New Rippa NDI313 problems

Muddernuker · Aug 16, 2023

Hello all, first time posting. Just took delivery of a Rippa NDI313 Chinese mini excavator to complement my '21 Mahindra 1626 which has been flawless. I did the usual setup, added fuel, hydraulic oil and engine oil. The engine is a B&S 13.5HP and it fires up fine but after ten minutes of operation it overheats and shuts down. Before that I also notice as if there is a lack of power especially when I push down the boom at low boom speed. The engine bogs down. There is a little heat exchanger box thing with fans which I suppose is for hydraulic cooling. I live at a altitude of 7,300 ft which robs a little power. Has anyone else experienced the same symptoms on a similar Chinese excavator with the same engine? The metal encasing the mechanicals gets extremely hot. Not sure what to do. I may initiate a return request and eat up shipping. I'm sure the seller will use every excuse to refuse as the excavator was delivered with cosmetic damage although nothing major. Please let me know.

Muddernuker · Aug 16, 2023

To add insult to injury, after letting the machine sit for two hours, it won't start. I'm going to try again tomorrow morning. So far my first impressions are that the machine is garbage. It's on me for buying **** Chinese products. I'm hoping it is something simple but I'm not holding my breath. Sorry for the venting.

MattB4 · Aug 17, 2023

Sorry you are having problems. I just bought a similar Baby ex from Typhon with the same engine. I am doing a bit of a review of my first week over in the imported Mini ex forum. But I will say that the engine gets hot with about an hours operation. So much so that I am adding a cooling fan to the unit soon. But with cool mornings the last few days I was able to do my septic field trenching in rather hard digging conditions by running for an hour or so than breaking for an hour. I am up to 7-1/2 hours on the machine and I like it so far for what it is.

ETA: Your hard start might be due to the gas getting hot and causing a vapor lock. Carefully remove the fill cap to vent.

oldnslo · Aug 17, 2023

Presuming this is an air-cooled motor is there adequate room around the engine to draw fresh cool air in and exhaust warm air out of engine compartment.
Question now is can air flow be improved without major renovations?

Muddernuker · Aug 17, 2023

I am planning on adding fans. Perhaps in a push pull configuration to draw in and at the same time pull hot air out. I was reading more info on the possible symptoms and I am suspending the hydraulic pressure relief valve. I'm going to adjust or reset to see if it helps. I'm disappointed but the machine does look well made. Especially the engine compartment. It looks so clean and orderly. Now I need to figure out how much amps I can draw to run fans.

Muddernuker · Aug 17, 2023

oldnslo said:
Presuming this is an air-cooled motor is there adequate room around the engine to draw fresh cool air in and exhaust warm air out of engine compartment.
Question now is can air flow be improved without major renovations?

The engine compartment has side grills/openings to provide air flow but I'm not sure if it is adequate.

tman1020 · Aug 17, 2023

Venting exhaust to outside of engine bay if not already done would be helpful. Also add your fan opposite of exhaust side to push air into engine compartment And help push Hot exhaust air out.

oldnslo · Aug 17, 2023

Muddernuker said:
I am planning on adding fans. Perhaps in a push pull configuration to draw in and at the same time pull hot air out. I was reading more info on the possible symptoms and I am suspending the hydraulic pressure relief valve. I'm going to adjust or reset to see if it helps.

Relief valve set to high would over load engine only when operating a function and then stalling that function. Should have minimal effect on engine over heating unless you are constantly stalling functions.

Does the hydraulic oil also get real hot quickly? If yes then install a gauge in the pump pressure line and monitor pressure with no functions active and while running functions. This will provide some insight on what the pressure is during operation vs sitting idle. At idle should be minimal estimate 200 PSI or less.

Muddernuker said:
I'm disappointed but the machine does look well made. Especially the engine compartment. It looks so clean and orderly. Now I need to figure out how much amps I can draw to run fans.

Muddernuker · Aug 17, 2023

oldnslo said:
Relief valve set to high would over load engine only when operating a function and then stalling that function. Should have minimal effect on engine over heating unless you are constantly stalling functions.

Does the hydraulic oil also get real hot quickly? If yes then install a gauge in the pump pressure line and monitor pressure with no functions active and while running functions. This will provide some insight on what the pressure is during operation vs sitting idle. At idle should be minimal estimate 200 PSI or less.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into saying a gauge. I didn't get a chance to mess with the relief valve today due to rain. I think the pressure is set too high, at least from what I can gather after reading the operating manual.