No matter how well you care for and maintain your hydraulic systems, leaks can still occur due to age or heavy, continuous use. Most machine operators will know to repair or replace a busted hose immediately, but when it comes to minor leaks, they may wonder whether it’s worth the time, effort and money to fix it now, or if they wait to see if the issue stabilizes. Why do they think this way? Because even the smallest leak will take away from production time. The long and the short of it is that hydraulic systems are not supposed to leak—not even a little.
Leaks need fixing, and like any repair, they will have some costs. Here’s a good question to ask a professional hydraulic service in Minnesota: What is the actual cost of hydraulic leaks? Let’s take a look at some of the primary costs that are involved with a minor leak.
Replacement oil
Topping the list of costs is replacement hydraulic oil. Every lost drop adds up—consider that on average you are losing one drop of oil per second. Over a single day, you could lose more than a gallon of hydraulic oil, or more than 35 gallons in a month, and over 425 gallons a year (this is just for replacement oil)! The average price per gallon of hydraulic oil is about $10, depending on the area you live in, the amount of oil you need to replace and whether you need specialty oil.
Environmental concerns
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has strict standards and policies in place to hold facilities and business owners responsible for oil leaks. The EPA is not likely to be forgiving on such matters. In fact, their policies and fines can only get tougher and heavier. This is all the more reason to check regularly for hydraulic leaks, seek professional hydraulic machine maintenance and make repairs as soon as a problem is discovered.
Hydraulic contamination
Something to take into consideration is hydraulic machine contamination. If oil can leak out of a machine, what’s to prevent airborne contaminants, water and harmful particles from getting inside? But while not all contaminants can be traced back to hydraulic oil leaks, a high percentage of hydraulic failures do indeed occur because of contaminants in the oil.
Cleanup costs
A leaky hydraulic system will cause an oily mess until the leak is discovered and fixed; there’s a mess even after the leak has been stopped. Unfortunately, between routine cleanup and final cleanup, the costs are often left out of the equation, leading to added expenses. The cleanup costs includes devotion to cleanup and the money needed to buy cleanup equipment, like detergents and absorbent cleaning pads.
To learn more about the importance of fixing minor hydraulic leaks, or to schedule any type of hydraulic service in Minnesota, call the experienced team at M & M Hydraulic Company today. We are your go-to local hydraulic repair experts who are ready to help with hydraulic repairs and replacement parts!