I'd like to add an oil cooler to my home built splitter. Can I plumb in a transmission oil cooler? Will it handle the pressure on the return line? Will it add enough cooling to be worth the effort?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Splitter Oil Cooler
- Thread starter sundance
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4seasons
ArboristSite Guru
The return line doesn't have much pressure but it has a lot of volume particularly on the return stroke. While a transmission cooler could hold the pressure it would never take the flow. Whatever size the return line is you would want at least that size cooler or probably a bit bigger to slow the flow down.
That said, if you think about how fast the fluid is moving thru the system (GPM of your pump) and you understand how a cooler works, I think you would need a huge cooler to make much difference. In other words the longer the hot fluid is in the cool pipes the more heat can be exchanged. For example in your car, the radiator capacity is at least as much as the amount of coolant in the engine and there is a huge fan to move a lot of hot air away from the fluid. Obviously a splitter doesn't need that level of cooling but I think you would need 1/4 to 1/3 of your pumps output in volume for the cooler to make a big difference. So for a 20 GPM pump you would want a cooler that holds 5 gallons. That would be the size of a Peterbilt radiator. In those terms I wouldn't think it would be worth the cost or complication. The better idea would be to make the reservoir bigger or add a second tank that is thin and long to both add capacity and give it more surface area to cool.
Now my numbers may be off a bit and I am talking theory, so if someone has done it and has real world numbers, use their experience.
That said, if you think about how fast the fluid is moving thru the system (GPM of your pump) and you understand how a cooler works, I think you would need a huge cooler to make much difference. In other words the longer the hot fluid is in the cool pipes the more heat can be exchanged. For example in your car, the radiator capacity is at least as much as the amount of coolant in the engine and there is a huge fan to move a lot of hot air away from the fluid. Obviously a splitter doesn't need that level of cooling but I think you would need 1/4 to 1/3 of your pumps output in volume for the cooler to make a big difference. So for a 20 GPM pump you would want a cooler that holds 5 gallons. That would be the size of a Peterbilt radiator. In those terms I wouldn't think it would be worth the cost or complication. The better idea would be to make the reservoir bigger or add a second tank that is thin and long to both add capacity and give it more surface area to cool.
Now my numbers may be off a bit and I am talking theory, so if someone has done it and has real world numbers, use their experience.
4 is right in that your volume is going to be large. There are a number of ways to have this system work for you. On one occasion I boxed some of the I beam so fluid could flow through it causing heat loss. You could mount a couple of transmission coolers, but they can not be in series. Most likely you would also need a bypass line. My new build is using two heavy wall tubes at six feet each. I am sure there are other means of keeping your unit from burning up. Thanks
My tank holds about 40 gallons and it keeps the temperature pretty low.
Long warm up time in the cold though.
Larger tanks also keep air bubbles lower with good tank design.
I'm using a ten gallon hydraulic tank that came on a splitter for a fuel tank.
Long warm up time in the cold though.
Larger tanks also keep air bubbles lower with good tank design.
I'm using a ten gallon hydraulic tank that came on a splitter for a fuel tank.
A hydraulic cooler could be made using the tubing and fins from a baseboard heating unit.
klipweld
ArboristSite Lurker
I had this thought on a big splitter I'm working on, take out one of the Allen head plugs out on return filter housing and run it to a cooler. It wouldn't be the whole return flow being cooled but should help. I have steel cooler was robbed from pop machine, think was condenser ? Has like 1/4 in lines, 115 volt fan, could swap to 12volt fan . I read to check fan draw vs stator output on splitter motor . Charlie
Well, looks like my"bright" idea is a non-starter. Some good thoughts on why it won't work above. Thanks for the input before I invested money and time!
You don't need that big of a cooler. I run a 28 gpm pump and an AKG cooler (I think it's a D20 model, but I can't remember, been a while) and that will cool all 30 gallons of the oil I run in less then 5 minutes. I intentionally unplugged the fan to heat the oil (I have built in flaws to add heat into the system) and had the temp to 164 degrees and it was about 80 degrees outside. It took about 10 minutes to cool it back down to under 140 degrees. I'm running AW32 oil, which my cooler was designed to use. Thinner oil heats up faster but it cools faster as well. It's all about the efficiency of the cooler. I have the recharge capacity in my Honda GX630 to run the fan....it's right at 18 amps which is why my recharge is. In winter time, I have a block installed so the wind can't pass through the cooler, so the system will warm up and stay warm, but the fan can still turn on and cool if needed.
The other thing to note, is you need to make sure your cooler can handle the GPM on the return stroke. I have a 3.75" rod on my 5" cylinder, and I hit around 65 gpm on the return stroke, to where I have installed a dump valve that opens on the return, and all that oil bypasses the cooler and dumps right to the tank.
