Debris in the seat of a valve can be an indication that there is a pending catastrophic failure in your hydraulic system. I have noticed that it's common for machinery and equipment manufacturers to recommend in their respective service manuals that maintenance workers that troubleshoot their hydraulic systems should "disassemble and inspect" valves like check valves and pressure control valves to see if their is debris in the seat. I strongly advise manufacturers in the U.S.A. to withdraw these recommendations from their service literature for several reasons: 1. There are no schools in America that are equipped with the correct tools and information that enables them to teach students how to "disassemble and inspect" hydraulic valves. 2. Many cartridge type valves cannot be disassembled because of their design. 3. If they are in the field and there is mud or snow, the internal spring could unexpectedly eject the spools and other small parts, which might never be found. 4. There is a strong possibility the person doing the recommended procedure could assemble the valve incorrectly, which could cause it to malfunction. If it's a pressure relief valve, a malfunction could cause the worker to suffer severe injury, death and or substantial property damage. As we well know, if you made the recommendation - verbal or written, and the person gets injured or killed, it's highly likely you are going to spend years defending your company in court. 5. If there is debris in the seat of a valve, pause to consider how it got there or where it came from. If you can see it, it's larger than 40 microns. You MUST analyze the composition of the debris because in all likelihood, it's evidence that the pump, which is upstream, is beginning to destruct. Conclusion: Never simply remove debris from the seat of a valve and put the system back into service. It's imperative that you have the debris analyzed and the source identified. If the pump is in the throws of disintegrating, it will eventually fail completely and transport it's harmful "shrapnel" throughout your hydraulic system.
Dima Nasekayla
2mo
I agree, this is how to recommend- to heal yourself with what you have in your pocket 🩹
Managing Director - Hydraulic Controls
2moAnother one: the mere process of disassembly can cause whatever debris was causing the fault to become dislodged, potentially resulting in a "no fault found" report. Often to the frustration of all parties involved. This then masks the root cause discover for another day. Potentially when the whatever was throwing our chunks finally completely destroys itself.