Odyssey with Champion log splitter issue

tomstrees

tomstrees

Participating member
Around a month ago I had a Champion 27 ton log splitter on a job and it stopped working, the control valve would not engage. I think I had it in forward gear, and then suddenly it shot out to almost the very end of the reach they go to when they are working. Mystery as to what the cause was. After talking with the tech expert with the company up in Canada, he had some ideas and said it wasn't the control valve, though some others thought it was.

Fortunately the repair shop we dropped it off at was able to get to the bottom of the issue, disassembled the cylinder end and found the nylon nut that had come out loose and undamaged and then used red locktite to get it back in place. One hydraulic shop said they don't work on "Chinese junk" they can't get parts for.

Next problem was my older brother had gotten a spring, etc. for the control valve which had failed and took it apart without knowing how to get it back together! Then the shop lost the bag of parts he had brought them to fix the control valve! I suggested that they had some responsibility for that, but ordered the control valve which they finally installed.

Another problem on the nearly 5 year old unit with 200 plus cords split is that the housing reservoir for the hydraulic oil has a leak on the top where we lost fluid from time to time. I'm thinking a mig welder would fix that quickly, probably JB Weld is not going to hold.
 
JB Weld has a long list of Saves...probably longer than its Fail list.

The key for these repairs is surface cleaning and prep. I like to rough up the surface to give some edges for the epoxy to grab.

One time I had a winter repair and couldn't get the truck inside. My first thought was to use a hot air gun clamped in an articulating stand. Then...EUREKA...heat magnets to the rescue. Preheat the area and keep the heat on for curing.
 
MIG welding doesn’t like welding oily metal, you may think it’s sealed up but still weeps. Clean clean and clean some more with any repair choice. I’m thinking JB weld is a better option than MIG welding.
 
So sounds like JB Weld would be the best option at this point, vibration always is a concern, carting it around and running it.
 
My older brother said he was using some type of silicone adhesive and would finish with Gorilla tape and if it keeps leaking or the 4 plus inch gap gets worse then will step it up to tougher stuff. It's his unit.
 
If not cost prohibitive, I might try some Belzona 1161 (or maybe 1212) to seal the reservoir leak. I think it will make a good permanent repair. From prior experiences, I have high regard for Belzona products. They're not cheap, but they work extremely well.
 
After my brother used the silicone to seal the leaks; I did a job today where the hydraulic hose held on by hose clamps blew out. Customer who runs his own sportswear company and lives in Westchester, NY and likes to gather wood for annual splitting was actually quite kind about the disaster. I drove back home to pick up the Champion hose upgrades that are wrench fitted. Customer was tolerant of the hydraulic leaks that were well over a gallon on his driveway, etc..

I'm thinking that increased pressure in the system due to brother's sealing the leak with silicone may have led to hose blowout, as the unit before this operate without such problems last week.

Also the hydraulic filter which was oe from Champion blew out. Then I went to Auto Zone and picked up what they thought might work but it too started to leak. I have another Champion provided filter but not sure it will have better success. Also got some adsorbent for the hydraulic leaks on the customer's property and we tried to clean up the mess before the rain tonight.
 
tomstrees said:
After my brother used the silicone to seal the leaks; I did a job today where the hydraulic hose held on by hose clamps blew out. Customer who runs his own sportswear company and lives in Westchester, NY and likes to gather wood for annual splitting was actually quite kind about the disaster. I drove back home to pick up the Champion hose upgrades that are wrench fitted. Customer was tolerant of the hydraulic leaks that were well over a gallon on his driveway, etc..

I'm thinking that increased pressure in the system due to brother's sealing the leak with silicone may have led to hose blowout, as the unit before this operate without such problems last week.

Also the hydraulic filter which was oe from Champion blew out. Then I went to Auto Zone and picked up what they thought might work but it too started to leak. I have another Champion provided filter but not sure it will have better success. Also got some adsorbent for the hydraulic leaks on the customer's property and we tried to clean up the mess before the rain tonight.
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It sounds to me like you are building pressure in the hydraulic tank, or the filter. There should not be pressure in that tank, your cap should be vented.

Try running the splitter with a new filter, and with the cap off the tank. Also, make sure that your hydraulic filter does not have a plastic seal over top of it. If your filter has a plastic/cellophane seal over top of it, fluid won’t flow through it, and you’ll build sufficient pressure to blow things up.

