CASE STUDY  |  HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS

Solving Cylinder OEM Sealing Problems

The customer was having issues with new design, new build cylinders that were not passing tests, which subsequently was holding back an export delivery. After numerous attempts to strip and re-seal, with seals and housings checked against drawings, failure was still being seen which could not be explained. An area of the cylinder was highlighted by the customer for investigation; even though the same seal had been fitted in either end of the equipment, one seal was working and the other was not. This issue needed to be resolved ASAP.

 

Assessment

Our engineer was already on site looking into new applications when the issue was raised and he was asked to take a look. Drawings of the seals and housings were supplied, and housing dimensions were taken in the area highlighted and the rest of the system. The housings along with seal drawings were looked into, with focus on the highlighted area. Checking the seal drawings and housing dimensions, it was noted by the engineer that the seal was wider on the customer drawing than the housing it was being fitted into. All of the other housing dimensions checked against the seal drawings were correct. The issue was not picked up by the customer because the seals were to size when checked against their drawings, then fitted. We also confirmed why one seal was working and the other was not; the extra travel seen on the seal failing when fitting. In this instance, it was the cheapest seal in the entire kit causing this issue.

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