“There’s more to great customer service than meeting a person face-to-face or talking to someone on the phone. We try to incorporate features and conveniences into our machine designs that save our customers time and effort.”

Maintaining clean hydraulic fluid is a major factor in prolonging the service life of Geoprobe® direct push machines. The complex and sensitive components of today’s 66- and 77-Series machines place considerable demand on the hydraulics, making fluid cleanliness more important than ever. Two new features added to the hydraulic systems of these machines are a reservoir clean-out cover and a hydraulic pressure filter. These components enable operators to easily and effectively protect the hydraulic system from the damaging effects of foreign materials and other contaminants.

New Hydraulic Pressure Filter. As the name implies, the hydraulic pressure filter is located on the pressure side of the hydraulics just after the pump. Foreign materials, created by normal wearing of hydraulic components, may settle and accumulate in the reservoir. Because of its location directly after the pump, the pressure filter is able to remove these materials before they reach the various hydraulic components. “The design of this system allows us to capture contaminants as soon as they come out of the pump,” Darren explained. A separate filter is still employed for the low-pressure fluid returning to the reservoir. As a result, the hydraulic fluid is now filtered both before and after flowing through the system components.

The pressure filter for the track-mounted machines is unique in that a specific replacement interval is not necessary for the filter element. Electronic sensors at the filter inlet and outlet measure fluid pressure before and after the filter. The pressure differential (or pressure drop) across the filter increases as trapped dirt particles and foreign materials restrict flow through the filter element. When the electronics sense that the pressure drop is sufficient to warrant replacing the filter element (PN 28827), a red lamp illuminates signaling the operator that service is required. This eliminates the need to keep track of filter changes and the probability of missing a service date. Darren added, “we’ve taken the guesswork out of the equation.”

New Reservoir Clean-out Cover. In order to remove settled dirt and contaminants, the Geoprobe® Service Team recommends wiping the bottom of the hydraulic fluid reservoir with clean rags whenever the reservoir is drained to replace the fluid. In the past, this has been a cumbersome and dreaded procedure for the maintenance staff. This is where the benefit of the clean-out cover becomes obvious. Removing the clean-out cover from the side of the reservoir provides easy access to the reservoir floor and makes an otherwise messy job relatively quick and painless to perform. Making the job of clean-out easier and simplier promotes better and regular maintenance for your machine.

“Keeping your Geoprobe® machine in excellent operating condition is our goal,” Darren concluded. “You’ve made an investment by purchasing the machine, and we want to keep your investment paying dividends for your company.”