4200xl Hydraulics slow?

[chris deacon]

Well guys my 4200XL turned up. I have filled it with oil with all the hydraulic cylinders at minimum reach but the hydraulics are very slow to me? I checked the motor speed on the transmitter and its running a 23% which is what seems to be the norm but i cant get the hydraulics to move faster. Anyone know how to adjust them?
Cheers Chris

[Stuart]

I don't have a 4200xl, but 23% seems a bit low to me, that's only 1/4 pump speed, try turning it up and see what happens.
Stu

[chris deacon]

Tried that Stuart but it does not effect the Hydraulic ram speed at all. And i have been told by 2 owners that say theirs is set to 23% so that is the standard.

[Stuart]

hmm, not sure then, if turning the pump speed up makes no difference then the oil is not getting to the rams for some reason, doesn't the 4200 have a 4th valve which acts as a bypass?
maybe someone will chime in who owns one.

[andyathome]

Have you got all the air out of the system?

[schmoking]

dont mess with pump speed... or u will get too much pressure.
the 4th valve is a bypass valve yes... it should be mixed so it closes when other valves open.
did u check servo travel, maybe they dont open all the way?

[andyathome]

Also go into radio settings and look at the display screen and see if your sticks are moving the valves to 100 percent open.

[chris deacon]

Yeah i put the pump speed straight back matey. I had a play with the travel too and it does not seem to help? Its been like it since i received it at the beginning of the week.

[chris deacon]

and if i wanted to do 3 actions at once.. Bucket , dipper and main boom i have no chance.

[schmoking]

weird... there must be some obstruction of oil flow somewhere.

[schmoking]

if u look through this post there are some good pictures of the hydraulic setup, i used it for reference a few times.... maybe something is connected wrong

http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=9048&highlight=great+dane


this one got some good info on tx setup...

http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=3709&highlight=4200xl

[Lil Giants]

As Andy mentioned in his thread, he found a switch on the transmitter not knowing what it was for that slowed down his hyds... Mixing Channels switch. Is yours on or off?

You can trace the plumbing to figure out which is the bypass valve (4th valve) & make sure it's turning when you activate 1 or all 3 hyd functions. The pump doesn't need to be on when you're doing this & without the noise of the pump you can hear what servos are working.

Increasing motor speed does not increase pressure, it increases flow. This motor/pump combo is way too big already for this system & increasing motor speed would just make the motor work harder drawing higher amperage from the esc & burn out the esc! Being china electronics, it could even catch fire! no joke.

[chris deacon]

Yeah there is a switch on the transmitter that when i switch it off the hydraulics hardly move at all.

[schmoking]

is it the 3 way mix swich?

[chris deacon]

if u look through this post there are some good pictures of the hydraulic setup, i used it for reference a few times.... maybe something is connected wrong

http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=9048&highlight=great+dane


this one got some good info on tx setup...

http://www.rctruckandconstruction.com/showthread.php?t=3709&highlight=4200xl

Cheers. I will go through all the TX settings when i get home from work..
And something else i would like to add is that the motor does drop in rpm quiet a bit when im operating the hydraulics?

[chris deacon]

is it the 3 way mix swich?

Aux/ Mix / F mode switch

[schmoking]

sounds to me like it could be the bypass valve... maybe it dont close when u open the other valves. it should be the valve closest to the tank

[chris deacon]

Cheers thats something else i can look at.. Anything else it could be? It does seem to get a little faster when it gets warmer... Could it be something to do with the pressure relief valve? How should that be set? Or could it be something to do with the tank vent valve?

[schmoking]

all i can think of is maybe check if the servos and valves were sentered when they was mounted..
especially the bypass valve in this case. if not then check the mixing setup for it.
or maybe reversing the servo...
if bypass valve dont close when u open another valve it would give u half the speed right?

warm oil just gets abit thinner, dont it? then a little faster..

[andyathome]

Also check the radio. There is a little switch on the right. It will shut off 4th valve and give you very slow movements. It is a 3 position switch make sure it is all the way foward.

[chris deacon]

Yeah that's the mix switch and I have that set to N... gone through all the transmitter settings and they are all fine by the looks of it..

[chris deacon]

Ok I have found it seems to get quicker after one battery So it looks like when the oil is getting warmer? The oil I was supplied is a 32 grade so I'm thinking it's to thick?

[schmoking]

i use 32 grade oil in mine, but its the version 1 without the bypass valve and i have a diffrent motor and esc installed. however im pretty sure the ver. 1,5 also use 32 oil.

is it by any chance really cold where u are using it?
i dont think they are suposed to be used in really cold temperatures...
i have used mine in the snow a couple of times and with the
motor and esc i use it doesnt heat up, so it really start to struggle after a while.

