clear hydraulic oil?

[Randy88]

Ok guys, someone knows how to remedy this issue. Most all hydraulic oils are clear, for years in order to see the level is clear sight gauges I'd had a company that sold a colored hydraulic oil, maybe not the exact type needed but by adding a few quarts or gallons it would color it enough for anyone to see it on dipsticks and in sight gauges but now they quit making it and selling it near me.

What do you guys do in order to see clear hydraulic oil on dipsticks and in sight gauges??

These plastic tanks are killing me, just the other day we again overfilled a reservoir because you absolutely can't see how full it is, that's twice in the last month we've had to drain some out after we first blew a hose, then filled it back up thinking we were way low, only to find out where we thought the level was, was wrong to start with so we ended up overfilling it.

Is there some sort of dye available to put in clear oil to give it some color so matter what you can actually see it on a dipstick or through a plastic tank or in a sight gauge?

I was first thinking, maybe add some automatic tranny fluid to it, that's bright red and a few quarts should give the whole tank a faint color to see?

I voiced my opinion about the local company discontinuing the dyed hydraulic oil, but they were right, they only sell the stuff, they don't make it and nobody listens to them either, they too were upset its no longer available.

CaseIh hytran has some tint to it, but not as much as it used to have, what else is out there??

I can't be the only one checking levels in poor light, in the dark or through old sight gauges that are now cloudy or scratched.

If anyone has a solution to this, maybe then you can tell me where to buy impact sockets that have colored, engraved numbers on so I can read those as well years after being used and abused. LOL

 

[Jonas302]

I throw some ATF in it can be really hard to see sight glass on cat graders and loaders without it

I know someone probably Nige mentioned a cat dye I cant find the thread that it was in though

 

[Ronsii]

https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/threads/hydraulic-oil-dyes.41654/

 

[Randy88]

Do those dyes stain the plastic clear tanks or just mix with the oil itself?

 

[Ronsii]

Good question....???? IDK I'll have to see if I can find the SDS sheets on em' and see if anything makes sense

 

[Tinkerer]

I use John Deere dye.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/John-Deere...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[Nige]

Do those dyes stain the plastic clear tanks or just mix with the oil itself?

From my experience they simply colour the oil leaving the material of the sight glass or plastic tank clear. The key is don't put too much in......

 

[Randy88]

I'll check into it this week and give it a try, thanks guys.

 

[kshansen]

While we are on the topic of "Dyes" here are some that maybe of interest:


I never had the opportunity to use them but can see where they could be handy, just need an ultra-violet lamp to view them. I did see one reference for using them to locate injectors leaking in to engine oil where you used a hand pump to pressurize the fuel rail with this dye mixed with fuel oil and then watched for a glowing line coming from the injector under the valve cover.

Nice thing is this chart says how much to mix in the systems!

 

[wornout wrench]

From my experience they simply colour the oil leaving the material of the sight glass or plastic tank clear. The key is don't put too much in......

View attachment 201676

What Nige said.

DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH IN.

A little goes a long long way.
I always start off with about 1/2 of the rated amount and go from there.

 

[heymccall]

If you have a UV lamp, offroad, dyed, diesel already fluoresces. At least on the offroad here in Pennsylvania.

 

[Nige]

We used to run an engine from an external tank/can of fuel doped with UV dye to look for leaks, or at least run the fuel tank down to the minimum safe level that we possibly could before adding the dye. It was far easier than trying to mix larger quantities of dye in the fuel tank of the equipment.

 

[nomorelawns]

Ok guys, someone knows how to remedy this issue. Most all hydraulic oils are clear, for years in order to see the level is clear sight gauges I'd had a company that sold a colored hydraulic oil, maybe not the exact type needed but by adding a few quarts or gallons it would color it enough for anyone to see it on dipsticks and in sight gauges but now they quit making it and selling it near me.

What do you guys do in order to see clear hydraulic oil on dipsticks and in sight gauges??

These plastic tanks are killing me, just the other day we again overfilled a reservoir because you absolutely can't see how full it is, that's twice in the last month we've had to drain some out after we first blew a hose, then filled it back up thinking we were way low, only to find out where we thought the level was, was wrong to start with so we ended up overfilling it.

Is there some sort of dye available to put in clear oil to give it some color so matter what you can actually see it on a dipstick or through a plastic tank or in a sight gauge?

I was first thinking, maybe add some automatic tranny fluid to it, that's bright red and a few quarts should give the whole tank a faint color to see?

I voiced my opinion about the local company discontinuing the dyed hydraulic oil, but they were right, they only sell the stuff, they don't make it and nobody listens to them either, they too were upset its no longer available.

CaseIh hytran has some tint to it, but not as much as it used to have, what else is out there??

I can't be the only one checking levels in poor light, in the dark or through old sight gauges that are now cloudy or scratched.

If anyone has a solution to this, maybe then you can tell me where to buy impact sockets that have colored, engraved numbers on so I can read those as well years after being used and abused. LOL

What hyd fluids are you buying? We use CenPeCo which is available already dyed bright red. Makes it way easier. Agreed on the pain to see fresh clear fluid... Very annoying

 

[Randy88]

I used the dye, worked great, doesn't take much to make a huge difference. Most all my suppliers of hydraulic oils have clear fluid for some reason and I've more than once overfilled the level's because I couldn't see the level in the gauges or on the dipstick, especially when we're checking them before it gets light out, so we can service stuff and start to warm machines up, so when first light hits, they are warm and ready to go.