Electric/gas 37 ton Northern

[cabinman]

Infrared Heat Senser

If you could get your hands on one of the IHS guns, I think you would find the hot spot in your system pretty quickly, Fire it up and just let it run , full rpms, start shooting your valves and fittings right away, They are extremaly accurate and will detect the difference in fitting tempetures quickly, I paid 49.00 bucks for a new one on ebay, Its paid for its self many times over, I use it around my house to find air leaks and alot of them are found, That other wise would not be found, One of the best 50.00 bucks ive ever spent, Just a thought, Good Luck, E,J,

 

[rx7145]

Interesting, I havent followed the thread from the beginning in Oct, just picked up on it today. I purchased a NT 22 ton splitter back in Oct as well. I had troubles from the start. I bought the splitter and took it home to assemble. I had the splitter all assembled and noticed the hydro filter and housing unit were missing from the crate. I was kind of pi$$ed after spending my afternoon putting it together and was looking forward to playing with my new toy. I called NT, it was a Sunday, and they were closing in about a hour and told them the situation. They said come in and they will provide me with missing parts. It was then when I took the filler cap for the hydro tank off, by chance, and noticed some PAPER, inside of the tank!! WTF, I thought! I took a little "grabber" I have and reached down in the tank and pulled out a sheet of paper 3/4 the size of a normal piece of printer paper. It had all kinds of Chinese writing all over it, like some kind of Chinese newspaper or something. My first thought was what if I hadn't noticed the paper and filled er up with fluid and started the unit. It most likely would have plugged up something and fast. So I put the paper back in the tank and hauled the splitter back to NT. I told them I wanted another splitter because I wasnt sure if there was any more paper inside of the tank that couldnt be seen. Especially in a baffled tank. The guy questioned the Chinese paper in the tank, saying the units are made right here in good 'ol Minnesota. I said they may be assembled here, but the metric bolts say they are shipped in. So I pulled out my grabber and fished around the tank and pulled out some torn paper with the Chinese lingo. He changed his tune and gave me a different splitter.

I got that splitter home but it was too dark by than to use it. After work I the next day I tried it out. It worked at first, but after about 3 splits the ram was getting slower and the detent would't kick out. I could tell the lever wasnt moving forward enough, thus making the ram run slow. Also there was some kind of thick greyish oil coming from the control valve unit. The first thing that entered my mind was there was more of this Chinese paper in the hydro tank and it ran through and plugged the control lever unit. I called NT right away and said I wanted another new splitter. The guy on the phone said they would fix it. I said BS, if you dont get me a different splitter I will simply return it for a full refund and than go back on the floor and buy another one. And I told him he better give me a set of the 4-way wedges for all of my troubles. I took the splitter in the next day and picked up another one along with my free 4-ways. He said the paper in the tank of the first splitter was some kind of label thats on the tanks when they are shipped to the US.

The unit I have how works great, and I'm happy with it. But I just wonder if your unit had some paper in as well and may have have plugged something up as well. Kind of funny your control went out as well. Good luck

WOW! That is hard to believe!!

I wish I had not bought the Northern splitter now. I have not seen any paper in my system so I don't think I had that problem but I don't know what I would have done if the same thing had happended to me. I live 600 miles away from the store were I bought it. I think its time to black list Northern Splitters. :angry2:

Edit: Wait so the tanks are made in the US or China? I thought I was buying a US made splitter?? I saw after I bought it that the Cyl said that it was made in China. :angry2:

 

[rx7145]

If you could get your hands on one of the IHS guns, I think you would find the hot spot in your system pretty quickly, Fire it up and just let it run , full rpms, start shooting your valves and fittings right away, They are extremaly accurate and will detect the difference in fitting tempetures quickly, I paid 49.00 bucks for a new one on ebay, Its paid for its self many times over, I use it around my house to find air leaks and alot of them are found, That other wise would not be found, One of the best 50.00 bucks ive ever spent, Just a thought, Good Luck, E,J,

We have one at work that I could use. It seems like everything gets hot at the same time I don't know if It would find the hot spot or not. I might give it a try though. Thanks

 

[Mike Van]

Reaperman, thats quite a story, good thing you were close to the place that sold it - RX, one thing I found I had trouble with was a hose, I had one made at the local NAPA 2 years ago, got it installed, when I pushed that valve, the engine really labored, not bypassing but close. After taking it all apart, I found the fitting they'd crimped had sheared some of the inner lining of the hose & almost plugged it solid. Weird, but stuff happens. Any blockage like that will raise oil temp. after awhile. If all your oils going through there, it'll do it even faster.

 

[blackdoggy]

I have not bought a northern splitter but I have been looking at them, I did the math on there cylinders and found they are all over rated. Reperman you gave me even more reason now to get my splitter built, nothing on my splitter will be premade in China if I can help it. I find that rather funny that you found a Chinese paper in the hydraulic tank I bet it read thank you for buying from China don't count on this splitter working

 

[Mike Van]

I think your translation is a little off blackdoggy - The way I see it " you be velly velly solly you buy clappy parts made in Shinzou by #1 workers. All Amelicans have too much money, too rittle brains. You likey newspaper? Best to put paper in gas tank, rite paper with match - no more clappy spritter."

 

[blackdoggy]

:jester: Your right lol.

