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Update: spent 2 days chasing a hydraulic leak on a barge crane in Morgan City that turned out to be a loose fitting I walked past 6 times
We were doing a dock job in Morgan City and the crane kept losing pressure on the swing. I pulled the return lines, checked the filters, and even swapped the pump, all while the oil kept vanishing into the deck matting. Turned out a JIC fitting behind the manifold was weeping just enough to soak the insulation, so the drip never hit the floor where I could see it. Two full shifts and $400 in parts to figure out a 20 second tighten with a 3/4 wrench. What's the dumbest hiding spot a leak has ever fooled you on?
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miller.paul8d ago
That insulation trick is the worst because it hides the evidence right in plain sight. Had a similar deal on a manlift where the hose was weeping inside the boom tube, so the oil ran back down the tube wall and dripped off a totally different spot ten feet away from the actual break. I bet if you'd wrapped a paper towel around that JIC fitting on day one you'd have caught it in five minutes instead of two shifts. The crazy part is the leak was probably there before you even started the job, just slowly soaking that insulation until it finally showed up as pressure loss. Next time I'm checking every fitting behind a manifold with a dry rag first thing, no matter how dumb it looks.
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