No cylindder pressure....

[mrcaptainbob]

After contacting the company, I was sent to a spring manufacturer. The original springs are .4 tall, .3 diameter, .025 wire diameter and six coils. Ordered new springs. .438 tall, .3 diameter, .024 wire diameter and 4 coils. Don't know the spring rate of the originals. I'd bet they were taller when new. As for the other differences, I'm thinking the smaller wire diameter would make up for the difference in number of coils. I know there's more deflection per coil. I suspect there's not much deflection when in use. Although the new springs are bought and paid for and are on their way, I still would like your opinions.....

 

[oldnslo]

Capt,
You are correct in that these springs should defect very little. The actual amount will vary to some degree with pressure. Low pressure they will deflect a little more than at high pressure.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Okay, so it's back together and...IT WORKS!! EUREKA!! However....(I sure hate when people say that....) after exercising the cylinder as best as I could, it goes real, real slllloooww.... But it does build pressure. Okay, so it was 19* when I did it. I'm thinkin' the oil won't pump to well at that temp. Saturday is going to 40*, so I'll try it again then. As an aside, I did hold the valve to close the cylinder past detent and it rattled fierce and climbed well past 1,000 psi. Okay, good sign there. And after fully extending it it seemed thqt it finally would climb to higher pressures. When I placed a log in to split, it popped it at around 700- 800 psi. I was surprised at the low pressure to split it! Okay, big cherry log time. Now it climbed to nine hundred and the cherry popped apart. Yeah, it was all frozen. So I shut it down until warmer weather. Anxious to find out how it acts in warmer weather.

 

[oldnslo]

Capt,
I believe that one of the flaws of the check ball style pump is that they have a very poor inlet vacuum capabilities. Running them while cavitating is a death sentence to the pump.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Ahhh....so you're sayin' that those pistons can't pull the thicker-er oil they need. Never thought of that. It seems the oil would be thin enough, even at gravity feed, to flow through a one inch supply hose. Although the pump has a half inch inlet. And those casting ports for those little, dinko pistons aren't very large. Yeah....I can see that now. The pistons are gulping for stuff that has a hard time flowing. Thanks for opening my eyes some more. It was in the mid-30's today. It did seem to run much better, the cycle time was much improved, and by the time I finished, which was about two hours later, it seemed to build pressure a bit quicker.
I used the same hydraulic oil bucket to top off the tractor transaxle today. I was surprised to hear a 'thunk' while I poured to the funnel. Found there was .... A BLOCK OF ICE IN IT!! What the hey??? I left it outside by the splitter a few weeks back. But it was capped off, and that tub neck was extended. And it was under the same tarp as the splitter. DANG it! So now I'm thinkin' I just may have added some water along with the oil to that splitter and that may be why it takes a while to build pressure. I guess I have to now drain that tank and replace it. But how would I evacuate all the hoses and the cylinder from old compromised stuff? IF that's what it is?

 

[oldnslo]

What was the temperature when you filled the splitter with oil? If it was cold enough for any water to be ice I doubt you added any water to your splitter. The fact that it appears to be running faster when warm would indicate your pump is potentially still cavitating some. Does the pump growl while building pressure?

I would suggest another call to the company and ask them if they have the recommended fluid viscosity / type for this pump.

Swapping fluid: Run the cylinder to end of stroke in either direction. Drain and fill the reservoir with new fluid. Remove the line from the end of the cylinder that is full of old fluid. Place this line in a bucket. Start the splitter and activate the valve to move the cylinder to force the old oil out into the bucket. Connect that line and you should have removed the majority of the old oil. Double check the reservoir level and split some wood.

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Topped off the reservoir. It needed it. Fixed the float bowl leak and no more gas dribbles. Filled the gas tank and topped off the engine oil. Started up fine and it splits quite nicely now.
Thank you all for so much help and giving me the incentive to take that pump apart. I learned a lot from this experience and your guidance.