Took a hot hydraulic oil shower the other day.......

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TimberWolf530

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I was splitting last weekend when suddenly a fountain of hot hydraulic oil shot up about 6 feet in the air. I quickly jumped back, and by the time I got my bearings and ran around the other side to hit the kill switch, everything was covered. Turns out the fitting on the hose connecting to the pump failed. Luckily, I had just started to back away when it blew, so I just got spray and not the full force of the fountain. I washed the splitter off all off last weekend. It hasn't been this clean in years. The new hose gets here today, so I should be back in business tonight. It's been wet all week this week, so I didn't lose that much time anyway.
 
I was splitting last weekend when suddenly a fountain of hot hydraulic oil shot up about 6 feet in the air. I quickly jumped back, and by the time I got my bearings and ran around the other side to hit the kill switch, everything was covered. Turns out the fitting on the hose connecting to the pump failed. Luckily, I had just started to back away when it blew, so I just got spray and not the full force of the fountain. I washed the splitter off all off last weekend. It hasn't been this clean in years. The new hose gets here today, so I should be back in business tonight. It's been wet all week this week, so I didn't lose that much time anyway.
I had that happen too. But the worst was when my Bucket Truck did it on the neighbors driveway pavers. Murphys Law!
 
If you work around hydraulic equipment long enough you’ll get a bath in it eventually. Most people forget how dangerous leaks can be , even deadly. I‘ve mentioned a bunch of times that I had a job for years as a hyd. field service tech and had a couple close calls with uncontrolled pressure release. The worst thing I ever encountered was a steel mill with a large high pressure system that had an out a date circuit schematic, turns out a contractor added a 5,500psi accumulator and didn’t update the blueprint. I start working on the system and due to the poor placement of some pilot check and holding valves there‘s a portion of the equipment that stayed energized and I found it the hard way. I alway crack hyd. lines cautiously looking for stuff under pressure but I wasn’t quick enough this time and as soon as I broke the line loose it blew the fitting off and I took the hose end and oil right in then face. The only thing that saved my eyes and a major head injury was a quality set of safety glasses and a good hard hat...and a little luck. The combination of big lines (JIC24) and no gauges gave me a false sense of security.

I‘d be willing to bet hyd. power is damn near as dangerous as chainsaws.
 
If you work around hydraulic equipment long enough you’ll get a bath in it eventually. Most people forget how dangerous leaks can be , even deadly. I‘ve mentioned a bunch of times that I had a job for years as a hyd. field service tech and had a couple close calls with uncontrolled pressure release. The worst thing I ever encountered was a steel mill with a large high pressure system that had an out a date circuit schematic, turns out a contractor added a 5,500psi accumulator and didn’t update the blueprint. I start working on the system and due to the poor placement of some pilot check and holding valves there‘s a portion of the equipment that stayed energized and I found it the hard way. I alway crack hyd. lines cautiously looking for stuff under pressure but I wasn’t quick enough this time and as soon as I broke the line loose it blew the fitting off and I took the hose end and oil right in then face. The only thing that saved my eyes and a major head injury was a quality set of safety glasses and a good hard hat...and a little luck. The combination of big lines (JIC24) and no gauges gave me a false sense of security.

I‘d be willing to bet hyd. power is damn near as dangerous as chainsaws.
This man speaketh the truth. Lots of yellow heavy equipment repairs in my former life. Ive had very short hair since. Much easier to get the oil out! Not missed one ounce.
 
I had that happen too. But the worst was when my Bucket Truck did it on the neighbors driveway pavers. Murphys Law!

Well it could have been worse. Back when I had a hydroseeding business, I had one of those jobs you just couldn't reach. The house builder told me just drag your hoses thru the house. The house was a two story with what is called a sky basement, meaning the grade was to steep for a regular basement so they block up the low side and turn it into a basement. We dragged the hose thru the front door and out onto the back deck. Everything was going just fine until the hose decided to burst right smack dab in the middle of the house. Now considering I was on the back deck and the truck was parked in the front drive, it took a minute or two to get the machine shut off. Probably pumped a couple hundred gal of green hydroseeding slurry all over the stud walls and into every room on that floor. We used shovels to scoop out what we could then brooms and rags to mop the rest. The interior of the house had a nice green tint to everything. I am glad they didn't have the walls or floor finished or things would have been really bad.
 
