Can you guess what

these items are? 


Need a little help?

We simply call them “dust covers” 

 

but they actually do more than what their name just says!

  • Today we are talking about hydraulic oil and the importance of preserving its purity and properties.

    This very simple and affordable rubber product provides us with the opportunity to talk about some interesting topics, such as:

     - how to extend the hydraulic product life cycle;

     - how to minimize its service&repair costs;

     - how to keep environmental costs efficiency.

    Keep reading and enjoy staying with us.

WHAT IS IT?

The Binotto dust covers are made in rubber and are specially designed to fit in with our quick couplings, protecting them (both male and female sides) from impurities and foreign particles. Featuring a bespoke ring to keep them attached to the hydraulic hose, ready-for-use exactly when you need them, they are available in both versions: for  3/4” and 1” quick coupling sizes.

  • “Are dust covers optional?

    Definitely not

     

     

    MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS

    It is always recommended to use these special plugs and protect both male and female quick coupling sides, whenever they are disconnected and they leave the hydraulic circuit open.

    They have in fact multiple functions.

    Binotto dust covers are not only intended for keeping the oil clear of impurities (dust, foreign particles,…) but they also prevent from the hydraulic oil contamination with water and, at the same time, they avoid that the oil remaining between the 2 disconnected parts could drop on the vehicle or on the ground.

     

HYDRAULIC OIL CONTAMINATION

 solid contamination
 gaseous contamination

One of the most common causes for hydraulic systems failures & repairs are attributed to some kind of contamination. Therefore it is important to prevent any type of infiltration.

Contamination consists in any foreign particulate matter that is inadvertently introduced into the hydraulic fluid. Liquids, included water, can also be a contamination agent.  As a principle, we distinguish among solid, liquid and gas contamination.

As a result of “solid” contamination, you can have scratches or scores on the inner parts of the system and/or serious bad effects on seals and fittings with the risks of:

  •  significant degradation of the performance of the system,
  •  malfunctioning,
  •  oil leakage,
  •  failures of one or more components which need to be replaced.

 

When we talk about “liquid” contamination in hydraulic applications, we usually talk about water in the system, which is never a good thing to have in any machine.

  • SOLID

    CONTAMINATION

  • LIQUID

    CONTAMINATION

  • GASEOUS

    CONTAMINATION

Water is a poor lubricant. The risk of water entering the system in big quantity is very limited. But in the real life there are many situations that can be risky and can represent potential hazards (i.e. during installation, oil inspection or refilling, when parts remain disconnected and without any protection plug).

 

If repeated, even very limited quantity of water, in the long term, can result in significant concentrations in the hydraulic system and cause the degradation of the oil specifications (such as: oil viscosity and its load-carrying ability or its  hydrodynamic-film thickness).

 

This can lead to greater surface-to-surface contact at sliding and rolling dynamic clearances, and hence, increased COmponent wear. The presence of free water in systems that could be exposed to temperatures below the freezing point of water can also lead to icing, which will degrade system performance and can produce malfunctions.

The presence of both water and particulate contamination can lead to the formation of insoluble precipitates, and viscous sludges and gels. These materials induce excessive stress on system components — especially pumps and valves — and can clog orifices and oil passages.

Focusing back again on the quick couplings, adopting our dust cover not only you preserve oil purity and protect inner parts, but also reduce the risk of any particle (lint, dust, fuzz…) to cause a buildup to obstruct or lock rotation of the small spheres inside the coupling itself, with oil leakage as a first annoying result.

ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS

Concern for the environment for those companies using hydraulic equipment has become a fact of life.

So many restrictions and procedures especially in those sensitive geographical areas with local regulations requiring pollution prevention and governing disposal of used industrial fluids. Higher costs (and greater potential liabilities) for oil disposal are a direct result of these regulations.

This adds a couple of relevant economic items to the list of benefits coming from preventing contamination to extend the service life of hydraulic fluids.

This list includes:

  •  lower cost for hydraulic oil needed for replacement and replenishment
  •  efficiency as a consequence of consistent hydraulic system performances
  •  less component wear
  •  reduced oil disposal costs.

In addition, special attention should be dedicated to those application fields (such as MINING AREAS, AIRPORTS, ...) where the soil surface must remain clean and uncontaminated and any oil leakage can result in a severe penalty for a company.

Quality of the Hydraulic oil

The first important step before operating hydraulic systems is obviously to properly identify the correct specifications of the fluid to use.

It is always recommended to use only high quality oil for hydraulic circuits and select the suitable oil specifications according to the application and the climate conditions.

But besides such initial selection, any procedure or product, even including the smallest accessories, intended for preserving the hydraulic oil from contamination, should be considered as an essential, indispensable item:

  1. to minimize the service costs (due to any failure or damage of any of the hydraulic system parts, caused by impurities)
  2. to prolong the life of products (preserving their inner parts)
  3. to reduce extra cost, such as environmental costs.

Besides “solid” and “liquid”, we also have “gaseous” contamination, which is mainly (but not only) connected with temperature variation and oxidation effect

Follow us and see more about this topic in the next linkedin post or newsletter.

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