Easy way to locate leaky hose?

[RobiBX2230]

Anybody know an easy way to locate a leaky hose in a backhoe boom? Tight spaces and low visibility due to the number of hoses in a small area. Have a JD 2210 with loader and Wallenstein backhoe - under 300 hours. Bought it used so not sure of all it's history. Can't imagine it's a big leak, 24 hours parked on my driveway and there was a 4" or so round spot. Tractor runs fine, will top fluid off if need be but want to fix leak before doing so. Any help with tricks to find it I'm open to.

 

[buickanddeere]

If you use your eyes, fingers, hand or arms. You can loose them due to oil injected through the flesh under high pressure.

 

[RobiBX2230]

I know not to use body parts... Just curious if anyone has a trick to locate it... Like wrapping the hoses and seeing which gets fluid on it etc... Just wish the hose would bust and then it would be easy... The puddle came after 24 hours of sitting so under no pressure.

 

[namesray]

not sure how tight you are dealing with, but try this. get some flour (the kind you bake with) and try to "dust" it in the area that is leaking. then use a air compressor to blow away the flour dust. it will blow away from the dry areas but stick to the "wet" leaky areas. if the fluid has leaked out all over a bit, try to pressure wash it first, then run it for a quick bit to start the fluid leak, that way you will be closer to the leak when the flour sticks. be sure to wash it real good if it needs it and let it dry. don't use your hands, etc. as fluid under pressure can cut right into your skin and cause major infections. good luck.

due to the way you describe the leak, i am guessing a loose or bad fitting. the rubber part of the hoses should be ok, so concentrate on the metal fittings first.

 

[RobiBX2230]

not sure how tight you are dealing with, but try this. get some flour (the kind you bake with) and try to "dust" it in the area that is leaking. then use a air compressor to blow away the flour dust. it will blow away from the dry areas but stick to the "wet" leaky areas. if the fluid has leaked out all over a bit, try to pressure wash it first, then run it for a quick bit to start the fluid leak, that way you will be closer to the leak when the flour sticks. be sure to wash it real good if it needs it and let it dry. don't use your hands, etc. as fluid under pressure can cut right into your skin and cause major infections. good luck.

due to the way you describe the leak, i am guessing a loose or bad fitting. the rubber part of the hoses should be ok, so concentrate on the metal fittings first.

Awesome - thanks a bunch I like the idea. That's the kind of trick I need to try. If its a fitting do I replace or tighten? Sorry, had tractors before but never did any repairs

 

[namesray]

Awesome - thanks a bunch I like the idea. That's the kind of trick I need to try. If its a fitting do I replace or tighten? Sorry, had tractors before but never did any repairs

sometimes tightening will work, sometimes not. if it is at the threaded part of the fitting, try to tighten it first. if don't work, then probably replace. could also be on the "crimped" end of the fitting or at a swivel/junction point. might be a bad o ring too. could also try a hydraulic pipe dope like thread sealer. some people use a teflon like tape, but i have heard bad things about doing that.
if you do try to take a hose off, on a back hoe there can be pressure you might not think of holding a boom up. becareful. try to releave all pressure first by moving all the controls on the back hoe in every direction when the tractor is off. you should see then if anything was under pressure as it will gravity leak down until most pressure is releaved. wear gloves and eye protection.

 

[RobiBX2230]

Okay need clarification .. I believe I found the hose, I thought it would be one on the boom but it appears it's one that goes to the dipper cylinder. I am assuming (and need help) that any leak in the system would cause pressure loss and because the dipper doesn't really have anything pulling it down - that is why the boom will drop instead(?). If that's the case, I can replace the hose that goes to the dipper cylinder and I hope that's the only spot causing pressure loss (and leaking hydro fluid on my property). Thanks!!

 

[oldbones]

If you think you found the hose, wipe it clean and check later to see if it's wet again. That small of spot on your drive doesn't sound like enough fluid to significantly drop anything very far.
As far as the "dipper" (assume you mean bucket curl?) hoses leaking fluid to the outside, that shouldn't affect your boom dropping. They are on separate circuits- move one lever and the boom goes up or down, move another lever (or the same one in another direction) and the bucket curls in or out. I'm unfamiliar with your hoe, but all hydraulics work that way, unless it was a master cylinder with slave cylinders, which I'm reasonably sure you're not dealing with.
So, if your bucket hoses are leaking, and your boom is dropping, I think you have 2 different issues. Assuming it iS your bucket hose leaking fluid out, your boom either has a control valve leaking internally or the cylinder is leaking internally from one side of the ram's seal to the other.
Also, that stuff will travel when it leaks. Locate both ends of the hose and clean both to determine if it is, in fact, that hose leaking.

 

[RobiBX2230]

So by dipper I don't mean bucket - I'm a rookie so I'll explain - I mean the arm that is between the bucket and the arm the connects to to the tractor... So boom, dipper, bucket - if that makes any more sense. I washed all the hoses with a pressure washer and set them so they weren't touching and only one was wet - the one going to the cylinder on what I'm calling the dipper. Thinking about it different circuits make sense because one joystick does the boom and swing the other does dipper and bucket. I guess I'm more confused than I thought. Either way I'll need to replace the hose that was wet and make more guesses from there (?)

 

[toy]

I don't have a john deere so you can take my advice or leave it, but what ever you do don't put your self in harms way. With the machine turned off I would clean off the area where the leak is coming from as others have said. There are a few things that I would do first though. First I would try to set the part where the leak is coming from down so that it isn't under any load and without the machine putting down pressure on the cylinders [for instance set the bucket down on the ground flat, just resting not lifting.] If there are any stabilizer jacks I would set them down till they were just resting on the ground, with everything in the resting position I would clean up everything. I would then notice if there was any oil dropping and if so how much [steady drip or a drip every minute or so]. Then I would start the machine up and check for an increase in the stream leaking from the machine. If it didn't increase with the machine idling then I would start moving each individual part by its self and when I saw an increase in the oil flow then I would know which circuit I had a problem with. As was mentioned earlier check the hose ends and fittings to see that they are tight and not damaged, I would also look at the hoses to see if they are positioned in a way that they could get pinched [do that with the machine off]. Look for any frayed hoses. When you are looking at the hoses to try to locate the leak be sure to use common sense and not just stick your face up close and tell a helper turn it on cause your beaming face might be in the way of the oil spray. If you do have to take off a hose be sure that you are not turning loose a load that will fall on you or someone else, you are in charge of your safety. I hope some of my suggestions might be of help to you in getting your machine fixed, if not disregard them. Something else if the hoses are moving as you operate the machine make sure they are not rubbing against anything. There are other things that you could do also such as moving the hoses to see if the place the leak is coming from moves. I have seen a hose leak before that was spraying on another hose and you couldn't tell which one was a spraying and which one was getting hit just by watching it in that case we just bumped the machine on and back off quickly and watched which hose was weeping.