Leaks are Driving me ....

   / Leaks are Driving me ....
  • Thread Starter
#11  
Try a real thread sealant. You'll be surprised. I hate working with it as it's messy, but it works so much better than tape, it is well worth that slight headache. If it happens to be Loctite brand, fine, but you don't need/want a threadlocker.
Ordered the Oaty's from Lowes, will do a locker pickup rather than walk around looking for it.
Worth a try.
Thanks again.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #12  
Good luck. I hate chasing leaks.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #13  
Have been going over them, taping and tightening.
Had the mechanic over, he taped and tightened, stopped the leaks, but a squirter came back the next day of usage.
You dont use pipe tape on hydraulics. You need pipe dope and stuff that works on oils.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #14  
Hydraulics dont take tape. They take o rings if anything. I would guess a combination of wrong fittings and improperly made hoses
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #15  
NPT hydraulic fittings do need help. I did not have good results with teflon pipe dope. The kind I used was a lubricant not a hardening sealant. What works for me is LocTite 545. It's made specifically for NPT type hydraulic fittings where the threads are also the seal. Regular thread locker LocTite (#242 usually) might or might not work. 545 works every time. I have used enough different LocTite products to trust them when they recommend one vs another for a particular application.

NPT fittings seal by deforming the threads. If yours have been assembled and taken apart too many times they may not seal as well.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me ....
  • Thread Starter
#16  
NPT hydraulic fittings do need help. I did not have good results with teflon pipe dope. The kind I used was a lubricant not a hardening sealant. What works for me is LocTite 545. It's made specifically for NPT type hydraulic fittings where the threads are also the seal. Regular thread locker LocTite (#242 usually) might or might not work. 545 works every time. I have used enough different LocTite products to trust them when they recommend one vs another for a particular application.

NPT fittings seal by deforming the threads. If yours have been assembled and taken apart too many times they may not seal as well.
Thinking of doing some fittings replacement.
Going to check out the LocTite 545, compare it with Oaty's.
Winter is coming, so much to do. 🙂
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #17  
Some pictures of some of the trouble areas would do wonders.

Cause right now we are just "assuming" they are NPT threads based on your "mechanic" taping the fittings.....

However.....I know ALOT of "mechanics" that dont have a clue about hydraulics. If you are taping JIC fittings that could be big problem is shards of tape ended up on the sealing surface.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me .... #18  
Yep most hydraulic fittings don't get tape of sealant. Just the ones where the threads are the seal. The only one of those I have seen here in the US are NPT. My splitter has a lot of NPT fittings and no JIC ones. NPT is a little cheaper and since most things like valves, bungs and filter housings are NPT, using NPT for the hoses means fewer adaptors to leak and raise the BOM cost.

With the LocTite 545, clean any tape or sealant off the threads. I try to get the oil off too but I don't go crazy with solvents, though that won't hurt. I let it cure for a day before using it.
 
   / Leaks are Driving me ....
  • Thread Starter
#19  
I think that the problem is the control is unsupported.
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   / Leaks are Driving me .... #20  
Unsupported valve is pretty common on a lot of log splitters and not a problem.

The bigger problem is your use of black iron pipe fittings that are rated for probably 1/20th of the pressure you splitter produces
 
 
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