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Hydraulic cylinder repacking lube

Mikefromcny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Messages
192
Location
Upstate NY
Occupation
Mechanic
Hi all,
I've been using white grease for lube when repacking hydraulic cylinders. I got to thinking..is there something more slippery? What are you guys using?
 

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,275
Location
sw missouri
I usually give everything a good coating of clean hyd oil, a great big bath, on the seals and reach in the barrel and smear it around.
 

Volvomad

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
476
Location
Ireland
I keep an oil can with 90 gear oil that I use for assembling everything that could do with a bit of lube except engine internals and paper gaskets .
 

56wrench

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 4, 2016
Messages
2,074
Location
alberta
I like to use a product called Door-Ease (its in a stick form approx. 1" dia. and approx. 3" long) and then after applying that, coat it with Lubriplate. these products are convenient to use out on field jobs and don't take up much space. the two products together seem to be more slippery than each one alone (in my opinion). basically, its what-ever works best in your situation
 

John C.

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
What worked best for me over the years was putting a ring compressor over the seals on the piston and compressing them for about ten minutes before installing in the cylinder. As for the seals in the gland I've only used the type of oil that is normally used in the system. The super slick stuff didn't make the gland go on the rod any easier but made it hard to hold and push the gland on straight. I know a lot of guys that used Lubriplate but I found it messy and always wondered about its compatibility with the oils in the systems. Probably the biggest problems I've seen with assembling cylinders is people not replacing the bushings in the gland.
 

Mikefromcny

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Messages
192
Location
Upstate NY
Occupation
Mechanic
I just picked up a bottle of Cat low friction hydraulic book additive. We'll see how that works.
 

Max87

Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2018
Messages
15
Location
Vancouver, WA
I always use Parker 0-lube on seals. Its thick and tacky, I assume its stays in the seal grooves longer, like in cylinder heads where rust likes to creep in.
I add hydraulic oil to the piston and head before assembly. There are times where the piston does not want to go into the barrel because its a tight fit with the new seals. Ill then apply a little wd40/or something similar to the piston which helps, wd40 is very thin and slick.
 

DK88

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2011
Messages
320
Location
Ontario
Occupation
Field service tech.
+1 for lubriplate.
like john c said a ring compressor works wonders. i do do a few wraps of tape around the seal just to ensure the compressor dosent damage the seals.
 
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