Took a hydraulic fluid shower this afternoon...

[soulasphil]

Yes, I think we are ALL very aware of the danger of a high pressure stream of liquid DIRECTLY injected onto the skin. My comments had to do with the soaking of the liquid on the skin. As many times as I've been hosed down with a stream of hydraulic oil, I have never been unlucky enough to have any body parts close enough to the leakage point for it to be injected into my skin.

When I was in the army, I saw one of my tank pilots receive a jet of hydraulic fluid that went straight through his hand, in one side, out the other. It was very painful and he took quite some time to recover. The problem was not the nature of the fluid but the internal damage done by the high pressure.

 

[MBDiagMan]

When I was in the army, I saw one of my tank pilots receive a jet of hydraulic fluid that went straight through his hand, in one side, out the other. It was very painful and he took quite some time to recover. The problem was not the nature of the fluid but the internal damage done by the high pressure.

Your buddy was VERY unlucky. Usually you do not happen to be close enough to a leak to cause penetration. When I was in the Army we had very high pressure hydraulics on missiles and launcher systems. They warned us continually about this possibility, but luckily for myself and my Army buddies we never had the unfortunate experience that you witnessed.

A stream of fluid under pressure will cut like a knife. Yes, in the case of penetration, it's rarely the toxicity of the liquid that is the worst of the problem.

I think some folks might be missing my point about the fear of certain liquids in today's world. I was ONLY talking about the contact of the liquid with the skin when penetration is NOT the issue. I fully understand that the penetration is the worst case situation with hydraulic leaks. My comments were a result of what sounded like being worried about having been soaked with the liquid, not the effects of penetration. Two different things.

 

[soulasphil]

Your buddy was VERY unlucky. Usually you do not happen to be close enough to a leak to cause penetration.

I must say I hadn't realized before that a small leak could be that nasty. It changed my whole outlook and I have considered hydraulics with due respect eversince.

 

[93Mustang]

I was honestly more concerned about the tractor initially(laugh). I was kind of confused as to what broke-actually wondered (in my ignorance!) whether the relief valve I have read so much about had kicked in and this is what happens. It did become quickly apparent where the leak was when I moved the loader stick and more fluid poured out of the hose. I just didn't want to drink any of the stuff. I had read that you have to be real careful with hydraulic fluid, but in this case it happened so fast had I been nearer the line, probably nothing I could have done. I will certainly do more inspecting. I do wonder if the leak started small and then popped as the loader seemed to lose power before the line went but don't think I will ever know.

 

[MBDiagMan]

Since it seemed to lose power at the time of the leak, it sounds like there was a pressure spike for some reason.

I'm not in any way discouraging you from inspecting because you really need to do that. Having worked in a fork truck shop, however, I learned that hoses that look perfectly good can blow, usually at the juncture between the hose and the crimp fitting.

I even remember a preventive maintenance campaign where we replaced a lot of over the mast hoses. It didn't seem to make any difference, a new or mid life hose seemed to be just as likely to fail as an old one. Because of their position on the machine, they would periodically hose down an operator really good. They were plenty far enough away from the operator that there were never any issues except hydraulic oil baths.

 

[J_J]

This picture has been on here many times. The hole from the jet of hyd fluid was probably not that big, but the injected fluid and the operation to remove the injected fluid makes it look even worse. The hose burst at the crimp of a hyd impact wrench.

 

[MBDiagMan]

It's very easy for me to envision that kind of damage from a small hyd leak with the hand very close to the leak. In the Army we got shots with a jet stream. It was a very small quantity, for a very short period of time. The hydraulic leak can be a LARGE quantity over a LONGER period of time.

It wouldn't be fun. You should NEVER wrench on a high pressure hydraulic hose while pressure is applied.