No matter how fastidious you are in maintaining your equipment, it’s inevitable for a hydraulic servo valve to eventually break down. A servo valve, after all, consists of moving parts that are vulnerable to wear and tear. In time, wear and tear will cause all valves to drift out of tolerance or completely fail.
Unfortunately, when your hydraulic servo valve suddenly breaks down it can cost your company a small fortune in terms of lost man-hours and revenue. It’s extremely important that you get up and running again quickly to minimize the losses resulting from downtime. The question now is this: Should you purchase a new hydraulic servo valve, or fix your old one?
Sending your servo valve out for repair can save you up to 70% over the cost of a new one.
Hydraulic servo valves are praised for their accuracy and high performance. These characteristics generally drive new purchases that can cost thousands of dollars, depending on the model and the manufacturer. On the other hand, ISO 9001:2008 certified repair facilities like Servo Kinetics Inc can often restore a failed hydraulic servo valve to meet or exceed OEM specifications.
The cost factor alone makes it more sensible to have a problematic servo valve repaired than to replace it with a new device. You may argue that it’s faster to buy a new part, but unless the issues with your existing valve are truly critical, buying a new servo valve may be just throwing money away. Although there can be big differences in the time it takes to buy a new servo versus the time to repair the old one, many repair centers can deliver the refurbished servo within a week. And some, like Servo Kinetics Inc, offer emergency 24-hour repair service on a case-by-case basis.
Your old hydraulic servo valve will come out of the repair center like brand new.
Servo valves undergo extensive testing when they are sent to a repair center. They get a thorough cleaning, their seals and internal filters are all completely replaced along with the defective part(s). In fact, at Servo Kinetics Inc, hydraulic servo valves are repaired using brand-new and factory-produced replacement parts that meet or exceed OEM specifications.
In many cases, legacy parts are not just replaced but are also upgraded to the newest OEM specs so they work more efficiently. Thus, when servo valves are returned from the Servo Kinetics Inc repair center, you can expect them to perform as if they are brand new.
Buy a new servo valve only if the old one is beyond repair, and no refurbished valve is available.
Of course, there are occasions when it’s simply not cost effective to repair a failed hydraulic servo valve. In these cases, locating and purchasing a refurbished valve may be your best option.
You’ll want to keep the number of your favorite hydraulic repair facility handy, or save their website address for quick access to price quotes. While a new valve will certainly cost you more than a repair or refurbishment, the cost is still cheaper than having your equipment totally out of service for an extended period of time.
So, should you purchase or repair your hydraulic servo valve?
Ultimately, the answer to this question depends on the failed valve’s condition and the urgency of your need. If you have to purchase a new hydraulic servo valve due to time constraints, remember to ask about a trade-in. And call around to repair facilities to see if they may be interested in purchasing your failed part.