Hey guys, i have a question

My Reed B70 pump sprung a leak the other day while pumping on the job. Had to quit and pack up and go clean out. Wasnt sure what happens when you run out of hydraulic oil.

does it wreck the pump? or does it just stop pumping and just idle? I had a 20 min drive back to our yard before i could wash and had the pump running in idle the whole way home. I also checked the level before i left and figure by how much was in there and how fast it was leaking i could make it back.

anyway its all fixed now, but i was wondering what happens.

If there's no oil in the pump mechanism, it will heat and score and burn it up.....$$$$$$$$$$$ + $$$$$$$$$ = 8^(

You done the right thing by shutting it down, two week ago we were doing a 360 yard pour at night and after 200 yards we blew a wiper seal on one of the stroking cylinders for the S-tube my son wanted to keep going but I made him stop fold up and clean out we lost about 10 gallon of oil, and they were able to finish without me it took a little longer, if he had kelp going we would have burned up the pump.

so even if its just idling, with the agitator spinning but not pumping, its very bad if you run out of hydraulic oil?

i know for next time.

do you see that E-stop thing, yea use it.

Why not fix the leak? 99% of the times it's just a bolt or a hose that has loosend.

would have switched it off, a pump with no oil is going to cost you big time.....  and you left a nice trail of oil all the way back to your yard?????

IF THAT HYDRAULIC PUMP IS TURNING WITH NO OIL IMMEDIATELY THERE IS DAMAGE SHUT IT OFF EVEN WITH THE MOTOR IDLING AND JUST THE AGITATOR THE PUMPS WILL BE SCARRED IMMEDIATELY DO NOT RUN WITHOUT OIL, WOULD YOU RUN YOUR CAR WITHOUT OIL ?

Well, I know now to turn it off. My boss and i decided to leave it running because i had to travel 45 mins to our yard to wash out, the mud had .5% calcium and hot water, and i dont think letting the mud harden in the pistons,and s tube would have been a better outcome than running out of hydraulic fluid, but im not sure. We had no wash at the jobsite or i woulda washed out quickly and shut her down. We just didnt know what would happen to the pistons and s-tube if we just let it sit without moving for 45 minutes....and our company's only wash is at our yard unless there is somewhere onsite. My boss and i know now it was more risky than we thought. I had zero training on anything to do with mechanical stuff so when the leak sprang i had to make a dozen phonecalls and discuss what to do. This was what was decided during an emergency we had never faced before...

in hindsite I know exactly what i would now. But without someone telling you, you gotta experience these things and learn from your choices. Im our company's pump guy, i have nobody to fall back on for questions(except here). I know more about running our pump than our bosses, and basically everything ive learned ive had to do on my own, so i can only ask them basic stuff, or give them a heads up on issues.

I get it. I hated leaks when I just started pumping. But let me give you some tips than.

When you get a leak, it can be 3 things. (1) A hose or bolt has come loose. or (2) a hose has cracked/ dammaged. 99% of the times its one of those. Make it your mission to find where the oil is comming from/could be comming from and start fasten all the bolts/hoses that leak/might be leaking. If a hose has dammaged, replace it if you have a spare. (make sure you have the most important hoses spare on the truck. The length doesn't matter as long as the size is right. If you don't have it see if you need that perticular hose. It might be a function you don't need to finnish the job. If not you might be able to just plug it and pump on. (make sure you have some pluggs :-)

In the other 1% it could be something else like a crack in some part or whatever. Than you have a bigger problem. But all the leaks I've had in the last 10 years where all easy to fix. As long as you mannage to find the leak. It's a real kick you know when you mannage to fix it while the customer is terrified that his job is going to hell ;-)

Just one more tip: Make sure you have one of those inflatable baby swimmingpools with you all the time for these kind of emergencies. Blow it up and wash out in this. There is ALWAYS space for one of those if it's an emergencie. You can tell the customer you'll pick it up later. Just put it at some parkingspot or whatever.

If everytime you get a leak you have to stop the job and hurry back to the yard you are gona have a very hard time ahead of you I think.

Anyone disagree with me... Feel free to comment :-)

Good luck mate!!   

I've also found that if you toss a bag of slickpak in your hopper you can drive an hour or two with 2% and clean out safe..... beats sugar

Hello - your local REED Dealer is Joe Mautone...and he's only a phone call away at 403-861-3637. He'll be able to help you out with everything from oil leaks to mix designs. Call him ANY TIME!

Thank you.