

Is this the valve that will be a direct replacement? Looks like I'll just need to move the control lever to the opposite side.

(broken link removed to http://www.energymfg.com/online-catalog/log-splitter-valve-accessories.html)

 

[claydogg84]

Replacing the o ring is much easier than replacing the entire valve.

 

[duramaxman05]

Look at surpluscenter.com or northerntool.com for a complete valve. Sometimes the valves just wear out or get a scratch or nick in them and rebuilding them wont do any good. That's my experience with equipment anyways. You can get a valve for around $100. Just make sure you get one that will match the gpm of your pump.

 

[Firewood Bandit]

The thing that is important if you decide to replace the valve is making sure the ports spacing and positioning line up with the hard tubing.

I think the valve you posted, OP is the right one, just the perspective is wrong and it needs to be rotate end to end.

 

[Snotrocket]

The thing that is important if you decide to replace the valve is making sure the ports spacing and positioning line up with the hard tubing.

I think the valve you posted, OP is the right one, just the perspective is wrong and it needs to be rotate end to end.

Yup I agree. It took me a minute to visualize it even when I was standing next to the splitter.

I took apart the valve today and once I got to unscrewing the control end I realized it had been apart before from the mismatched bolts holding it together. From what I can tell there's a couple scratches in the shaft where someone had repaired the auto return detent recently.

I ordered the valve I posted earlier in the thread this afternoon. I only paid a few hundred bucks for the splitter and the engine runs great so I'm happy overall.