SOT: Anyone know of a part # for non conductive AW32 hydraulic fluid?

I didn't know ANY hydraulic fluids were conductive.

If you have a Castrol number, you're going to have to get it from a Castrol industrial products supplier, not from an automotive products supplier.

--scott

Apparently Amilie brand won't certify their fluid as non conductive, and Castrol is the only brand that will certify as far as I can tell. Oh well.

Depends upon the strict definition of conductive. Polyglycol fluids are polar and can absorb water, making them somewhat conductive. The alcoholic end of the polyglycol hydroxyl can react with very active metals whether water is present or not.

Silicone fluids, which I understand have some application in hydraulic fluids, cant do that. Neither can hydrocarbon oils, but their properties might not be so easily adapted to hydraulic fluids.

How nonconductive does it have to be? Alternately, can you use a transformer oil, or does it need particular flow characteristics?

--scott

"hls" wrote in news:NNydnRorLdORhZrWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

Would that be specifically on account of the oxygen bound up in the alcohol molecule?

I'm not sure how non conductive it has to be, but the fluid is being used in Cherrypickers that work on electrical lines. (I'm assuming that's why it has to be nonconductive)

And, is this what causes the hygroscopic nature of brake fluid?

And, why in God's name does anyone use that stuff?

--scott

Because of the hydrogen bound through the oxygen in the hydroxyl group. Metals above hydrogen on the activity series can displace hydrogen. Potassium and sodium react very quickly, with generation of heat and release of hydrogen gas. Lower metals like magnesium and aluminum react slower under the same conditions, but the results are corrosion of the metal involved.

They are cheap, have good boiling points, etc. The hygroscopic nature is caused by the hydroxyl groups on the polyol and by the ether groups in the polymer backbone.

It isnt always bad that a fluid can absorb a little water. If it did not, then any water that might enter the system would be forced onto the metal surface, again creating a corrosion cell.

But as the water absorbed into the glycol increases, the systems can become significantly corrosive, since corrosion is an electrochemical reaction and increases as the conductivity increases.

I'm not sure how non conductive it has to be, but the fluid is being used in Cherrypickers that work on electrical lines. (I'm assuming that's why it has to be nonconductive)

************ I'll bet you are right. That certification then becomes very important for liability reasons.

I would think actual conductivity wouldn't be important, then, since the stuff is going through conductive pipes and conductive metal actuators anyway. I'd think that if you have current flowing through the frame of the cherrypicker, the conductivity of the fluid would be the least of your worried (and the flame point of the fluid being much more important).

BUT, if the customer says nonconductive or the manufacturer of the equipment says nonconductive or the code says nonconductive, call a Castrol industrial products dealer and get them to order the stuff for you. The minimum may turn out to be a drum, but that's okay because you can bill the customer for it and they'll pay it because nobody else in town will have it either.

--scott

"hls" wrote in news:sdSdnVvdf8cdZJrWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

You can tell I'm no chemist. I always thought that corrosion was oxidation, meaning the metal binds with oxygem and changes to an oxide.

You're telling me that there exists corrosion where hydrogen binds with the metal and creates, what, a hydride?