How to Choose an Experienced Actuator Repair Partner

When seeking repair for hydraulic actuators in the turbine of a power plant, choose a partner that has OEM experience and uses OEM parts for repairs. Using anything other than OEM parts can result in reduced component life, forced outage and ultimately, extensive downtime. Service life of the plant’s turbine is critical to power plant operation. Failure of a servo valve, test solenoid valve, dump valve, check valve, or hydraulic cylinder during cycle operation could result in millions of dollars of lost revenue. Partnering with an experienced repair shop can reduce unwanted downtime.

Not all repair shops approach repairs for the power generation industry in the same manner. An experienced repair shop will want to know the following information before completing an actuator repair:

What hydraulic oil is being used for the application?

Mixing of hydraulic oil can cause premature failure of seals and ultimately result in a forced outage or decreased base loading of the plant. It is ideal to have a test plan in place that can test each repair for operation with the same fluid used in your hydraulic system.   

Who Is the OEM of the Actuator?

An experienced actuator repair shop should always ask you who the OEM of the actuator is so that they can properly address any issues with it. Each brand of actuator will require specific adjustments to it.

What Is the Serial Number of the Actuator?

In the power generation industry, each hydraulic actuator has a manufacturer’s serial number.  This serial number is important so the correct parts can be obtained for repairs.  To avoid failure, a repair shop should not try to reverse engineer parts or use non-OEM parts.   

Knowing this information before the actuator repair can determine the approach taken so that downtime can be limited. If these questions are being asked, you may have found a reputable, experienced actuator repair partner. 

EHC experts at Applied Fluid Power have extensive experience with major OEMs like Westinghouse, Siemens, GE, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, and Hitachi.  Our experts are ready to repair your actuators quickly and effectively with OEM parts.  Contact one of our experts today for advice on choosing a repair partner or discuss how we can service your actuator repairs.