Bought a new porta power style press to replace the old well used and abused hydraulic jack beastie. The press head is belled and doing dimples means three seperate goes to get them square. Also when using it with the bender / folder it got a bit random because of the style of press it was.
Got the new one home and bolted together and the thing poured oil out all over the press and floor. And that was at zero pressure. So after confirming a new ram was forthcoming and I could keep this I had a bit of a look at the gizzards.
This copper seal is the final pressure seal at the bottom where the sacrificial cylinder shaft cap is attached.
Almost half never made contact with the cylinder. The bolt was partially stripped as well. Had a look and the cylinder was poorly machined and you can see from the surface of the washer that the finish was poor too.
So I softened the washer again and used some high pressure hydraulic sealant and so far ok to 10t. Will test it out to 25t tomorrow.
Hopefully the replacement ram is ok because I doubt tbis will stay sealed for long. The old press is moving on to a mate's shed so it will be available as a back up if needed. Will cut off the sad bits and should be ready for another 20 years.
