swapping hydraulic system to bio oil

[Charlieh]

I'm looking at swapping the hydraulic oil in one of our machines to bio oil, and was just wondering if anyone else had done this, I'm thinking of swapping all the filters and putting a flushing oil through for 10hrs, then swapping the filters again when I put the bio in.

 

has anyone else done this as i really don't want to end up with oil emulsifying in the system, any tips to prevent this?

[woodworm]

dont do it dont do it dont do it dont do it

[treequip]

dont do it dont do it dont do it dont do it

 

Unless you have GOT to, what prompted such thoughts?

[Big Bolt]

if new and built for bio yes if old and not then all you will have is grieff

[Charlieh]

machine going onto SSSI, wetlands etc so it would be really beneficial due to the nature of the work. I have been assured it can swap to bio, its just going to be flushing the system thorougly enough

[treequip]

It aint going to be cheap

 

To flush it properly you need to drain the mineral oil, replace it with bio then swap the bio out after a few hours to remove traces of mineral oil, fresh filters every time please.

[Charlieh]

so if i swapped straight to bio in a morning with new filters, and drop it out again in the evening after a days work with new filters and then keep checking it i should be ok, rather than bother flushing it

[PeteB]

ey Charlie, we put bio hydraulic oil in chippers that go to the EA. It costs about 6 times the rate for ordinary stuff and lasts no time at all. One EA depot said when I delivered the last lot, "Useless stuff, we will have that out next week, it degrades too fast and completely screws the whole system and you then have to replace every component from the pump, hoses, filter housing and motors!" One mechanic said that there was no point in having bio hydraulic oil if you are using chemical anti-freeze, ordinary engine oil and ordinary diesel as they have every chance of being spilled too. He actually went on to say that if the machine is left idle for too long, the oil degrades faster!

[slasherscot]

didnt the Fc try to encourage contractors to change but changeD their tune after poor results in their own machines?

[Charlieh]

ok thanks for all the info, it maybe that we review this idea then. I dont want to cause any issues with the machine as we want to limit downtime as much as possible.