Hydraulic Crane Fault Troubleshooting

A North Sea Operator approached MDL with a time-sensitive request to provide a Hydraulic Supervisor to assist with a crane fault on a platform crane’s main hoist. The crane was out of service and had been for several weeks prior to MDL’s arrival on the platform. Various troubleshooting attempts had been carried out by a third party during the crane’s downtime before MDL joined the platform and initially MDL was simply expected to provide additional manpower.

Within a few hours of landing on the platform, the MDL technician reviewed the hydraulic schematics and compared them to the onsite hydraulic arrangement identifying an incorrectly fitted shuttle valve as the issue. The pilot valve was removed and refitted before MDL carried out checks to prove the main hoist was functioning correctly; there we discovered a second fault which prevented the brakes from releasing on the main hoist. This was caused by a valve that had been fitted the wrong way around.

Thanks to our vast in-house expertise and hydraulic heritage, within the span of 3 days MDL was able to solve this ongoing issue that had been preventing the crane from being used for any heavier lifting operations. This was critical as the weight restrictions on what the operator could have taken onboard the platform could have resulted in significant delays and cost incurrences.