BX2200 BXpanded pressure tester issue

[JeremyBX2200]

I had purchased a hydraulic pressure test kit from BXpanded to check the pressure on a BX2200 I bought. For some reason I can't get a reading. Since the tractor is older it does not have the 4 quick connect setup like in the instructions. It has 3 of them. The gauge in the kit only fits on 2 of the male connectors and I believe it is on the wrong side of the unions to test the pressure. It is on the hose size. I have included picture for reference.

1. The hardline coming out of the tractor on the right side is a male, but a smaller nipple so the gauge won't connect
2. The hardline coming out of the tractor on the left side is a female. I can connect the gauge to the male part of the union coming back from the loader but I get no pressure reading regardless of the FEL function I try. One of the functions just doesn't work.
3. The 3rd union is up on the FEL by the joystick. the left side of the union is the female part. I can connect the gauge to the male fitting on the hose on the right but I get no pressure reading regardless of the FEL function I try. One of the functions just doesn't work.

Does my setup require an adapter of some kind or am I just missing something?

 

[ehenry]

You will have to get the male nipple for your gauge and test from the female hard line that is next to the flex line with the wear sleeve on it. Attach the gauge with the the tractor shut down and all pressures relieved by working joy stick and 3pt lever.

I have a BX22 and bought the same kit you did. I had to replace the female fitting that came with the kit with a male fitting.

 

[whitetiger]

I had purchased a hydraulic pressure test kit from BXpanded to check the pressure on a BX2200 I bought. For some reason I can't get a reading. Since the tractor is older it does not have the 4 quick connect setup like in the instructions. It has 3 of them. The gauge in the kit only fits on 2 of the male connectors and I believe it is on the wrong side of the unions to test the pressure. It is on the hose size. I have included picture for reference.
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1. The hardline coming out of the tractor on the right side is a male, but a smaller nipple so the gauge won't connect
2. The hardline coming out of the tractor on the left side is a female. I can connect the gauge to the male part of the union coming back from the loader but I get no pressure reading regardless of the FEL function I try. One of the functions just doesn't work.
3. The 3rd union is up on the FEL by the joystick. the left side of the union is the female part. I can connect the gauge to the male fitting on the hose on the right but I get no pressure reading regardless of the FEL function I try. One of the functions just doesn't work.

Does my setup require an adapter of some kind or am I just missing something?

On your tractor, the supply hoses to the loader MUST either be connected to the loader valve or looped together to run the engine. When you unplug one hose and run the engine, the hydraulic oil has nowhere to flow and blows the relief valve.
You will need a Tee, a male, and a female coupler so you can put the gauge into the circuit. You can then read the pressure by rolling the bucket all the way back and read the pressure. Do not blow your relief valve for more than a couple of seconds or serious damage can occur.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

You will have to get the male nipple for your gauge and test from the female hard line that is next to the flex line with the wear sleeve on it. Attach the gauge with the the tractor shut down and all pressures relieved by working joy stick and 3pt lever.

I have a BX22 and bought the same kit you did. I had to replace the female fitting that came with the kit with a male fitting.

Thanks. I emailed BXpanded and they are sending me a male adapter to replace the female that is on the gauge free of charge. In my email I had sent them the same pictures I posted here and was told to test the pressure at the port you described.

I was happy with the service I received from them. They called me directly to ask some additional questions and then took the time to walk through the process with me.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

On your tractor, the supply hoses to the loader MUST either be connected to the loader valve or looped together to run the engine. When you unplug one hose and run the engine, the hydraulic oil has nowhere to flow and blows the relief valve.
You will need a Tee, a male, and a female coupler so you can put the gauge into the circuit. You can then read the pressure by rolling the bucket all the way back and read the pressure. Do not blow your relief valve for more than a couple of seconds or serious damage can occur.

Just to make sure I understand what you are saying.