Your silicone seal should not make a difference, unless you plugged up the vent on the tank. From the sound of things though, it really sounds like the clog was in the filter or filter housing. Wood splitters like that push their hydraulic oil through the filter after it has gone through the rest of the system, so the pressure in the filter and the relief side of the system should be minimal.

One last possibility is that some thing in your recent repair got loose, or reacted with the oil, and created a gel or other junk that clogged up the filter and allowed pressure to build up in the system that way. You might want to cut the bad filter in half, to see what it looks like inside. Make sure it’s not clogged with junk.
 
I went to a couple auto parts places yesterday to get a replacement filter; Advance said they could not match it up, Auto Zone did a google search and thought they found a match but the filter started to blow out on me, leak, so I stopped running the machine until I install a good filter.

Thanks for the advice. Nothing like blowing hydraulic fluid all over a customer's property.
 
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tomstrees said:
I went to a couple auto parts places yesterday to get a replacement filter; Advance said they could not match it up, Auto Zone did a google search and thought they found a match but the filter started to blow out on me, leak, so I stopped running the machine until I install a good filter.

Thanks for the advice. Nothing like blowing hydraulic unit all over a customers property.
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Try a visit to an actual hydraulic shop, they should be able to give you a filter that will work for you. Do you need a hydraulic oil filter, not an engine oil filter. Engine oil filters are not made to handle the pressure that a hydraulic oil filter normally encounters.
 
I spoke with Champion a little while ago. They said that the vent is through the oil fill plug which is unlikely to clog. Also they indicated how important clean fluid is though I poured some back into the unit after spilling out. Fram PH9342 or Wix57361 are the right ones the guy said.
 
I'm thinking that the hydraulic oil pressure may be an issue, as filters around a year old usually don't blow out as this one did after the hose blowing. Should I check the hydraulic oil pressure or is there something else to look for?
 
tomstrees said:
I'm thinking that the hydraulic oil pressure may be an issue, as filters around a year old usually don't blow out as this one did after the hose blowing. Should I check the hydraulic oil pressure or is there something else to look for?
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The problem is oil pressure, but it’s oil pressure where there should not be oil pressure. As stated above, cut the blown filter in half to make sure it wasn’t clogged. Make sure the oil can flow freely from the return port on the valve back into the tank, and make sure the vent on the tank is clear and properly venting.

After you’ve checked all that, if nothing seems to be wrong, it will be time to have a reputable hydraulic shop look at it. I really expect though that you’ll find the filter to be clogged somehow, as that could cause the pressure buildup in the low pressure line.
 
Reach said:
The problem is oil pressure, but it’s oil pressure where there should not be oil pressure. As stated above, cut the blown filter in half to make sure it wasn’t clogged. Make sure the oil can flow freely from the return port on the valve back into the tank, and make sure the vent on the tank is clear and properly venting.

After you’ve checked all that, if nothing seems to be wrong, it will be time to have a reputable hydraulic shop look at it. I really expect though that you’ll find the filter to be clogged somehow, as that could cause the pressure buildup in the low pressure line.
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I already opened up the filter and though the filter paper was not white but looked normal for a year's use. I don't think there is a problem with the vent. I'll put a new filter on later as I haven't gone back to the job site since Tuesday. I'm going out there today with a mechanic friend who will troubleshoot and eyeball it. Then run it looking for issues. Thanks for the help.
 
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We got the new hydraulic oil filter on yesterday and the machine ran fine, no problems. But we kept the fill plug loose which does not have a vent hole in it as these are supposed to including the new unit my brother bought with a metal fill plug, it has a vent hole on the side.

When my older brother used silicone to seal the leak on top of the unit it stopped the leak but there was no where for the extra pressure to go. We didn't see pressure in the hydraulic tank to be noticeable though.
 
tomstrees said:
We got the new hydraulic oil filter on yesterday and the machine ran fine, no problems. But we kept the fill plug loose which does not have a vent hole in it as these are supposed to including the new unit my brother bought with a metal fill plug, it has a vent hole on the side.

When my older brother used silicone to seal the leak on top of the unit it stopped the leak but there was no where for the extra pressure to go. We didn't see pressure in the hydraulic tank to be noticeable though.
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That makes sense. By taking away the vent, as the oil warmed up and expanded, it created pressure in the tank. You wouldn’t see it immediately when running it a short while, but if you ran it for longer and got the oil hot, it would build quite a bit of pressure.
 
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