Steering Gear Troubleshooting

A client’s bulk carrier vessel required a steering gear troubleshooting attendance from Alatas Singapore as it was experiencing erratic steering behaviour. In Singapore and depots worldwide, we are steering gear hydraulic experts, and our Senior Hydraulic Engineer and Steering Gear Specialist travelled to the vessel to investigate.

The steering gear manufactured by Mariner is equipped with two Rexroth A4VG56 axial piston pumps with EL control. Our Senior Hydraulic Engineer and Steering Gear Specialist determined that one side of the pump control unit was not responding, neither via electric current to the pump solenoid, or when operated via mechanical override

The team removed the pump transported ashore to our hydraulic workshop (a specialised Rexroth station) for investigation. We found that the servo piston inside the hydraulic control unit was blocked by debris. Our solution was to have the pump fully serviced and dynamically tested using our intelligent, digital hydraulic test stand. The pump was returned on board and installed the same night, and the job concluded with a function test on the steering gear which was carried out successfully.

Job Scope

• Troubleshooting of steering gear hydraulic system
• Removal and installation of Rexroth Pump A4VG56
• Overhaul and dynamic testing of hydraulic pump
• Function testing of steering gear hydraulics

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