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Reverse Engineering
The Problem:
A prominent company came to Hydraulic Controls Pty Ltd seeking an urgent solution to a worn out hydraulic integrated circuit (HIC) unit that had become obsolete on one of their motor graders. The dilapidated unit resulted in the loss of hydraulic power to the blade slide cylinder and excessive fluid power leakage in and around the equipment causing high-level risk to the Health and Safety of the operator and their client. This issue rendered the grader inoperable so a quick solution was urgently required to avoid delays and mounting project costs.
The Mission:
Our mission was to present two options, one was to repair the existing fault and the other to replace the unit altogether, either way with the outcome of getting the motor grader back into full operation as soon as possible. There were no drawings or schematics for the unit to it was removed and sent to our Headquarters in Brookvale where our skilled Hydraulic Engineers firstly performed functional testing before carefully stripping and inspecting every individual component. They found the issue was caused by broken and worn valving inside the unit.
The Solution
The old HIC was made by another manufacturer and had been discontinued, there were no details of it available anywhere, so our engineers developed the schematic and reverse engineered the HIC utilising new commercially available components whilst at the same time meeting the strict size and fitting constraints of the old unit. We then presented the two options they requested.
- The first option was to design and make a new replacement part for the broken piece as a temporary solution to get them going immediately until a new unit was ready.
- The second option was the design and manufacture a completely new Hydraulic Integrated Circuit with the same working parameters (flow rate, working pressures, etc.) using commercially available materials and components that we carried in stock.
The client is extremely happy and decided to proceed with both the repair and replacement which gave them the short term solution to immediately continue with their project which saved them time and cost, and a long term solution resulting in a new and serviceable HIC for years to come.
