The
Seven Biggest Mistakes That People Make When Choosing Who To Repair
Their Hydraulic Cylinder.
Mistake
#1
Give It To A Hydraulic Hose Company.
This
is a very common mistake. After all, you would think that companies
who replace hydraulic hoses, would know how to repair hydraulic equipment,
right?
Wrong.
These companies, most of whom provide a very good service, are hose
specialists.
They
do not know how to repair rams.
However , they almost always promise the Customer, (you), that they
will repair the cylinder themselves. They take it back to their depot
in their lovely vans. They throw it on the floor and then make a few
phone calls.
They call hydraulic repair companies, (like us) and ask them for their
cheapest price, (see next mistake), to repair the cylinder.
This is fair enough. After all, they are in business to make money.
Typically, they will 'double up' on the price.
The problem is this.
The cheapest price is almost always achieved by cutting corners.
Which means poor quality workmanship, poor quality materials and the
almost inevitable cylinder failure in the near future.
Mistake
#2
Get The Cheapest
Price
We
can quote on any hydraulic cylinder repair and be the cheapest every
single time. But we don't.
But it is easy if we wanted to.
In fact, for the unscrupulous, repairing hydraulic cylinders cheaply
can be a license to print money.
For Example: To repair a hydraulic cylinder properly could cost, say,
£300. That would be £300 for us to strip down, assess, repair
and test the cylinder to a standard where we could Guarantee that the
cylinder would not fail in any way for the next twelve months.
More often than not, we could repair that same ram for £75 and
it would still leave our workshop in working order.
But it will
leak in the very near future. Usually before the customer has paid us.
And at this point, the extremely irate customer has forgotten all he
said about 'I want the cheapest price,' and 'Quality doesn't matter'.
Quality does cost a little bit more, but it is worth it.
Do it once. Do it right.
Mistake
#3
Give
It To The 'Local' Engineering Company
Most
'local' engineering companies are good at what they do. That is providing
an all-round engineering service.
But hydraulic cylinders are different. Very different.
We know from bitter experience, over the years, that unless the engineer
knows exactly what tolerances and surface finishes the cylinder should
be manufactured to, the cylinder will fail.
Usually with expensive consequences.
So to avoid any possible mistakes, even by experienced and well meaning
engineers, we never, ever, farm our work out to other engineering companies.
And besides, almost all 'local' engineering companies have no test facilities.
Which means that the first you know of your cylinder leaking again,
is when it is back on the machine.
Not recommended.
Mistake
#4
Have A Go At It Themselves
It
is understandable. After all, it might 'cost a fortune', and it can't
be that hard to 'fit a few seals', can it?
Their may be the odd occasion when it actually would be prudent to 'fit
your own seals'. As long as the person knows exactly what they are doing
and their are no safety issues at all.
Everybody is happy to save money.
Everybody is happy to get the equipment going as soon as possible.
But always, always ask yourself this.
Who will get the blame if something goes wrong? (And sadly, they do
go wrong. Often with terrible cosequences.)
Recently, four men were killed in Cumbria because a simple hydraulic
failure.
More often than not, it is not worth fixing it yourself.
Mistake
#5
Give It To The 'Nearest' Hydraulic Repair Company
It
makes sense doesn't it? You want your cylinder back as soon as possible.
Your equipment is 'off-the-road', so you can't waste a single hour longer
than necessary to 'get it fixed and back on the machine'.
Fatal.
Please understand this. More often than not, it only actually takes
a few hours to repair a cylinder. Most hydraulic companies do not like
stocking expensive, seals, chrome rods and cylinders. So they only order
chrome rod and seals when they actually know they are going to use them.
So they, in turn, keep their customers waiting for days or even weeks,
as they wait for the stock to arrive.
So,
if your 'nearest' hydraulic repair company say they have all the chrome
rods, seals and cylinders in stock, go down to their premises and check
that they actually have. If they have, great.
If they haven't, but are 'expecting a delivery', forget it. You might
be waiting for weeks.
We stock (almost) every size of chrome rod that it is possible to buy.
We stock over 15,000 hydraulic seals. If we do not have yours in stock,
we will have them by tomorrow morning. Guaranteed.
Mistake
#6
Give It To The Main Dealer Who Supplied The Equipment.
All main dealers make most of their money from
A) service hours
B) spare parts
As hydraulic cylinders are classed as spare parts, it is in their interest
to sell you a new or reconditioned hydraulic cylinder. They might even
get one of their expensive service engineers to fit it for you.
More often
than not, main dealers then give the cylinder to the likes of us to
repair. They then give it back to you, often at a 100% mark up.
The choice is yours.
Mistake
#7
They Can't Make Their Mind Up, So They 'Leave It'.
If
you are going to sell the machine next week, and you can Guarantee that
Health and Safety Law, or Environmental Law is not compromised, then
it might be OK.
But usually, leaving a cylinder to leak
is a bad idea. The best thing to do is this.
Plan when the machine is not going to be used, or when downtime will
cause little disruption.
Then find a company who will guarantee to repair the cylinder and get
it back to you as soon as is humanly possible.
It is simple and it will be worth it.
To get your business running as smooth as possible -
Please get your ram to us as FAST possible -
send to:
Redgold Hydraulics Ltd
Units 5 &5A Bradley Hall Estate
Standish, Wigan
Lancs
WN6 0XQ
Every one of us is unique, so it is possible that we have not answered all your questions on this web site.
So please feel free to call us.
Remember- we are here to Help You.
01257 425917
Call us anytime.
You can also e-mail us on
redgoldhydraulics@yahoo.co.uk
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The Seven Hydraulic Cylinder Mistakes 
