Suggestions for a pressure tester

[BeezFun]

It's too cold to do anything outside, so I want to make a pressure tester. I'm thinking a T fitting with a female quick disconnect, a male QD, and a 5000psi pressure gauge. Before I do this, any handy tips on how to make it better or more useful.

 

[fishdrivel]

It's too cold to do anything outside, so I want to make a pressure tester. I'm thinking a T fitting with a female quick disconnect, a male QD, and a 5000psi pressure gauge. Before I do this, any handy tips on how to make it better or more useful.

5000 psi?

Make damn sure that every part is capable of handling that pressure. Unlike hydraulics, air causes explosions!

 

[WranglerX]

One can almost buy one for same price as ordering all the parts and assembling it oneself...

 

[Xfaxman]

It's too cold to do anything outside, so I want to make a pressure tester. I'm thinking a T fitting with a female quick disconnect, a male QD, and a 5000psi pressure gauge.

Your thinking is what I did, but I used a 4000psi gauge:

The view of relief pressure from the V417 seat:

 

[BeezFun]

One can almost buy one for same price as ordering all the parts and assembling it oneself...

I'll look into that, the hose might not be a bad idea to make it easier to hook up.

 

[WranglerX]

I'll look into that, the hose might not be a bad idea to make it easier to hook up.

At least with hose you can move gauge amount to here you can look at it from various positions.... Might be a real convince of you are adjusting pressure and you can actually have gauge facing you when actuating a control...

If you are constantly monitoring something it may be ok for a gauge on "T" connection.... But if just occasional check or adjust its ok to "deadhead" a control long enough to get a reading... Just being able to plug into a hydraulic line to FEL momentarily may be enough to test system...

 

[Xfaxman]

If you use a hose run it from the tee to the gauge so you can monitor the working pressure.

I can see the pressure on the brush hog, 500 psi in grass, goes up over 1000 in brush:

 

[wdchyd]

Hyd gauges are most accurate in the middle of the scale, I like 5000psi for most systems but add a quick connect to change guages.

 

[RickB]

I'd use a hose in conjunction with a gauge AND both the male and female QD. Then you can use it inline as well as for deadheading a circuit.

 

[Manhattan]

I use a Stant pressure tester ... screws right on to the expansion tank , it seems they were made for our cars

 

[rScotty]

I'd use a hose in conjunction with a gauge AND both the male and female QD. Then you can use it inline as well as for deadheading a circuit.

I use similar testers. All are basically junkbox variations on the "T fitting plus a gauge" idea, and the final design depends largely on what spare parts they are assembled from. After use, they go back into the hydraulic fitting box - except for the one on the JD loader control valve. It's been there 30 years, so seems to have found a permanent home.

Most of us have settled on 5000 psi & SS hydraulic fittings.

Something I just noticed is that the TBNers responding to this thread seem to be mostly old timers, and everyone has come up with their own homebrew variation on the same basic tester.
It seems like a pretty basic troubleshooting tool. But hydraulic woes are rare enough - and usually simple enough - that I think many of us make a tester up out of curiosity rather than necessity.

Something I've noticed over the years is that most of the time the hydraulic system is working at far lower cylinder pressure than the system is capable of developing. I may scrape a load into the FEL bucket, carry it off, and never see readings of more than 600 to 1000 PSI
rScotty

 

[BeezFun]

Your thinking is what I did, but I used a 4000psi gauge:

Yes, thanks, that is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[WranglerX]

It seems like a pretty basic troubleshooting tool. But hydraulic woes are rare enough - and usually simple enough - that I think many of us make a tester up out of curiosity rather than necessity.

Kind of where I'm at, just curiosity to see if system pressures are actually what are stated in manual...

Then there is the "restored" log splitter that sort of has 3 different tonnages for same model between stickers on unit and owners manuals, but so far the 20 ton unit has handled everything I have had to split...

 

[BeezFun]

Mission accomplished, I forgot I had a short length of hose and a male QD left over from installing my rear remotes, so I went to the local hydraulics shop and got the rest of the parts. I even managed to use 2 of the dust covers I bought 10 years ago. Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[WranglerX]

Mission accomplished, I forgot I had a short length of hose and a male QD left over from installing my rear remotes, so I went to the local hydraulics shop and got the rest of the parts. I even managed to use 2 of the dust covers I bought 10 years ago. Thanks for all the suggestions.

View attachment 728840

Looks like winner to me....