The Impact of Water in Your Hydraulic System

Even the smallest hydraulic system failure can be very costly in terms of lost productivity, change-out times and repairs. This is compounded in large-scale operations, such as oil rigs or dredging sites. When a hydraulic system failure occurs, it is commonly blamed on the oil or hydraulic fluid being used, and rightly so, since it is estimated that 90 percent of the time a fluid-related pump failure is due to contamination. However, rather than simply questioning the quality or performance of the fluid itself, it is important to examine HOW the contamination occurred, what might have been done to prevent it, and to use this information to mitigate potential future problems.