7 Essential iPhone and iPad Apps for Hydraulic Troubleshooting

by: Ron Durante, Director – MRO Services

In the fluid power industry, sometimes you encounter a problem when you least expect it. You may not always have your favorite hydraulic troubleshooting tools with you when an urgent problem arises. Luckily, if you happen to have an iPhone or iPad, there is a lot you can do in a pinch.

There are plenty of apps available for a small fee (or free) that will help you find and diagnose hydraulic issues before things get out of control. Our service techs are on the road constantly and often use their iPhones and iPads to help solved simple diagnostic problems. Below are seval helpful apps/tools:

1. Big Magnify Free – iPhone and iPad

You can use this to zoom (up to 5x) in on small spaces and component features on which you need to see detail. Snap a photo and you’ve got a permanent record of a typically hard-to-find problem. It’s free and extremely useful.

2. Decibel Meter Pro ($0.99) iPhone and iPad

The first symptom of aeration or cavitation in pumps and motors is noise. This app lets you capture and see both the average decibel level and peak levels – its sensitivity also can be calibrated.

3. Hydraulic Engineer ($4.99) iPhone and iPad

Although it costs a little pocket change, this app is a worthwhile investment. It’s an all-purpose go-to app contains 60 area formulas and 300 conversion formulas for fluid power engineering. In addition, it provides you with many actuator, fluid power and hydraulic tubing formulas, pump and induction motor selection tools, and

vehicle drive formulas.

4. Metal Detector (Free) iPhone only

While working outside, it’s probable that you will drop a small part in the dirt or grass. This handy app (yes, it really works) can help you out of potentially embarrassing situations.

5. Convert Free – iPhone and iPad

No good engineer or service tech should be without a good all-purpose conversion tool. There are many others out there, but we like this one because it’s fast and you don’t need to pre-specify a category before you enter in your units. You can even save favorites and organize them into folders.

6. eSense Temperature (Free) –iPhone and iPad

Although to use this app it requires an investment in an external sensor, it is a great tool to have. You can monitor ambient temperature, oil temperature and individual component temperature at the touch of a button.

7. Eaton Powersource – iPad & web-enabled

As an Eaton distributor and authorized repair and service center, we use Powersource on a nearly daily basis. It provides you with everything from hose crimping specifications, pricing, and delivery lead times on catalog items. It also includes a comprehensive digital catalog. You can cross reference competitor’s products and also search for your local Eaton sales distributor by city, state or zip code.

Eaton’s Powersource is available to purchase from their website directly. There is a financial investment, however if you use or service Eaton products regularly, it is worth every penny.