Blew a swing valve seal on the Meramec job last Tuesday

We were pushing a 12 inch cutterhead through that clay layer and the seal just gave, shot hydraulic oil everywhere. I had to shut down mid-shift and rig a bypass with a spare hose, took 4 hours. Anyone else carry spare seals for the older swing valves or do you just wait for the rebuild kit?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowanw9120d ago

the trick is to keep a couple of the older style seals in your gang box even if the rebuild kit is on order, theyre cheap and take up no room. i learned that the hard way after a blowout on a job down in Arkansas where the nearest supplier was 2 hours out. rigging a bypass works in a pinch but it never holds long term, you always end up losing pressure at the worst moment. so yeah, i carry spares now for every machine that still has the old swing valve. also check the o rings on the bypass fitting when you do that, theyre usually the first thing to go.

jessica33120d agoMost Upvoted

You ever notice how the o rings always go right when you're elbow deep in a machine and the sun's going down? Reminds me of a time I traded a guy a pack of smokes for a spare seal off his rig just to finish a job.