Elliott boom

[jdragun]

Hi all. We just recently acquired an M43 Elliott boom truck. We have an issue that no one seems to have an answer for, so I figured I'd go here to the people who figure out everything.

The boom has had a hard time lifting anything unless you are boomed all the way in. And now sometimes she will not lift at all. It will boom out and in, left and right, pivot, and goes down, but not up. Shut the truck off for ten minutes or so and it will work again for a while. Same issue from platform controls and lower controls.

Any ideas? Elliott said may be a faulty coil? I have to ohm out and test, but had to get the big truck out to finish jobs today.

Thanks for reading.

John

 

[Gino]

This is gonna sound silly, but did you check your fluid levels ?? Make sure you don't have a leak and spilling out hydraulic fluid. We do and it's inside the arm/boom section and when it's low, I think its called the luff..... is not always what it should be. We hafta check it about once a year. We go over it only once a year, guess it should be more, but we're not putting the hours on it anymore.

 

[jdragun]

Yes, that was my first thought. Fluid was low, but it's full now.

 

[Gino]

Well, as long as you didn't overfill it, then I'm out of ideas. Ours did it on & off for 2 weeks. The level looked fine from the glass window, but when we made sure it was totally flat, it was down enough to cause exactly what you're describing. Oh, and ours isn't an elliot, could never afford one, but they basically all work the same.

Good luck.

 

[jdragun]

We did over fill it by a little, but it oozed out the overflow, the site glass didn't register as fast as I thought. But the over fill was just in the reservoir tank.

 

[jdragun]

And that was weeks ago.

 

[Brandon708]

And that was weeks ago.

Maybe the hydraulic line to go UP/DOWN is bad. Around here there is a company named Pirtek that will come to us to do any hydraulic hose repairs. I would get that line replaced, it could have a leak or be clogged or something.

 

[JBurton]

I was thinking fluids too, if you've filled it and cycled all the cylinders a few times, it should allow air to escape, but if that was a few weeks ago I guess it's done that. Sounds like the fluid is getting too hot? I know there's a temp gauge on ours, never seen it get hot, but that's about the only change that will happen with the truck off for 10 minutes. Not even sure how it should be cooled other than to have enough fluid to keep the pump from running dry.
Can it still winch up a lift at full extension? If not, it could be a safety sensor malfunctioning telling the crane it's over capacity, haven't seen one on a sign crane other than outrigger contact sensors.

 

[jdragun]

As far as heat, we are at the Canadian boarder. Today was 10 degrees. The oil was definitely not over heated. Lol. I was thinking maybe a hydraulic line, but it does work sometimes. I was also thinking a coil on the up down line. I will ohm test then all to see if one is way out.

When you say winch up at full extension, do you mean the boom out the jib crane? This has a jib and regular crane. It won't pick up shit fully boomed out even when working. You have to boom in to get it to go up say all, but sometimes it won't even go up when boomed all the way in now.

 

[Brandon708]

As far as heat, we are at the Canadian boarder. Today was 10 degrees. The oil was definitely not over heated. Lol. I was thinking maybe a hydraulic line, but it does work sometimes. I was also thinking a coil on the up down line. I will ohm test then all to see if one is way out.

When you say winch up at full extension, do you mean the boom out the jib crane? This has a jib and regular crane. It won't pick up shit fully boomed out even when working. You have to boom in to get it to go up say all, but sometimes it won't even go up when boomed all the way in now.

It really sounds like you have an issue with pressure in that line.

 

[Evan Gillette]

Yeah sounds like something isolated to that circuit. If multiple coils/solenoids are the same on the valve stack maybe you can quick swap two and see if the issue moves....

 

[netsol]

possibly wrong viscosity fluid added? diameter of orifices becomes critical at lower temp.
possibly fluid not returning to tank quickly enough

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Solenoid coil. Maybe a bypassing cylinder but doubt it. Evan Gillette is right, swap them around. It's not a hose, 4000 psi doesn't clog. There's usually a breather on the tank and then a filter on the pressure side, cheap thing to rule out. Don't overthink it. Those solenoids stick if it sat for awhile.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Maybe the hydraulic line to go UP/DOWN is bad. Around here there is a company named Pirtek that will come to us to do any hydraulic hose repairs. I would get that line replaced, it could have a leak or be clogged or something.

Pirtek is the biggest ripoff on the face of the earth. The line is not clogged and those people will f.uck you with a tree trunk and bill you for debarking it.

 

[netsol]

Maybe the hydraulic line to go UP/DOWN is bad. Around here there is a company named Pirtek that will come to us to do any hydraulic hose repairs. I would get that line replaced, it could have a leak or be clogged or something.

you can get a hydraulic hose repair made up to replace one at auto zone (although 4000 psi there is a good argument for an original)

 

[netsol]

Solenoid coil. Maybe a bypassing cylinder but doubt it. Evan Gillette is right, swap them around. It's not a hose, 4000 psi doesn't clog. There's usually a breather on the tank and then a filter on the pressure side, cheap thing to rule out. Don't overthink it. Those solenoids stick if it sat for awhile.

4000 psi doesn't clog, but, filter is on the suction side, isn't it? 10 degrees is pretty f**king cold, fluid is pretty thick

 

[Notarealsignguy]

4000 psi doesn't clog, but, filter is on the suction side, isn't it? 10 degrees is pretty f**king cold, fluid is pretty thick

Yeah, I misspoke on the filter. It could be fluid but youd think if they were working all other functions that the even a heavier fluid would warm up enough to be within operating range very quickly. AW46 is rated down to 25F and AW68 is 0.

 

[netsol]

Yeah, I misspoke on the filter. It could be fluid but youd think if they were working all other functions that the even a heavier fluid would warm up enough to be within operating range very quickly. AW46 is rated down to 25F and AW68 is 0.

i only suggested because gino suggested low fluid could cause this
wrong viscosity can cause ODD situations & 10 degrees is a range where it could happen.

 

[netsol]

and, adding some of the wrong fluid causes coagulation which plays hell on the filter side (that was really what i was thinking)

 

[Johnny Best]

“F.ck you with a tree trunk and bill you for debarking it”
That’s a great saying, going to use that with a lawyer I just used.