Your regular hydraulics repair person says your machinery is finally at the point where it can't be repaired, and you need to do a rebuild. You don't want any hydraulics failing as that could create massive problems for your workers and factory, but you don't think your repair options have totally been exhausted. How do you know if a rebuild is really the right way to go?

Despite the "planned obsolescence" of many items, the concept of repairing something is still alive and well, especially in industrial applications. Hopefully your repair person isn't jumping ahead when repairs could still be done. It is possible that a rebuild -- rebuilding the broken part of the machinery from new parts instead of just replacing the specific broken items -- could be necessary, but you definitely want to evaluate the advice before taking it.

Frequency of Repair

As machinery gets older, repairs often become more frequent. Take a look at the types of repairs done and the parts they were done on, as well as why they were done. If a lot of parts on the equipment are simply getting so old that they're all breaking, and one repair on each is enough to stop it from breaking again (in other words, you're not repairing the same part over and over again, but just repairing different parts reaching the ends of their life spans), then a rebuild isn't necessary. You're just dealing with bad timing with every part starting to fail at a similar time, and the repairs you make now all stay good for a very long time.

However, if you're repairing the same general parts -- maybe a washer needs replacing, then a connecting hose next to the washer and its bolt stops fitting well, and then the bolt and new washer become rusty and the hose stops fitting well again -- that shows something is wrong with that part of the machinery in general, and rebuilding that section may be best.

Budget Issues

Your company's budget may also play a role. Rebuilding can seem expensive, but if several little repairs have been draining your maintenance budget, shelling out for a rebuild could be fine. But if you don't think that your repair options have been exhausted, the cost of that rebuild itself could be too much.

You may want to have another hydraulic shop take a look at the machinery and give their opinions about repairing versus rebuilding, and go with the majority opinion.

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