 

[rx7145]

Conclusion

Well the splitter project has come to a close. As you can guess I was chasing my tail the whole time. The check valves were making the heat as well as the oil filter that I put on. When I first got the splitter I put on a two qt. filter that I got at a auction thinking nothing about it. During my heat problem I returned the splitter to “stock” only to find out I had the same problem. It was the filler! It must had been bypassing making heat. I also installed a quick disconncect after I installed the correct filter that also made heat but not as bad. I then returned the splitter to 100% stock to find that the splitter never got above warm. My thinking is that the splitter runs a little warm by design and the other stuff I added was too much.

Anyway I’m selling the splitter now because I want a faster cycle speed and true four way capability. Check out the classified section if you are interested.

Let me give a big thank you to all who helped with this project. I sure learned a lot.

 

[cmetalbend]

ummmm, you gonna break somestuff.

a comealong is a joke for holding the ram.

so, you are NOT going to generate heat if hte internal seals are shot inthe ram. you might lose some pressure, but not create heat.
if you don't believe me, stick a piece of wood sideways into the splitter, and run'er out. you can "feel" leaks. if you don't believe me, put a pressure gauge on teh push side of the ram. pretty interesting what that gauge can show.]
Mostly it shows it doesn't take much pressure to split most wood.

200 degrees is a lot of heat for hydraulics.
until you get to 200, don't worry so much.
suction leaks cause aeration, which causes loud annoying noises, burnt pumps, and foamy oil coming out the top of the oil tank.

I agree comalong is a joke. I've gotten chains caught and snapped them both.

 

[046]

sooo... return splitter back to 100% stock solved the overheating. glad to hear it finally got resolved!

I'm convinced fixed four ways are not a good option. TW5's hydraulic adjustable four way is what I want. with hydraulic lift option raises price to $6k range or out of my budget.

in the mean while, a splitter mfg engineer is kindly helping me reduce cycle times to 10 second range by upgrading to 22 gpm pump. after research is done, I'll have exact part numbers of pump and adapters needed to do conversion. pickup tube will probably need to go up one size.

after I do my 22 gpm upgrade, 5in ram, pump and 12.5hp should match TW5's 10 second cycle times. naturally no way will performance equal TW5 with it's adjustable four way wedge.

I then returned the splitter to 100% stock to find that the splitter never got above warm. ~

Anyway I’m selling the splitter now because I want a faster cycle speed and true four way capability.

 

[cabinman]

Ihs

Well the splitter project has come to a close. As you can guess I was chasing my tail the whole time. The check valves were making the heat as well as the oil filter that I put on. When I first got the splitter I put on a two qt. filter that I got at a auction thinking nothing about it. During my heat problem I returned the splitter to “stock” only to find out I had the same problem. It was the filler! It must had been bypassing making heat. I also installed a quick disconncect after I installed the correct filter that also made heat but not as bad. I then returned the splitter to 100% stock to find that the splitter never got above warm. My thinking is that the splitter runs a little warm by design and the other stuff I added was too much.

Anyway I’m selling the splitter now because I want a faster cycle speed and true four way capability. Check out the classified section if you are interested.
Let me give a big thank you to all who helped with this project. I sure learned a lot.

RX, Did you try the Infared heat sensor to locate the sorce,? T,C, E,J,

 

[cabinman]

Trip,.

Looking at the pics I see both pumps have JIC fittings with long sweep elbows. My brother had the same fittings on his splitter and he also had a heat build-up problem. He changed the the hoses and fittings to regular hose and hydraulic fittings and heat build-up was greatly reduced.

When comparing fittings the JIC fittings had only a 5/16" orifice and the long sweep tubes had a 3/8" I.D. for 1/2" hose. The regular hydraulic fittings had just under a 1/2" orifice.

Iam going to look at my fittings, 3/8, + 1/2 jic sweep and compaire inside dim,.. I remember the last guy that did the dual power splitter model had the same heat pronlem, Iam thinkin I wouldent use check valves, they have to create heat to work,depending on the type of valve u use, I would use gate/ or ball valves instead, I personally dont think 180 degrees is any thing to worry about,..and thats not a comfortable tempeture to be laying your hand/limbs on for long,. Kevin J where you?...Componets will regulate your success as the cheep #### will fail even with correct opperating temps,..hyd/trans temps can and do succesfuly run at the same temps as the engine, Dont sweat it,.. But a little cooler is better,..check your componet, ratings,... Eric

 

[cabinman]

check valve

Well I ran it today with the stock setup using the Honda engine. In one hour it went from 77* to 143*. After 2.5hours it was at 158*. After 150* is seems to gain heat slowly. So now I'm wondering what the normal temp is for a 37 ton Northern?

The orignal set up did not have a chevk valve,.. Did you remove the check valve?...just comparing apples 2 apples,...Eric

 

[rx7145]

Well the splitter project has come to a close. As you can guess I was chasing my tail the whole time. The check valves were making the heat as well as the oil filter that I put on. When I first got the splitter I put on a two qt. filter that I got at a auction thinking nothing about it. During my heat problem I returned the splitter to “stock” only to find out I had the same problem. It was the filter! It must had been bypassing making heat. I also installed a quick disconnect after I installed the correct filter that also made heat but not as bad. I then returned the splitter to 100% stock to find that the splitter never got above warm. My thinking is that the splitter runs a little warm by design and the other stuff I added was too much.

Let me give a big thank you to all who helped with this project. I sure learned a lot.

This was the final verdict.