I forgot the rule I usually follow around here. Make sure the maintenance person who assembled the hydraulic lines and connections is the one that turns it on for the first time.
I had a relatively small hydraulic system that maintenance told me was ready. I bring my laptop and programs out, dump the programs, check out all my I/O to make sure it's working correctly. I leave my laptop sitting in the back of the machine next to the PLC panel, connected for monitoring and debugging.
Everything seems OK. I turn on the system and try to cycle. Try moving a couple cylinders around to work the air out of the system. And I hear a yell. I hit the Emergency Stop but it's too late. A cover plate for a hydraulic manifold was not tightened down, the oil sprayed out some 30 or so feet, and all over my laptop.
To make matters worse, I spent the next couple hours cleaning myself and my equipment. Had the problem fixed. Then it was late in the day and everyone had left, and I noticed a cylinder had the lines hooked up backwards. So I shut down the pump, locked out the machine, and decided to change the lines myself.
I very slowly cracked the lines, and let the oil leak out to relieve pressure. And I forgot about the compressed air in the cylinder that hadn't been bled completely. A quick burst and me and my equipment are covered in oil again. A foolish mistake by me. Another hour or so of clean up and I decided that "Hey, Tomorrow is a vacation day for me... and the beginning of the weekend. I'll deal with all this Monday".
Edit:
And, to try and learn something to improve here... how do you guys usually deal with trapped pressures inside small, simple, hydraulic systems? (Talking something like a Pump, 3 Position solenoid valve, and a cylinder moving back and forth) Do you put some sort of relief valve on all your cylinders?
I had a relatively small hydraulic system that maintenance told me was ready. I bring my laptop and programs out, dump the programs, check out all my I/O to make sure it's working correctly. I leave my laptop sitting in the back of the machine next to the PLC panel, connected for monitoring and debugging.
Everything seems OK. I turn on the system and try to cycle. Try moving a couple cylinders around to work the air out of the system. And I hear a yell. I hit the Emergency Stop but it's too late. A cover plate for a hydraulic manifold was not tightened down, the oil sprayed out some 30 or so feet, and all over my laptop.
To make matters worse, I spent the next couple hours cleaning myself and my equipment. Had the problem fixed. Then it was late in the day and everyone had left, and I noticed a cylinder had the lines hooked up backwards. So I shut down the pump, locked out the machine, and decided to change the lines myself.
I very slowly cracked the lines, and let the oil leak out to relieve pressure. And I forgot about the compressed air in the cylinder that hadn't been bled completely. A quick burst and me and my equipment are covered in oil again. A foolish mistake by me. Another hour or so of clean up and I decided that "Hey, Tomorrow is a vacation day for me... and the beginning of the weekend. I'll deal with all this Monday".
Edit:
And, to try and learn something to improve here... how do you guys usually deal with trapped pressures inside small, simple, hydraulic systems? (Talking something like a Pump, 3 Position solenoid valve, and a cylinder moving back and forth) Do you put some sort of relief valve on all your cylinders?
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