Hello! My name is Rob and I live in a small town which is located about 50 miles outside of Sydney. Now and again, I like to visit my brother who works at an industrial plant in the city. When I visit him, my brother lets me into his office and gives me tours around the plant. They produce all kinds of cool things using the tools they have there. However, I recently learnt they didn't always own the things they needed to complete the job and would instead hire them. I learnt all kinds of cool things about hiring industrial equipment. Although I don't work in the industry, I wanted to share what I had learnt with the rest of the world.
If you industrial manufacturing plant uses hydraulic machinery, sooner or later, you are going to have to deal with a faulty hydraulic cylinder. If a hydraulic cylinder is malfunctioning, you will need to decide if you would like to repair or replace it. Below is a guide to the different factors which will help you to reach a decision.
The cost of purchasing a new cylinder
The cost of a new cylinder will very much depend upon the size you require. Larger hydraulic cylinders cost more due to the increased volume of metal required to manufacture them. You will also need to check how quickly a new cylinder can be dispatched to your manufacturing plant. If your industrial equipment supplier does not have the right size of hydraulic cylinders in stock, you may need to wait several days for a replacement part to be located and sent out. During this time, you will not be able to operate the machinery which will impact on your manufacturing output. If this is the case, you may wish to opt for a hydraulic cylinder repair job.
The duration of any repair work
A hydraulic cylinder consists of different parts such as rubber seals, metal rings and a piston. Before giving the go-ahead for repair work to commence, you should ask the repair contractor to inspect every part of the cylinder. Once the contractor has established the extent of the damage, they will be able to provide you with an estimated duration and cost of the repair work. This knowledge is vital if you are to ensure that your production schedule is not adversely affected. Knowing the cost of any repair work will also allow you to decide if repair or replacement is the better option.
Any previous repair work which has been performed
You should check the maintenance log for the machine to check if and when any previous repair work has been carried out. If the hydraulic cylinder has been repaired several times previously, it is likely you will be better off replacing it with a brand new part, as it is highly likely to fail again the near future. Repeated failures will mean large repair bills and increased production downtime.
If you would like to find out more about your options when a hydraulic cylinder fails on one of your industrial manufacturing machines, you should contact a professional industrial machine contractor for further information and advice.