How Does Outside Contamination Enter Into Your Machine’s System?

May 7, 2022

As an industrial equipment owner, the last thing you want to find in your hydraulic filtration system is contamination.

Finding contamination in industrial equipment is the biggest fear of every equipment owner or manager. This is because contamination ruins the equipment system and decreases their lifespan and efficiency.

Hence, you should use hydraulic filter carts or oil filtration systems to tackle this issue. With these weapons, you can stop outside contamination from entering your equipment.

Hydraulic filter carts and oil filtration systems act as a barrier that stops anything like dust, debris, and other contaminants from entering your machine’s system.

Also Read: What Should You Know About Hydraulic Oil Filtration Systems?

By using authentic hydraulic filter carts, you will be able to minimize equipment downtime and will be able to save a lot of your time and money.

Now the question arises, how does this contamination sneak into your system? In this blog post, we will outline the top 4 ways through which outside contamination can enter your equipment’s system.

Air Breathing Exchange

One of the top ways through which contamination can enter your industrial equipment system is through air movement in and out of a reservoir.

The oil levels in your reservoirs are affected by the use of components such as cylinders in the system or due to thermal contraction and extraction of the lubricant.

So when the oil level in your reservoirs rise or fall, the air either fills that void or is pushed out to make room for incoming oil.

How To Stop It

Since air is one of the top sources of contamination in any equipment, you should use a high-efficiency air breather. If the condition allows, you should use a desiccant breather coupled with a headspace dryer to minimize the airborne ingression in your equipment. Also, always make sure to filter the air exchange with the system.

Seals

Seals are another source of external contamination into your equipment. Whether they are pump/cylinder or shaft seals, all of them can cause contamination in your machines.

When particles like dirt and debris make their way to a seal, then the sealing surface or the seal itself gets damaged from solid particle contamination. This results in ingression, which lets more contamination enter your equipment system.

This damage also creates a leak point. Due to this leak point, the oil in your system starts to leak, which eventually results in oil refill requirements, while the seals and sealing surface continue to sustain damage, worsening the situation.

Once the solid contaminant damages the sealing surface or seals, it starts a non-stop cycle of damage as dirt makes more dirt. Hence, once the seals get damaged with solid particles, it will keep on getting worse and worse until it breaks down your equipment.

How To Stop It

To break this cycle of contamination and stop equipment damage, you should use high-efficiency hydraulic filters to revive the dirty system of your equipment.

Use high-quality hydraulic filter elements, and to increase the life of your seals and sealing surface, you should strive to maintain a clean system around the seals to minimize the contamination buildup around them.

Adding Oil

Adding oil to your equipment is a normal part of maintenance. As an equipment owner or manager, whenever the level indicates that the equipment needs an oil refill, it is your job to add it to your equipment.

But the obstacle you need to overcome is to check whether the oil you are adding to your equipment is dirty or not.

Most people think that new oil is new, but what they don’t understand is that new oil is new, but it is not clean. So they add new oil without testing if it’s clean or not, which leads to contamination entering the equipment system.

How To Stop It

The best way to stop dirty oil from entering your equipment is by using oil filters. The oil filters when added to your equipment will stop all particles such as dirt, debris, and other contaminants from entering your machine.

About Harvard Filtration

Harvard Filtration offers what it takes to meet your industrial filtration needs. We offer a broad range of filtration systems. Hydraulic filtration systems and filter carts are the most trusted and dependable portable filtration systems.

Compatible with a broad assortment of petroleum-based and synthetic fluids, our filter carts can remove contaminants and water to a single micron, ensuring decreased hazardous waste disposal. Select our filters to experience your machine’s high performance. Contact us today here.