Fluid Power Journal

Don’t Follow The Crowd, Mount Your Hydraulic Pumps…For Life

By Brendan Casey An essential requirement for the optimum performance and service life of a hydraulic pump is that its pumping chambers fill freely and …

Fluid Power’s Uncertain Future

By Brendan Casey In October 1991, at a meeting of the Buffett Group, Warren Buffett’s inner circle, Bill Gates was asked what he thought of Kodak as a …

What’s Your Standby Efficiency?

By Brendan Casey We are conditioned to think a variable displacement pump is more efficient than its fixed displacement counterpart. As a generalization this …

The Power Efficiency Diamond

By Brendan Casey, Hydraulicsupermarket.com I came across this instructive case study recently: In the quest for improved fuel consumption, the manufacturer of …

The Little Leaks That Keep Men Poor

With more storm clouds appearing on the economic horizon, it’s now more important than ever that every dollar spent on operating and maintaining fluid power …

How to Keep Tabs on a Hydraulic Machine’s “Vital Signs”

By Brendan Casey, HydraulicSupermarket.com My wife often asks me why I still do consulting work. She wonders why I happily leave the comfort of my office at …

Contamination: How Its Cure Can Be Worse Than The Disease

By Brendan Casey, HydraulicSupermarket.com Given that removing contaminants from the oil to extend hydraulic component life is the primary objective of …

How to Determine Hydraulic Pump Condition Using Volumetric Efficiency

Hydraulic pumps convert mechanical energy into hydraulic energy. A high-performance piston pump can make this conversion with an overall efficiency of 92%. If …

How to Correctly Interpret Case Drain Flows in Hydrostatic Transmissions

When a pump or motor is worn or damaged, internal leakage increases and therefore the flow available to do useful work decreases. This means that the condition …

The Real Value Of Hydraulic Circuit Diagrams

Like many readers of this Journal, I’m regularly involved in troubleshooting problems with hydraulic equipment. When in these situations, there are two …