Laser grading hydraulic valve issue.

[Complete Turf Care]

Got the rig on the job site yesterday, but I couldn't use it with the laser control yet, because I busted a connection while loading the blade on the trailer. Called yesterday to have one sent to the job site overnight, but it got sent by regular UPS instead. So they sent another one 'overnight' today, and I should get it tomorrow.


I did get to use it manually today though. I checked the temps a few times and it never got to 200*, but again, it was not working hard, because I was using it manually, which means the blade was not changing height very often compared to if it were on automatic. There is a little oil dripping from the dipstick and the fill cap, but I can live with that. It does make a mess with all the dust.

The good thing is that there is no oil leaking from the solenoid area. This is probably because we have eliminated the back pressure.

This pic is of the rear of the tractor at the oil fill cap. You can see the red dot where the thermometer is pointed.


This pic is the filter


And this last pic is of the engine oil pan, just to compare temps.

 

[jenkinsph]

Thanks for the update, let us know how it works out today. I would continue to check the temperatures when in the auto mode.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Things aren't going good this morning. My receiver isn't communicating with my control box. Looks like the will have to "overnight" a new receiver to me. So I'm somewhat down for another day. This sucks.

 

[jenkinsph]

With the broken connector I would check continuity between the pins on either side of the sockets. I suspect there is an open control wire. Are you any good with electrical theory?


Looking at your picture above the broken cable connector appears to be for the valve not the receiver, so I spoke to soon.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

It has nothing to do with that broken connector. I was attempting to bypass that completely. And the receiver was working fine a few days ago when I tried it at home. Pretty sure it's the receiver. Lucky it's in warranty because they are about $1700.

 

[jenkinsph]

No kidding. I think the best price I have found on the Topcon lsb 110w is about $2150 and the remote is another $600. Modern day electronics don't allow for repairs so warranty is a key factor. The Topcon RL 200 2/s laser is $3850 and has a 5 year warranty, and I hope that within the warranty period it will pay for itself. All this stuff is crazy expensive because of low production numbers. When you compare these gadgets to tv sets and cell phones today they look like a pencil by comparison but everyone has a couple of tvs and cell phones making the cost more competitive.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

It's working. Must have been the cable. I'll report more later.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

Well....things went pretty good today. When I hooked up the new wire, things worked as they should.

I checked the oil temp several times today, and it did get up to 200* one time, but most of the time it was about 195.

After working the blade all day, I added about 2 gallons of hydraulic oil. It's leaking at the fill cap, and/or the dipstick.

And, there was no oil leaking from the solenoid, so we must have solved the back pressure problem

So, overall, I'm happy with the way things went today.

 

[jenkinsph]

Glad to hear you had a chance to try it out but 2 gals of hydro oil a day would be a deal breaker for me.

 

[J_J]

You should not be blowing oil out the breather/vent.

Is the hyd tank at the correct level?

Is the return line from the grader deep inside the fill space.

You might need to find another port to return the fluid from the grader.

Where is the port for the main return?