If I don't create a loop for the hydraulic fluid by using a T adapter to put the gauge in the loop I will be dead heading the hydraulic system. This causes the pressure to build until the relief valve opens.

What damage can occur if the relief valve runs for longer than a couple of second?

 

[ehenry]

You don't need to operate the FEL valve if you attach the gauge to the supply line to the FEL (middle hose). The Hydraulic system will go right into relief as soon as you turn the tractor on. This is actually what you want, you are setting the relief valve back by the rear wheel which is fed directly from the pump. There are no hydraulic lines on the tractor that don't first go through the primary relief valve behind the left rear tire. Add some shims and have at it to get more performance. I have mine set just a tic over 2000 PSI for some time now.

I will say this though, my BX had some age on it before I shimmed the relief valve. It was 16 years old and mostly all original hoses. The higher pressure did find the old weak hoses and seals on the cylinders. Thankfully they didnt all start leaking at once. Over time they have all mostly been replaced and

 

[whitetiger]

Just to make sure I understand what you are saying.

If I don't create a loop for the hydraulic fluid by using a T adapter to put the gauge in the loop I will be dead heading the hydraulic system. This causes the pressure to build until the relief valve opens.

What damage can occur if the relief valve runs for longer than a couple of second?

Just damage to the relief valve or hydraulic pump.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I will say this though, my BX had some age on it before I shimmed the relief valve. It was 16 years old and mostly all original hoses. The higher pressure did find the old weak hoses and seals on the cylinders. Thankfully they didnt all start leaking at once. Over time they have all mostly been replaced and

Mine is older. I am tempted to have new hosed on hand just incase

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Just damage to the relief valve or hydraulic pump.

Well that doesn't sound like it would be pleasant

 

[JeremyBX2200]

BXpanded sent me the male nipple for free.

Finally got around to testing the pressure. It was low and running about 1600psi. Used a few of the shims included in the kit and bumped it up to 2000psi. Gonna keep an eye on FEL hoses with the increased pressure. I am thinking with the increased pressure I will end up having to replace the hoses at some point.

 

[ehenry]

Jeremy, how is your BX2200 since you shimmed the relief valve? Have you noticed much difference in anything?

 

[JeremyBX2200]

Jeremy, how is your BX2200 since you shimmed the relief valve? Have you noticed much difference in anything?

It does seem to have more lifting/curling force.

I was able to do more with it when I was digging around and removing a large dead stump I had been working on. I was also able to move the pile of dirt I had to backfill the empty hole the stump created.

It was also easier to demo the old camper I had with it. I use the lifting and curling function to do break apart the wooden walls after removing the outside metal.

So far I have not sprung any leaks, although my hydraulic hoses are old....so I expect to have to replace them at some point.

The added lifting/curling force did highlight my need for rear ballast.

 

[ehenry]

I know what you mean. I have to be careful with my BX22 loader when I dont have the backhoe mounted.

 

[DustyRusty]

I never messed with the pressure of my BX22, but I did replace almost 50% of the hoses on my tractor over the years because of leaks. I would replace them as needed, and when I sold the tractor, all the back hoe rubber hoses were original. It was always loader hoses that gave me problems.

 

[TheOldHokie]

Well that doesn't sound like it would be pleasant

You should have no problem running the pump against the relief valve. That is exactly what happens when you "curl" the bucket and hold it. I would not reccomend running it that way for extended times but a couple minutes is exactly what the relief system is designed to to accommodate.

Dan

 

[whitetiger]

You should have no problem running the pump against the relief valve. That is exactly what happens when you "curl" the bucket and hold it. I would not reccomend running it that way for extended times but a couple minutes is exactly what the relief system is designed to to accommodate.

Dan

10 to 15 seconds is the absolute maximum a relief valve should be allowed to blow without letting it cool down. Blowing it for longer periods can and does destroy relief valves and pumps, but it is very very good for our business.

