{"id":2720,"date":"2019-11-22T16:16:06","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T16:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/?p=2720"},"modified":"2019-11-22T16:19:34","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T16:19:34","slug":"how-to-prepare-your-excavator-for-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/2019\/11\/how-to-prepare-your-excavator-for-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"How to prepare your excavator for winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

Extreme low temperatures can have a significant impact on the peformance and maintenance of an excavator. Follow our tips to ensure maximum uptime and profitability from your machine during the cold months ahead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Switch to cold weather hydraulic and engine oils<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Synthetic and multi-grade oil is usually sufficient for the range of temperatures experienced in most European countries throughout the year. However, if you are regularly operating in sub-zero temperatures, you may wish to consider using specific cold weather hydraulic and engine oils instead. This will ensure the optimum viscosity for performance even in snow and ice.<\/p>\n

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    1. Use a dedicated winter diesel<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Similarly, consider using a dedicated winter or arctic diesel, which has a lower freezing point than standard diesel, as well as a better cold filter plugging point. It is also recommended to fill the fuel tank to more than 70% to mimimise any corrosive condensation.<\/p>\n

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      1. Increase the concentration of your coolant<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The lower the temperature, the higher the recommended concentration of coolant. Down to -10\u00baC you can use a concentration of 40% but if you are working in temperatures as low as -50\u00baC, you should increase it to 50%.<\/p>\n

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        1. Test your batteries<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Batteries can lose up to 50% of their strength in cold environments so if your battery is already weak, your excavator is unlikely to start. In preparation for the winter months, use a battery tester to check the voltage and watch for performance signals, such as a sluggish or slow engine turnover.<\/p>\n

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          1. Consider additional cold weather options<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Volvo CE offers a range of cold weather options for excavators to improve performance, minimise maintenance and enhance operator comfort. These include engine block heaters to warm up the engine block before starting; diesel-powered coolant heaters to also help cold weather starting and warm the cab; water separators with heaters to help minimise wax build up in diesel fuel; and arctic rated hoses, developed to handle conditions down to -40\u00baC.<\/p>\n

            With a little bit of preparation and assistance from your local Volvo CE dealer, your excavator will be primed to keep on producing \u2013 and earning \u2013 throughout the winter months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

             
            \nExtreme low temperatures can have a significant impact on the peformance and maintenance of an excavator. Follow our tips <\/p>\nRead more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plant-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2724,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions\/2724"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.constructionplantworld.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}