Why UV Leak Detection Can Help Save Money, Enhance Safety

Addressing hydraulic leaks as quickly as possible is critical, as even the smallest leak can lead to significant oil loss. For example, a leak of one drop every 10 seconds can lead to 3.4 lost gallons per month, and those losses can balloon to 720 gallons per month if the leak breaks into a steady stream.

Rapid oil loss can negatively influence equipment performance and increase operational costs. More importantly, leaks can also result in safety challenges, including high pressure injection hazards, mechanical hazards, fire hazards and slips.

One of the most effective ways of addressing hydraulic leaks is with UV detection, which enables the easy and quick identification of a leak source. It can be difficult to identify the true source of a leak using standard visual methods, particularly when the cause is a small pinhole or a tiny crack that is not easily visible to the naked eye.

UV detection solves this challenge. By adding a certain dye to the lubricant, operators can use a UV light to see where the dye is pooling and then locate the source of a leak.

In the video below, you can see how the UV light clearly highlights where the leak was originating from the cylinder packing:

 

By enabling the quick and easy identification of a leak source, UV detection can help maintenance personnel react to leaks more quickly, helping them enhance productivity and reduce costs.

And, UV leak detection can help enhance the safety of conducting a leak analysis. In the example above, the on-site engineer was not able to inspect the machine while in operation due to confined space. Instead, the team set up a camera and a UV light setup to monitor the equipment while in operation. This approach allowed the engineering team to safely identify the source of the leak.