 

[TheOldHokie]

10 to 15 seconds is the absolute maximum a relief valve should be allowed to blow without letting it cool down. Blowing it for longer periods can and does destroy relief valves and pumps, but it is very very good for our business.

I guess we have a difference of opinion and experience.

A small displacement (< 2 CID) mobile equipment gear pump is typically rated for 3000+ PSI continuous duty. It will run all day at that pressure and for short periods of time at pressures around 3500 PSI with no problem. You are not going to damage it running it against a 2500 PSI relief valve for a few minutes.

Similarly system over pressure relief valves will and do run a lot longer than 15 seconds at their designed cracking pressure and flow capacity before they fail. They are nothing more than a spring and poppet. It takes a lot of heat build up to make that spring fail and I have seen more than one mis-plumbed systems where the the pump has run against the relief valve for days going on months with no damage to the valve or pump. Live hydraulic conversions used on antique N-series Ford tractors even do that by design and have been operating fine for decades. I have built and sold dozens of them. Its not good practice but it isn't cataclysmic either.

A typical AG tractor hydraulic system has a roughly 1:1 reservoir to flow capacity design so it cannot sustain continuous operation at full pressure and flow for extended periods of time without overheating the oil and possibly damaging system components. But it can and occasionally does run a lot longer than 15 seconds at full pressure with negligible rise in oil temperature. To be more specific I consider 80C to be the maximum safe operating oil temperature in most AG tractor hydraulic systems. That also assumes the oil viscosity does not fall below the minimum required for proper lubrication of moving parts. A quality ISO 48 oil should handle that temperature with no problem but lighter grades or low quality oil may not. Kubota Super UDT2 has a viscosity of 37 cSt @ 40C so it is just over the upper bound of an ISO 32 oil and IMO marginal for operation at that temperature.

JMHO. thoughts, and experience,

Dan

 

[jimz49]

I know this is an older thread, but I have a question about where to connect the gauge on my 2003 BX2200. I recently purchased the gauge from BXpanded and received the gauge with a female fitting attached and a separate male fitting. I tried the male fitting in the center line shown in the original poster's picture and it wouldn't fit. I don't have my FEL attached to the tractor and thought I wouldn't need it attached to check the pressure. First, do I need the FEL attached? And secondly, it would be helpful if I could see a picture of the gauge attached to the proper fitting on a BX2200. Thanks for any and all help offered.

 

[JeremyBX2200]

I know this is an older thread, but I have a question about where to connect the gauge on my 2003 BX2200. I recently purchased the gauge from BXpanded and received the gauge with a female fitting attached and a separate male fitting. I tried the male fitting in the center line shown in the original poster's picture and it wouldn't fit. I don't have my FEL attached to the tractor and thought I wouldn't need it attached to check the pressure. First, do I need the FEL attached? And secondly, it would be helpful if I could see a picture of the gauge attached to the proper fitting on a BX2200. Thanks for any and all help offered.

It has been a while since I tested mine, but I believe I did it with my FEL attached.

Does the male fitting supplied match up with the same style/size as the one on the tractor. With it being older maybe it has changed. I think I sent BXpanded a pic of the connectors I had.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I know this is an older thread, but I have a question about where to connect the gauge on my 2003 BX2200. I recently purchased the gauge from BXpanded and received the gauge with a female fitting attached and a separate male fitting. I tried the male fitting in the center line shown in the original poster's picture and it wouldn't fit. I don't have my FEL attached to the tractor and thought I wouldn't need it attached to check the pressure. First, do I need the FEL attached? And secondly, it would be helpful if I could see a picture of the gauge attached to the proper fitting on a BX2200. Thanks for any and all help offered.

If your goal is to test the tractor supply pressure you do not need or even want the loader in the circuit.

With the tractor shut down connect the gauge to the pressure supply line for the loader. Start the tractor and read the pressure then shut the tractor down and remove the gauge.

That reading is the pump pressure supplied by your tractor.

Dan