Volvo EW 210C Slow Boom Control Response

[Mother Deuce]

Good Day!

I am turning to the Forum for a some some input regarding slow boom control response with A Volvo EW210C. When the machine is in the warm up process is where it obviously most glaring. With a the system cold and running 900 to 950 (cold oil exercise speeds after engine warm up) with the boom control in full raise it will take a second or two to lift. However this is at it's worst and admittedly cold and at the beginning of warm up.

It does get better at operating temps, however it never quite goes away. If you are edge down next to a wall reaching out nearly flat the grade is choppy coming out because the boom lags behind the input. I do quite a bit of craning with this machine and have determined that the travel and boom circuits seem to be co-mingled. While it will tolerate some travel input and still allow boom function, when booming up and coming to stop you need to get off the boom control while feathering out the travel circuit.

I have thought about going into the "custom" settings and dialing up the boom... however when it is engaged beyond the control input the pressure and flow seem to be fine. Beyond that no real complaints the machine seems to work in other aspects fine.

Thoughts anybody?
Thanks

 

[uffex]

Good day Duce
Do you mean there is a delay between operating the control to when the boom begins to hoist ? or is it that the boom begins immediately however slowly. You can check out the response from the control lever by selecting "service mode" the pressure switch will inform the display if the delay is caused by the lever. You can select three differing operation modes from the display this will change the reaction lag.
Kind regards
Uffex

 

[Mother Deuce]

Thanks uffex!

Good Evening uffex,

Many thanks for your response. The lag is when you pull the lever to initiate boom up, the boom is behind the control input. I have been running a Liebherr 904C and inherited this machine from one of our other operators.
It had me scratching my head so I called him and it has been doing it for sometime. I appreciate your suggestion and will implement it tomorrow or Monday. Were paving tomorrow weather permitting so I may not get back to you till Monday evening.

Many Thanks, I will let you know how it goes!

 

[Ben Witter]

I assume this is only during boom up operation and not during other functions correct? In cold temps and under low operating temp this symptom can be normal. I expect you are in Ma or Ct so temps er pretty low this time of year. If there is an issue with the machine I would look at servo press. working press. deltaP and control .
press.
Also verify what oil is being used

 

[Mother Deuce]

Weather

Hi Ben

Thanks for your response your assumption is correct, I am in New England and it has been bitterly cold on some shifts. We had wind chill to -19 not to long ago and we lost both batteries.
It seems to only effect "boom up" and is most pronounced at warm up or sub operating temps. However it still continues after operating temps are achieved it does improve but does not "go away.".
I doubt I will use the machine today.

I will talk with our wrench today concerning hyd oil would not be surprised if it was OEM fill which I believe is Bio 46. I have 10 gallons of AW 46 on site but have not had to add any to this machine.

More on Monday night. Thanks for your insights Ben I will let you know!

 

[Bkish07]

Does anything change when you increase the engine rpm's?

 

[Mother Deuce]

Good Evening!
Sorry about the tardy reply. We have been quite busy in spite of the weather. Bkish07 it improves as temps come up to operating to a point however unfortunately it doesn't change with RPM's. Ben, the oil is still Bio 46 as delivered. As you suggested checking the systems you mentioned the company decided to have the local dealer send a tech to plug in to it and diagnosis/repair the problem. This has yet to be done however when we can get a free shift it will be. It is like a low grade toothache were still swinging just take another aspirin. Uffex I clicked over to Service Mode and while I wasn't getting any faults I could not find a window for setting for boom reaction lag. Not sure what I failed to open. Tried everything except a chicken dance! At any rate the cavalry is coming at some point.
Thanks again
Mother Deuce

 

[mikebramel]

Not sure what the recommended viscosity for your unit is. But typically AW46 is for 50F and above

 

[Ben Witter]

The operating range for AW46 is 14F-86F. You should be OK in most weather conditions you will see. The best thing you can do is fully warm up the machine before operating it. This is a recommendation in the OM. The best way to do that is to operate the arm in and out continuously until the oil has warmed to an acceptable level.

The other thing to do is get the hydraulics checked and adjusted so the system is running optimally.

In cold weather it may not be possible to remove all of the delay in boom up operation as that is a lot of oil to move and the signal back to the pump is slower with cold oil.

 

[uffex]

Good day Deuce
A thought crossed my mmd and may be I am on the wrong track, to achieve full boom hoist speed it needs to have both pumps, if by chance the hammer circuit is left turned on the boom will be robbed of one pump. The dash should display the hammer symbol if it is activated.
Kind regards
Uffex

 

[Ben Witter]

The EW210C is LS system and only has one pump for working hydraulics. Crawler excavators with positive or negative controls have tandem pumps.

Also the OP's complaint seems to be delay in boom operation not slow operation.

 

[uffex]

Good day Folks
The previous comment by Ben Witter is not correct please take a look at the attached clearly shows that the option has priority over the boom.
Kin regards
Uffex

 

[uffex]

Good day folks
Sincere apologies i had switched to the crawler version by mistake.
KR
Uffex

 

[Ben Witter]

Yes there is no boom 2 spool in wheeled exc. System is closed center load sensing. This is one reason why there is more delay in boom up when cold.

 

[funwithfuel]

I realize I'm late to the party, has your situation been resolved?

 

[Mother Deuce]

Hi funwithfuel, uffex and Ben Witter, I was assigned to a different project for awhile. Sorry about the delay in returning. Regarding cold machine warmup I typically start the machine and let it run at idle with
hydraulics energized for 20 minutes at that point or when I have indicated water temp I advance the throttle to 1000 or 1100 and start hydraulic warm up much as Ben mentioned. I spend about 20 minutes
(very cold mornings) cycling the stick and bucket then the boom, swing and travel as I usually have to travel at shift start. Interesting thing about the boom circuit while working through hydraulic warm up is
that it would make a "mooing" sound when lowering. I was concerned about this and went in short increments Up 4 to 6 inches and down 4 to 6 inches increasing the stroke incrementally until the boom circuit
was warm enough to quit "mooing."

The issue is resolved. In my absence the mechanics were out to the machine and lag seems to have been eliminated. Unfortunately presently I do not have any information on what work was performed.
The next time I see the wrench I will corral him with a cup of coffee and find out what his resolution was. Thanks for all your help with this issue. Stay safe as we move into the season!

 

[mpaulson22]

What was the issue? My 160 has this same problem, go to boom up and gas about a second delay before moving