Akron Hydraulic announces a cost-effective new service that helps extend equipment life, a particularly welcome benefit at a time when equipment managers are in "maintenance mode" due to the current economic conditions.

Akron Hydraulic has launched a nationwide program to restore hydraulic directional control valves, which are found on nearly every piece of heavy equipment, including pavers, excavators, dozers and drilling machines. Control valves are essential to productivity in the construction industry. Equipment owners will spend significantly less money rebuilding these valves to like-new tolerances instead of replacing them.

"In today's economy, equipment managers are looking to extend the life of their fleet and not spend a fortune doing it," says Mitch Langford, service manager at Akron Hydraulic. "Most equipment managers start drawing the line on repairs and parts when the cost approaches 50 percent of the equipment's value. This percentage can be expected to go up as the economy slows and capital expenditures tighten."

What control valves do
Control valves direct hydraulic pressure to where the operator needs it to go to do the job. These valves stop, start and direct fluid flow. Whenever a cylinder moves on an excavator boom or a hydraulic motor turns dozer tracks, control valves direct the speed and result of the work.

"Hydraulic pressure is a very powerful force, but it's not 'intelligent,'" Langford says. "Oil will always follow the path of least resistance. This is why the tolerances inside a control valve are so tight - up to 0.0005 inch, which is one-tenth the width of a human hair."