VF4 hopper leaking everywhere, why!?

[Scoop]

Hi guys,

Would appreciate your help as per picture.

I've been cleaning out our VF4 and as such removed this to ensure it was clean inside. I now CANNOT get the thing to seat properly. When tightening, it kinks over as if the pitch is wrong and coolant leaks everywhere on operation, am i missing something? It certainly wasn't leaking before. I cannot see any evidence of anything split or any breakages.

TIA

Dan

 

[Milland]

Not familiar with this part (I have older machines), but was it tight removing it from the machine? It may have swelled from coolant exposure, depending on chemical sensitivity.

If there's no obvious reason why it's not fitting, remove the o-ring, put the (clean) housing in a freezer, remove after an hour and reinstall the o-ring and then try to screw it in. The shrinkage from freezing may give you the room for easier threading.

 

[Scoop]

Not familiar with this part (I have older machines), but was it tight removing it from the machine? It may have swelled from coolant exposure, depending on chemical sensitivity.

If there's no obvious reason why it's not fitting, remove the o-ring, put the (clean) housing in a freezer, remove after an hour and reinstall the o-ring and then try to screw it in. The shrinkage from freezing may give you the room for easier threading.

It threads fine, does tighten and was tight when i removed it. Its as if it's baggy and does not want to seat / seal properly

 

[Larry Dickman]

i had the same thing happen. O ring was chewed. Got a new one from Mcmaster and fixed right up.
I had to buy 100 of them, so if you feel like flying to SoCal, you can have one

 

[Milland]

i had the same thing happen. O ring was chewed. Got a new one from Mcmaster and fixed right up.
I had to buy 100 of them, so if you feel like flying to SoCal, you can have one

Too bad the Concorde's not flying, he could have made it a day trip.

 

[MaxPrairie]

That is an inline coolant filter. If you look in the bottom you should have some amount of metal dust. Just rinse out from time to time. There should be a plastic wrench right above that sits inside the sheet metal bracket to tighten and loosen it. Anyways, those threads are very easy to cross thread. I have never replaced my orings on the machines that have them but never a bad idea to put a fresh one on. It’s also a good idea to have someone turn on the coolant while you watch for leaks after replacing the filter.

 

[colton_m]

I had the exact same issue with a 2015 VF-3.

I tried to purchase a new plastic cup (thinking the o-ring groove was damaged).

My HFO said it's a known issue and the plastic cups are no longer available. They offered me an upgrade to what comes on the newer machines, $500ish for an aluminum tank with a lid on top. I opted to buy an oversize o-ring instead and that has worked ever since.

 

[MaxPrairie]

I had the exact same issue with a 2015 VF-3.

I tried to purchase a new plastic cup (thinking the o-ring groove was damaged).

My HFO said it's a known issue and the plastic cups are no longer available. They offered me an upgrade to what comes on the newer machines, $500ish for an aluminum tank with a lid on top. I opted to buy an oversize o-ring instead and that has worked ever since.

My 2018 has the aluminum contraption. Looks like on the 15 there is a plug on the manifold you could tap into and skip the filter.