The other thing to note, is you need to make sure your cooler can handle the GPM on the return stroke. I have a 3.75" rod on my 5" cylinder, and I hit around 65 gpm on the return stroke, to where I have installed a dump valve that opens on the return, and all that oil bypasses the cooler and dumps right to the tank.
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Any material that the oil flows through will dissipate heat. Any oil cooler will work also regardless whether it is large or small. However a small cooler will have to have a bypass system so that not all the oil will be forced to flow through the cooler. I have been incorporating a cooling system to my construction which turns out that it is not too difficult. The more cooling available will insure that you are not running oil at 220 F. Thanks
I put a oil cooler on my home built splitter a few years ago. I purchased the real deal oil cooler from Bailey, a hydraulic store in Knoxville TN. It will handle the high flow, has a 12v fan on it, and is small, didn't take up a lot of space on the splitter. When I built the splitter I knew nothing about hydraulics. I built a 22gpm splitter with about a 3 gallon reservoir. It worked like a charm but it got hot enough that you couldn't hold your hand on it, but I thought that was normal. It ran that way for 20 years without any problems. Several years ago I doubled the size of the tank, up to 6 gal. Still way to small and running hot. About 5 years ago I put the oil cooler on it and a oil temp gauge. The oil went from can't touch this ? degrees , down to 110 degrees. Still running strong 30 + years on it. If it's running hot put a cooler on it.
I operated a big john tree spade for 30 years and they have a 500 gallon water tank with a 100 gallon hydraulic tank that is a one piece tank with two compartments (one holding water and one holding hydraulic fluid)
With that much volume of water in contact with the hydraulic tank, the oil never got hot unless you ran low or out of water. It would seem to me that it would be better to use that approach to your application. Make a hydraulic tank that has a water tank attached and then use a raider to cool the water instead of the oil. It should be much easier to deal with low water pressure rather then high hydraulic pressure. However there are millions of pieces of equipment that are hydraulic driven or have a lot of hydraulics and very few of them use a cooler in the hydraulic system. Hydraulics are designed to run with a fare amount of heat. If you cool the oil to much you might lose some power because the oil is thicker at lower temps, so you may have to use a thinner oil. We all know how hydraulics are slow till things get warmed up.
With that much volume of water in contact with the hydraulic tank, the oil never got hot unless you ran low or out of water. It would seem to me that it would be better to use that approach to your application. Make a hydraulic tank that has a water tank attached and then use a raider to cool the water instead of the oil. It should be much easier to deal with low water pressure rather then high hydraulic pressure. However there are millions of pieces of equipment that are hydraulic driven or have a lot of hydraulics and very few of them use a cooler in the hydraulic system. Hydraulics are designed to run with a fare amount of heat. If you cool the oil to much you might lose some power because the oil is thicker at lower temps, so you may have to use a thinner oil. We all know how hydraulics are slow till things get warmed up.
ChoppyChoppy
Tree Freak
220* would be melting seals.
I know this is an old thread but I have been meaning to get splitter temps and I finally remembered to do it this morning.
I ran it for a good 1 2/2 hours splitting some post oak and the air temp was mid 90's with my countyline 40 ton splitter.
I ran it like I normally do at about half throttle in the shade.
The oil pump was running at 133
The oil tank was running at 120
The cylinder was running at 126
The hand valve was running at 115
The pump felt pretty hot to the touch and I would have thought it was hotter then 133 if I was judging by feel, it was the hottest part of the hydraulic system but the laser thermometer doesn't lie.
I'm sure it would run hotter at full throttle but there is really no need because even at half throttle it's plenty fast and doesn't even bog or slow down at all.
I ran it for a good 1 2/2 hours splitting some post oak and the air temp was mid 90's with my countyline 40 ton splitter.
I ran it like I normally do at about half throttle in the shade.
The oil pump was running at 133
The oil tank was running at 120
The cylinder was running at 126
The hand valve was running at 115
The pump felt pretty hot to the touch and I would have thought it was hotter then 133 if I was judging by feel, it was the hottest part of the hydraulic system but the laser thermometer doesn't lie.
I'm sure it would run hotter at full throttle but there is really no need because even at half throttle it's plenty fast and doesn't even bog or slow down at all.
Best to put a piece of black tape on what you are trying to measure, and shoot that with the laser. If you are going by a sight glass theremometer, those temps can easily vary by 10 degrees, so you know. Mine will read 20 degrees difference from the temp sensor that's in my oil cooler. Half throttle has a lot to do with it, as you're not getting the flow you could have, therefore less heat.
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Everything is painted black, I don't think black tape is going to change the outcome.
Would love to see more pictures of your VW splitter....
Just saying that you can get some false readings with that, even if it's painted black.
Here are a few pictures of the VW splitter. It is in one of the "show us your splitter" threads somewhere on this site. It's also actually in the January 2019 edition of "Hot VW's " magazine.
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that's awesome, love the piston/cup holder!
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