We have tested this when the museum is closed so the lift hasn't been used and the oil is already completely cool.
The lift doesn't have a leaky oil canister and doesn't have a scavenger line hooked up to the barb fitting on the bottom casing either.
When we conduct these tests we are doing it over the few days that the museum is closed.
If it is the ram seals, it could only be from over use. We fitted new seals in 2018 and the museum was closed in 2019 and 2020 due to covid so if it is the seals, they have only lasted 4 years in theory.
The duty cycle Bucher have recently told us that this specific lift is good for with the oil cooling system is 80 runs per hour and we have checked the run count last summer and it was on average 120 runs per hour without a break.
It would surely be deteriorating the seals from this kind of use. When the lifts were installed and the museum was opened 13 plus years ago they had under specd the lifts for the amount of use they would endure and then in 2018 the seals were replaced and then after covid the amount of use has only gone up more each year.
The only other thing we haven't checked when the ball valve is closed is the rupture valve for leaking because after the ball valve it's only the cylinder stages, rupture valve and ball valve in play.
