Good Hydraulic Fluids

[Art_H]

Hello all,

I'm about to change my hydraulic fluid in my EX60-5. Looking for a good Hydraulic fluid. The Hitachi 46HN is a little pricey and is a 4000 hr fluid. My take is that a hose rupture could put a lot of fluid on the ground in 4000 hrs and may not be worth it. Is the Hitachi fluid any better than the other guys?

Differences and experiences with Shell Tellus 46 and or Chevron etc? Petro Canada 46 fluid I've heard is good.

Thanks

[Nige]

I'll wade in with my 2 cents.

Hitachi insist on zinc-free hydraulic oil and their 46HN oil is manufactured to meet that practice. There are not many zinc-free oils on the market of any viscosity, much less ISO VG 46.

We are using Conoco Ecoterra 46 hvi hydraulic oil as a replacement for Hitachi 46HN and it works well. It has an advantage compared to the "standard" Ecoterra 46 oil that it will not under any circumstances mix with water. As we have a very humid environment that is a major factor why we went for that oil. We go 4000 hours with this oil even though Hitachi don't recommend it, but oil analysis tells us it's still good and that's what I'd prefer to believe.

Not sure which other major manufacturers make zinc-free hydraulic oil. I think Mobil Excel DTE series is zinc-free.

Another thing to beware of. Some hydraulic filters will have a zinc content in the mesh frame that supports the filter media that leaches out when the system gets up to operating temperature. One of those filter makes is Fleetguard. I would recommend never use a Fleetguard filter (or any of the "minor" brands TBH) in an Hitachi hydraulic system - don't ask me how I know this ..!!

[Art_H]

Thanks Nige for the info. I've read a couple of your posts and you seem well informed.

I did not know that Hitachi spec'd zero Zinc in their Hydro fluid. I just did a fluid sample S.O.S. at Finning in BC. Zinc was at 245 ppm. A little low I was thinking for a standard attitive package. I don't know the history of the the fluid, and have only run it for 120 hours or so as a new to me machine @ 5700 hrs. Did some searching for the ZnDTP packages in as you say most hydro oils. The Tellus Shell oils are quite happy about advertising about their Zinc, and maybe as a 1500 hr oil it would do fine, but it seems that zinc can cause sludge buildup at the current fluid temps of modern hydraulic equipment. To get all the zinc out of my current system would be a lot of work, maybe I'll go with the Hitachi after all.

I have a higher than normal copper count at 38ppm, but not sure how long the oil's been in this machine.

Too bad about the Fleetguard, they seem to work well in my Cummins. The Stratapore is great.

[Nige]

To add a few more comments. I've got horror stories of Hitachis burning up pumps like there was no tomorrow when fed with zinc-based hydraulic oil, and at much less than 1500 hours. I will say that I'm referring to the larger models but the same should surely apply to the smaller ones also. Normal zinc level is 500ppm for an hydraulic oil with a zonc-based anti-wear package BTW.

We panic if we see zinc in double figures on our Hitachis ......... much less 245ppm. I'd be having heart failure ...!!
When we had the zinc leaching issue from the Fleetguard filters we saw as high as 30ppm.

I would not use Fleetguard filters if they were the last brand on earth TBH. Being part of Cummins is just an easy way for them to market their ****e filters IMO. My favourite is Donaldson.

I double checked the Mobil Excel DTE series oils (not the bog-standard DTE oils) and they are deffo zinc-free. So it appears that you don't have much of a choice if you want to get away from the Hitachi 46HN.

[Art_H]

Nige, Thanks againfor the tidbits of info. I have decided to go with a non-zinc oil as mentioned. However, on the Ecoterra HVI 46 PDF at the bottom it gives a warning on mixing their oil with a zinc containing oil.

Note: Ecoterra HVI Hydraulic Oil is not compatible with zinc-containing hydraulic oils, and may cause
residue, gelling or filter plugging if mixed with such fluids. Mixing the two products will lessen the
environmental benefits normally gained by using Ecoterra HVI Hydraulic Oil.

Not sure if the Hitachi specs are the same, I'll check. Tha means that a complete system cleanse is in order. That's a lot of hose couplings...

I'm looking into the availability of the Ecoterra HVI, I may go down to Washington state if either that or the Hitachie 46HN is cheaper in the US.

[Art_H]

Just a quick update. I went with the Hitachi HN46 4000hr oil. Got it for $98 per pail. Crysal clear and clean. Mr. Murphy came to visit 15 hours after the change and I lost a travel motor hose, and then lost a pail of oil....

[Madaboutoil]

Nige is spot on. However zinc free hyd oils are not that difficult to find. Most oil companies advertise them as ashless hydraulic oils.

There is a bit of scaremongering from HITATCHI about the use of genuine oil which does make it difficult. However many operators have successfully moved away from the OEM product. As long as it is to an ashless (non zinc) product

[Nige]

I have found from personal experience that Hitachi are anal about oil. On our machines I wanted to try using a TO-4 oil in components like the pump drive, swing drive, & final drives for the simple reason we were already using it in many other machines. Let's face it most manufacturers specify TO-4 for those applications. Hitachi would have none of it, their lubricant recommendations are not a specification, merely a list of brands and oil types within brands that they approve. Of course a list like that is out of date literally as soon as it is printed, you might just as well punch holes in the corner, hang it up in your bathroom, and use it to wipe your a$$ with. When I gave details & specification to them of the specific oil we wanted to use the answer was "we can't approve that, we haven't tested it", to which my reply was "well let me test it for you". Still no go.

Eventually I waited until the end of the warranty period and told them I was putting SAE50 TO-4 in anyway, whatever their so-called experts in Japan said. The improvement in oil analysis results, especially in the pump drive transmission, was literally off the chart. My next test is to give the pump drive a try using an SAE60 FD-1 oil. I think that might get even better results.