In manufacturing, hydraulic presses are commonly used for forming, punching and molding parts in scenarios that apply stable hydraulic force. Companies use these hefty machines to create a variety of items, from auto body panels to molded rubber. They’re instrumental in compacting powders uniformly to become solid pieces of material, which is essential in industries like aerospace and electronics.
Regular maintenance is crucial for an industrial hydraulic press. Proper upkeep ensures the production of high-quality products and enhances worker safety. Preventive maintenance also promotes cost-effective operations. Conversely, neglecting maintenance can result in slow cycle times, safety hazards, and potential breakdowns.
This comprehensive guide on hydraulic press maintenance and safety highlights the importance of regular maintenance, outlines best practices and explains the rationale behind effective maintenance scheduling. It also provides insight into complying with safety standards and improving the efficiency of your hydraulic press.
Read on to understand the value of using daily and weekly checklists for maintaining your hydraulic press and for details about major system overhauls. Additionally, you can benefit from the consolidated hydraulic press inspection checklist below.
Common hydraulic press issues and warning signs
Poor hydraulic press machine maintenance leads to performance drops and failures. To avert a breakdown, instruct your team to identify symptoms of an imminent mechanical or hydraulic problem. Typical failures and their potential causes include:
- Pressure fluctuations and inconsistent force: Causes vary. Look for contaminated fluids, leaks or worn seals.
- Excessive noise or vibrations: The culprit could be insufficient lubrication. In some cases, your hydraulic press may require professional realignment. Alternatively, you may determine it’s time to replace damaged bearings.
- Slow or jerky ram movements: Clogged filters are commonly blamed for this issue. However, these movements may stem from air in the system or reduced fluid levels.
- Overheating: This failure may occur because of friction, inefficient fluid cooling, or pumps that are not sized correctly to the hydraulic press. Implementing predictive maintenance tactics can help you avoid overheating.
Hydraulic press machine maintenance checklist
Technicians shouldn’t have to rely on memory to ensure they’ve completed all hydraulic press preventive maintenance tasks. A detailed hydraulic press maintenance checklist simplifies the process. Your maintenance team should conduct some tasks once each day or weekly, while others only need attention once or twice a month. Some hydraulic press maintenance tasks only need to be done quarterly, seasonally or annually. For efficiency’s sake, the work can be divided evenly among your technicians.
Daily/weekly:
- Inspect the hydraulic fluid level and top it off if needed.
- Wipe down the ram and remove metal debris or dirt near moving parts.
- Check all gauges and sensors to ensure you’re getting accurate readings. Keep an eye out for pressure drops.
- Confirm that the e-stop and safety interlocks function correctly.
Monthly/bi-monthly:
- Change or clean hydraulic filters per OEM guidelines.
- Inspect all hoses, seals and fittings for minor leaks or wear and repair or replace as needed.
- Apply machinery lubrication to ram guide rails, pivot points, and all other moving assemblies as specified by the OEM.
- Test the press bed and ram’s alignment. If you detect misalignment, it’s time to recalibrate the equipment.
Quarterly/seasonally:
- Drain and replace hydraulic fluid if you discover contamination or notice that it’s changed color.
- Evaluate the cylinder rods for pitting or scratches. If you find any, address them promptly.
- Assess electrical components, including wiring, fuses, and programmable logic controllers, for overheating or damage.
- Perform a thorough safety inspection, ensuring that guards, sensors, and any light curtains are operational.
Annually/off-season:
- Overhaul or rebuild major components, such as pumps and cylinders, according to the original equipment manufacturer’s recommendation.
- Update or reinstall software or firmware for your organization’s CNC/automated systems.
- Create a maintenance log and review downtime data to determine if further improvements are needed, such as after you address an oil leak.
Hydraulics system care: fluid and components
You may be curious about what aspects of hydraulic fluid management directly influence press performance. It’s smart to follow best practices for preserving fluid integrity.
- Proper fluid selection: Follow the OEM specifications for viscosity and additives. Remember to adjust these specs if anything significant changes the load or the environment.
- Filter maintenance and cooling: All filters grow dirty and clogged. Replace filters regularly and ensure that any fluid coolers are effective to prevent overheating. Consult the manufacturer’s recommendations about handling filter maintenance and cooling.
- Leak detection: Promptly replace hoses and seals when you encounter leaks. Doing so will help you maintain pressure while also keeping your workspace safer. Use ultrasonic leak detection equipment to locate problems, such as a leaky oil tank.
You should be aware of how mechanical components such as bearings, belts and gears factor into reliability. When not tracking, a belt may experience premature wear and damage. Bearings are designed to reduce friction. You should maintain lubrication of your hydraulic press bearings. Degraded gears will not work reliably.
- Ram and die alignment: A misaligned press can degrade part quality or cause uneven stress, leading to damage so extensive that you’ll need to bring in a professional for hydraulic press repair. Machine health monitoring technology can help detect problems like this in their earliest stages.
- Structural checks: Instruct your hydraulic press maintenance team to inspect the bed plate frame, bolted joints, and welds for cracks or loosening that tends to occur under repeated stress.
Electrical panels and sensors need equal attention:
- PLC/control systems: Keep the software updated. Confirm that sensors or limit switches remain accurate. Without regular PLC maintenance, you may experience degraded performance or breakdowns, such as losing access to data from your industrial pressure sensors.
- Wiring integrity: Address frayed cables and/or loose connections as quickly as they’re discovered. They may hamper sensor feedback or cause unexpected equipment shutdowns.
Interested in specialized hydraulic press maintenance services?
Companies can reduce the total cost of ownership of their hydraulic press systems and keep them operating more efficiently by regularly performing maintenance, from regular inspections to ongoing lubrication. Organizations benefit the most when they follow best practices for industrial maintenance safety.
You also benefit by experiencing fewer breakdowns and safer operations, achieving stable pressure and extending the life of your equipment. Following the hydraulic press machine maintenance checklist presented above will help you get the best results. It’s also beneficial to train your staff on industry best practices as they consult and familiarize themselves with a preventive maintenance checklist for hydraulic press systems. From a cost-benefit standpoint, lubricating equipment and performing maintenance are far more economical than expensive hydraulic press machine repair services. To sum it up, don’t just react to malfunctions — schedule proactive inspections to catch issues while they’re still relatively small and easier (and less costly) to address.
ATS provides comprehensive machinery lubrication services. Our hydraulic press experts are adept at using predictive maintenance tools and interpreting the results of machine health monitoring.
For specialized maintenance services, audits or professional on-site support to optimize hydraulic press reliability and performance, connect with the industrial preventive maintenance experts at ATS today.