[chris deacon]

No not cold at all really?

[osikasculptor]

Hi Chris,

I found you can set it up a few ways;
The way I did it was turn the screw on the pressure relief valve all the way in. Then use the dial on the radio to adjust the constant pressure, which will be only about half way. Mix off on radio with this way. (the toggle switch on right move to lower position) I like this set up as I can tweak the function speed/power on the fly.

Second was is to open the pressure dial up..screw it out then mix is "on" (toggle flip up)and turn dial all the way up on the radio (it controls the 4th servo/valve on hydraulic block)

For even more tips on mixing radio functions and just about everything else you will find the guys on this forum really know their stuff and you will get the right answers to almost any question :)

Hope that helps!


Tom

[osikasculptor]

You probably checked this but (I didn't :) make sure it has "enough" hydraulic oil in the tank!

[chris deacon]

What dial on the radio are you talking about Buddy?

[chris deacon]

I filled the tank with all the hydraulics retracted. Is this correct?

[osikasculptor]

When all is empty.. add oil until the functions are all working fine.. at this point the tank should be about half full.

The dial is the one on the left/ front of the radio. Controls 4th valve and is channel 8 slot on my receiver.

cheers,

Tom

[chris deacon]

lololol... I never even played with that one.

[osikasculptor]

Bet if you play with those few things it will work!
I like mix off and adjusting pressure from radio but lots of ways
to set it up!

[chris deacon]

Ok that dial has no effect what so ever on my transmitter?

[osikasculptor]

I would make sure all electrical connections are plugged in. 4th valve servo is channel 8 on my receiver. When radio and machine is turned on and the pump is off see if that dial moves the servo on the block (or rather listen if you hear it move) On mine the pressure valve is screwed all the way in and this dial then adjusts the pressure with the mix toggle on the right in the down position.

Beyond that it could be the servo or a bunch of other things to track down and trouble shoot? Martin "DiggingwithMartin" on you tube does a lot of repair work for guys who own these and is super nice!

Also lots of guys on this forum who have super in depth knowledge about radios and everything else.. and who are also super helpful!

[schmoking]

how much speed would u say its lacking?
and how much faster does it get when it warms up?
on tx... if u go in to settings then prog.mix and look at mixes that are active,
are uprate set to 100 and dnrate to -100 ?

[chris deacon]

how much speed would u say its lacking?
and how much faster does it get when it warms up?
on tx... if u go in to settings then prog.mix and look at mixes that are active,
are uprate set to 100 and dnrate to -100 ?

Well when I went to use it this morning and it was a little cool in the room it barely moved at all? All the mixes are either 100 or -100

[schmoking]

im running out of ideas on this one...

tx settings are all good
servos are centered with the valves
4th valve will close as the others open
it should air itself out...

could it need more oil? i use the texaco rando hdz 32 hydraulic oil..
does it leak much?

some gunk clogging hoses or valveblock?
motor/esc problem?
pump?

maybe you could post some pictures of hydraulic block and the setup.. or video also of operation.

[Lil Giants]

From what I've read, you filled the oil tank once when you started & that's it... is that correct?

The cyls are double acting - oil on both sides of cyl piston, one tank fill is not enough oil for the system to function.

[doodlebug]

Was the air bled out of the lines??????????????????????????

[chris deacon]

Well I have kept a eye on the oil level and kept topping it up. I have no leaks.. and how do I bleed the lines?

[osikasculptor]

You only need about half a tank full when operating. I would make sure
that 4th valve is moving via the radio. You should able to hear it move
with pump off via that black dial. Even if you use the mix later, if you screw that Allen nut on the black pressure relief valve and 4th servo is working, the dial on radio should speed up and slow down functions. (Mix off/ down position on right toggle switch for this scenario)

[chris deacon]

Right the 4th valve moves fine with the sticks...I bled all the cylinders. There is no Allen bolt on my pressure relief valve and the knot on the transmitter does nothing to the 4th valve...I just ran another battery through it and once I have been using the excavator for more than 20 mind it starts working fine as it gets warmer...

[osikasculptor]

Glad it's working out. Indoors/when warm out, mine is up and running fine in a min or two, so I wonder about that? Not sure what type of screw head your pressure relief valve has but, that and 4th servo on block will regulate pressure/function speed.

[thebigo]

I would turn your pressure up and see if that works, just a little at a time though. Are you usining it in cold weather? or colder temps? if so let it worm up a little.

David

[chris deacon]

All sorted now..just drained the oil and filled with 22 grade and now it's fine..