Keep Your System Working With Hydraulic Control Valve Maintenance

Your hydraulic system can’t work without a range of different components. Some of the most essential parts of your system include your hydraulic control valves. These components are used to control a range of different metrics within your hydraulic system including the flow, temperature, liquid pressure and level within the various parts of your system.

These hydraulic control valves rely on a series of signals which will cause the valves to open, close or partially close to control the different conditions. If these valves break or even become less efficient, then it can lead to dire consequences for your hydraulic system. So long as you follow the best maintenance techniques for your hydraulic control valves, you’ll be able to make sure that your system runs efficiently.

Understanding The Types Of Hydraulic Control Valve

There are many different classifications of hydraulic control valve which you are likely to find in your hydraulic system. Each one of these plays a similar role within your system, as they all enable you to retain complete control over your system’s metrics. The main valves that you are likely to find in your hydraulics system include:

• Directional Control Valves – These are the most common form of hydraulic control valve. They allow you to control the direction of the liquid, as well as make adjustments to the flow and pressure. Typically, these are split into two different kinds of valve:

o Directional Poppet Valves – These are electromagnetically activated and can be either direct or pilot-operated. They work to influence the flow-path of your hydraulic system’s oil, or other hydraulic liquid.

o Directional Spool Valve – These components can be pilot-operated or direct and can work with both proportional and valve-focused combinations. These will also work to close off, open or partially block the hydraulic medium.

• Pressure Control Valves – Both variable and fixed throttle valves are used to control the pressure of the liquid within the hydraulic system. Variable throttle valves are designed to control through their functions, whereas fixed throttle valves are used to switch the functions from one to another.
• Flow Control Valves – These valves work to direct the flow of the liquid as it passes through the hydraulic system. These parts can be either independent or dependent, allowing them to work individually or as part of other components of your system.

The Do’s And Don’ts Of Hydraulic Control Valve Maintenance

If you want your hydraulic system to work as effectively as possible, you need to make sure that you keep an eye on the quality of your hydraulic control valves. Make sure that you regularly check your entire system over to keep an eye on your system’s overall health. In most circumstances, it will be your own carelessness or forgetfulness that results in your hydraulic system becoming damaged.

Regular checks on your hydraulic control valves can not only reveal any potential problems, but they can hugely improve the safety of anyone near the hydraulic system. What’s more, they can be a great opportunity to stop potential problems before they develop into a really expensive and damaging issue.

Do:

• Make sure that you understand how your hydraulic system works. If you don’t, then you are definitely not the person to undertake any kind of maintenance.
• Understand your system’s capacities and any weak components.
• Conduct as-found tests and diagnostics to check your valve performance.
• Use air, steam or pure water to clean your valves out.
• Cover all valves with a protective sheet when not in use.

Don’t:

• Install any replacements without checking them over first.
• Assume that valves are always properly installed.
• Conduct any maintenance without first switching off and draining the hydraulic system.
• Install any valves with cracks, cuts or wear.

Get In Touch With Flowfit For Hard-Wearing Hydraulic Control Valves

Here at Flowfit, we are proud to offer a complete range of hydraulic control valves to make sure that you can find the perfect model for your hydraulic system. Whether you’re building a hydraulic system from scratch or looking to replace damaged valves, you can be sure that all of the products we provide have undergone extensive testing to provide high-quality and durable service in a full range of systems.

For more information on hydraulic control valve maintenance, get in touch with our team today on 01584 876 033. You can email our team at anytime at sales@flowfitonline.com and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.