My dad told of how they used broom handles aboard ship to check for leaks in steam lines when he was in the navy. A pin hole could cut the handle off. true or not, don"t know but sounds like it could be.
 
My dad told of how they used broom handles aboard ship to check for leaks in steam lines when he was in the navy. A pin hole could cut the handle off. true or not, don"t know but sounds like it could be.
I heard the same about using broom handles from my dad about his submarine service.
 
If you work around hydraulic equipment long enough you’ll get a bath in it eventually. Most people forget how dangerous leaks can be , even deadly. I‘ve mentioned a bunch of times that I had a job for years as a hyd. field service tech and had a couple close calls with uncontrolled pressure release. The worst thing I ever encountered was a steel mill with a large high pressure system that had an out a date circuit schematic, turns out a contractor added a 5,500psi accumulator and didn’t update the blueprint. I start working on the system and due to the poor placement of some pilot check and holding valves there‘s a portion of the equipment that stayed energized and I found it the hard way. I alway crack hyd. lines cautiously looking for stuff under pressure but I wasn’t quick enough this time and as soon as I broke the line loose it blew the fitting off and I took the hose end and oil right in then face. The only thing that saved my eyes and a major head injury was a quality set of safety glasses and a good hard hat...and a little luck. The combination of big lines (JIC24) and no gauges gave me a false sense of security.

I‘d be willing to bet hyd. power is damn near as dangerous as chainsaws.
Yep , stored hyd. energy can kill. Happy you had your ppe . Have experienced numerous strato- flex steel braided hoses rupture under 8000# operating pressures,s.... dextron everyhere ! :eek:
 
never check for leaks with your hand. slice off bits, or pinhole injections. search oil injection injuries, really ugly. The petroleum dissolves the fat in human cells and it migrates up. Have never had but have seen the results in others
 
Had a 2500 psi line bust hit me in the face about 4’ away. Took glass and hard hat off could not see for 30 seconds or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Well it could have been worse. Back when I had a hydroseeding business, I had one of those jobs you just couldn't reach. The house builder told me just drag your hoses thru the house. The house was a two story with what is called a sky basement, meaning the grade was to steep for a regular basement so they block up the low side and turn it into a basement. We dragged the hose thru the front door and out onto the back deck. Everything was going just fine until the hose decided to burst right smack dab in the middle of the house. Now considering I was on the back deck and the truck was parked in the front drive, it took a minute or two to get the machine shut off. Probably pumped a couple hundred gal of green hydroseeding slurry all over the stud walls and into every room on that floor. We used shovels to scoop out what we could then brooms and rags to mop the rest. The interior of the house had a nice green tint to everything. I am glad they didn't have the walls or floor finished or things would have been really bad.

Oh my! I've done a crap ton of hydroseeding and am trying not to laugh thinking about the mess you must of been faced with! Cant even imagine. I don't seed anymore. I don't miss it a bit. Dirty work.
 
Had a 2500 psi line bust hit me in the face about 4’ away. Took glass and hard hat off could not see for 30 seconds or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
I had about 15 min. where I was sure I was blind or I had blown the top of my head off and was bleeding out . A couple of things did work in my favor though, the system had been off for hours and the oil was barely warm and the accumulator had never been charged correctly so I might not have got all 5,500 psi in the face!
 
Dang! Another reason to use a SuperSplit! Never thought about how dangerous the fluid could be. Thanks for the warnings.

I did get a facefull of fairly warm antifreeze when I removed my car's thermostat thingy without cracking the cap on the radiator. That wasn't too bad though - it washes off much easier than oil.
 
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