Hydraulic Pressure Setup? EX100-3

Hydraulic Pressure Setup?
On an EX100-3 excavator (which I read is somewhat similar to certain JD models)
and I don't know where to begin. I was looking for a manual to understand how to set up the hydraulics, but my search led me here to this site and I know there is a lot of talent here that would know...
Issues that may or not be related:
The new thumb, that replaced a breaker, is weak.
Traveling is weak at times.
 
I've worked on a customers EX100 several times in the past few years, but it's one machine he doesn't have a manual for yet. Now the EX100, like most excavators, has two main pumps. The way the pumps work is that each provides power for several functions. For example one pump runs say the boom, swing, and left track, while the other runs the dipper, bucket, and right track. Because of that, when your walking, both pump flows are merged together to maintain straight travel. If the flows weren't combined, the flow robbed to operate the second function would cause a lower flow to one track than the other, in turn causing the machine to travel to one side.

That said, the best I can remember, the EX100 is also like most excavators in that it has one system relief, and then each function has it's own port relief.

As a result of the way the system is designed, the only way to 'setup' the system is to have the proper tools/gauges to check the pressures and insure all of the relief valves are adjusted properly, and to know what those settings are. Too, it never hurts to have a flow meter that would allow you to actually check the gpm flow off the pumps at the specified pressure. I have seen many cases where the pumps seem to work just fine at lower pressures and temps, but bypass and 'fail' when the oil gets hot, causing a drop in both pressure and flow.

In other words it could be wear in the pumps, or a weak port relief, or even the main if conditions were right, that could be causing the problem your seeing with the thumb seeming weak. The same goes with the tracks. In fact, problems are often amplified with the tracks due to the fact that they always take the largest continuous flow, and often the highest pressure to operate. In fact some other brand machines actually have a two stage main relief who's lift pressure is raised hydraulically just for travel, and then allowed to go back to normal for all other functions.

Another thing I have seen with the tracks being weak is the seals in the center swivel going bad. The one I worked on was working/traveling fine the first time I worked on it. As time went on and it got worked more and more, the tracks gradually got weaker and weaker until it got to the point the only way it would barely move to travel. When I got the swivel out and torn down, what I found was that the seals had pretty much disintegrated. A new set of seals and the travel hasn't had any more problems.

In the end, without a manual to tell you what each relief valve setting is, and the tools to insure those settings are correct, there's not really much you can do. If you've got the tools, then you'll still need the manual because the settings for the valves can be varied between the different functions. In any case, if you've got the manual, all your questions will be answered.

I know this probably isn't exactly what you wanted to hear, but having worked on construction equipment most of my life, it's pretty much all anyone will be able to tell you without having the actual service manual for your machine in front of them...or having done enough of them to remember everything. Hope this helps at least a little, and good luck.
 
Yep, not what I really wanted to hear...the dealer can burn a CD for $150, but helpfully, they said it may not get me the info I want, since I had a breaker and now have a thumb.

The thumb lacking power is the biggest issue.

The travel issue may go away after I check my fuel and review if having the new exhaust I put on will help.
 
I think the one I was working on was a straight 100, no dash, so I don"t know what yours has in it as far as the electronics for the pump controls. That being said, can you go into the computer and change the function associated with the aux hydraulics? Reason I ask is that many newer machines have the ability to make those kinds of changes, and the change will control the way the pumps react to the aux function being used, be it with the flow provided to the attachment, and possibly even the pressure.

If yours doesn"t have that capability, and even if it does actually, you can check the pressure going to the aux circuit by simply putting a guage on one of the lines and them pressurizing it. You can tee into the line and bottom out the cylinder to pressurize that particular line, or simply deadhead the line with the guage, either way will work and not cause any damage to the machine. Typical pressures used with an excavator hydraulic system are in the 4500 to 5000 psi range,...give or take a few hundred psi, but typically on the give side..., so be sure to use at least a 6000 psi guage. With that reading you can then make a determination as to whether the pressure going to the function is low, or possibly the piston seal in the cylinder is shot and bypassing.

Beyond that, I can"t really offer up much more help without the manual. While it may sound like a lot, $150 for a service manual, even one they burn on a CD, unfortunately to say, isn"t that bad of a price nowdays...given that I"ve seen them go for well over $1000.

Good luck, and while I"m pretty much out of info at the moment, feel free to ask any other questions you may have and I"ll do my best to answer if I know, or find out an answer for you if I don"t. Wayne
 
I'm not sure the machines sold in the US are the same as what is sold in Europe but they look very similar,usually machines that are fitted with a breaker use the oil feed from the spare valve on the chest and the return is direct to the tank,all machines with the gas type breaker are plumbed that way here,is your thumb's two lines coming from the main valve chest or is it split out on the stick,if it is and you don't intend to be using a breaker again it would be better and you would have less valves to plumb it directly to the valve chest,about the travel,first thing to check is the switches are in the right mode,there are several different modes on that machine you can slow up the movement of the hoe etc,there is two speed travel,the levers under the floor pan can wear out and not push the valves all the way,with no idea of the hours the machine has done or what kind of life it had it is hard to guess what could be wrong,go to the link below where you can download the specs for your EX100-3.
Good luck
AJ
http://www.hitachi-c-m.com/au/pdf/products/excavator/medium/ex100-3/KS-E113F.pdf
 
Some machines with plumbing for a hammer or thumb have a selector valve somewhere near the base of the boom. It was usually a rotary valve with 3 positions that can be turned with a wrench. They control the volume of oil to the implement being used. For instance a hammer requires volume not pressure. A thumb using the same setting would fast operating but weak. And a shear requires pressure not volume.. You may have this valve and it could be set in the wrong position. Good luck. Steve. S.A. Dygert's. Formerly PD Mechanical
 

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