OT sparking oil tank

A customer sent us a picture of the oil tank on his wood splitter with spark from an oil leak on top ofthe tank. This is a Timberwolf with a Honda engine. Ant thoughts on how this would happen?

Mark

What?s the rest of the story? Not enough data to give an intelligent answer. How is the pump powered? by an electric motor? By a tractor? Besides the spark, what are the other objects in the picture? How close are you to high voltage power lines, radio station, radar, microwave antenna, etc?

As I stated above it has a Honda engine which is what powers the pump. I don't have any of the other information in regards to location.

Mark

(quoted from post at 06:00:02 03/18/18) A customer sent us a picture of the oil tank on his wood splitter with spark from an oil leak on top ofthe tank. This is a Timberwolf with a Honda engine. Ant thoughts on how this would happen?

Mark

Click to expand...

WAG - a manifestation of this phenomenon:

Electrostatic Discharge in Hydraulic Systems

TOH

Thank you Dan, I was trying to think how it could get spark from the engine and could't come up with any scenario were the engine would run and have spark jumping at the hydraulic tank.

Mark

(quoted from post at 04:00:02 03/18/18) A customer sent us a picture of the oil tank on his wood splitter with spark from an oil leak on top ofthe tank. This is a Timberwolf with a Honda engine. Ant thoughts on how this would happen?

Mark

Click to expand...

I think the real question is, how did he get a picture of it?

(quoted from post at 07:07:39 03/18/18)

(quoted from post at 06:00:02 03/18/18) A customer sent us a picture of the oil tank on his wood splitter with spark from an oil leak on top ofthe tank. This is a Timberwolf with a Honda engine. Ant thoughts on how this would happen?

Mark

Click to expand...

WAG - a manifestation of this phenomenon:

Electrostatic Discharge in Hydraulic Systems

TOH

Click to expand...

A friend/neighbor of mine had a 10,000 gallon farm diesel fuel tank set up some years back with an electric pump to fill tractors that can take a coupe of hundred gallons of fuel at a time.

Got all kinds of shocks and sparks, and was wondering what was going on.

I was familiar with static-safe fuel hoses, so I explained that to him. For some reason the installer had used a non-static safe hose.

LUCKY it was diesel and not gasoline that would have exploded!

He replaced the hose with the proper one and the sparks and shocks ceased.

Sounds like that's what's happening with that hydraulic system.

Is the filter housing plastic (as it appears to be)?

Here's some details on ONE static-safe fuel hose...

Fill-Rite FRH07520 3/4" x 20' Fuel Hose

8" internal spring guard protects the hose from exceeding its bend radius, extending the life of the hose
Braided copper static ground wire prevents static discharge and ensures safe fueling
Dispenses diesel fuel, gasoline, grease, kerosene and petroleum oils
A blend of nitrile and PVC external materials provide rugged protection against cuts, abrasions, snags, and are resistant against puncture
This hose is designed for use with all electric pumps.

It's a still image from a video.

The filter cap is plastic and it screws into an aluminum housing that is mounted to the metal oil tank. I thought about static electricity but never new it could occur with hydraulic oil.

Mark