Is it possible to delete breathers?

[Jvest24]

I searched the forums and didn't see anything about this so I was curious if anyone knows the answer to this.
It seems like the risk of contamination, especially from water would make a closed system better for diffs, transmission etc. Unless I'm overlooking something it's just the expansion and contraction of the fluids that necessitates the breathers?
If that is the case, a simple pressure dampening system (such as an accumulator) would work.
Does anyone know why this isn't used? The only thing I could come up with is cost. A $5 breather is cheaper than an accumulator that would cost a few hundred bucks.

 

[Bisho]

Breathers are used to prevent blowing out the seals from over pressurization as the axle/oil heats up. I suppose you could come up with a Rube-Goldberg solution, but a $5 breather has worked for a hundred years or so.

 

[Jvest24]

Breathers are used to prevent blowing out the seals from over pressurization as the axle/oil heats up. I suppose you could come up with a Rube-Goldberg solution, but a $5 breather has worked for a hundred years or so.

I was reading the thread on running breathers higher and was just wondering if there was any other option out there.

It just seems like adding a simple accumulator would instantly take care of the thermal expansion without need for vents. You would never get any contamination in your systems from water/dust/oxygen. All you would need to know is the potential temperature and the coefficient of expansion of the fluid and it would tell you the size accumulator you would need.

I'm sure I'm overthinking this. I'm just used to dealing with sensitive pump and compressor bearings where we have vents, but we use positive pressure oil mist to keep air out so there's no oxygen/dust/moisture contamination of the lube oil.

 

[nukegoat]

People do this but I don't think contamination is a huge concern... You have to change gear oil anyway. Are you going to cap all your trans and tcase and diff lock breathers too?

 

[Jvest24]

People do this but I don't think contamination is a huge concern... You have to change gear oil anyway. Are you going to cap all your trans and tcase and diff lock breathers too?

I'll need to do some homework first. I've seen big pipe systems fail from just ambient heat on hot days because they didn't have anywhere to thermally expand....I want to make sure I don't do that. Especially to the transmission.

 

[Shortpencils]

I'm sure I'm overthinking this.

You are.

 

[Jvest24]

You are.

I'm sure you're right lol.

 

[medtro]

I deleted breathers and installed filters.

 

[RedesKat]

Chuck a set of extended breathers on and buy some other cool stuff for the hundreds you'd spend on accumulators

 

[suprarx7nut]

I searched the forums and didn't see anything about this so I was curious if anyone knows the answer to this.
It seems like the risk of contamination, especially from water would make a closed system better for diffs, transmission etc. Unless I'm overlooking something it's just the expansion and contraction of the fluids that necessitates the breathers?
If that is the case, a simple pressure dampening system (such as an accumulator) would work.
Does anyone know why this isn't used? The only thing I could come up with is cost. A $5 breather is cheaper than an accumulator that would cost a few hundred bucks.

If you are building a submarine, then yeah closed system is probably best.

Road going car? Breathers are fine. Relocate to a point above your fording depth and you're all good.

 

[Jvest24]

Chuck a set of extended breathers on and buy some other cool stuff for the hundreds you'd spend on accumulators

This kind of answers my original question. Seems $$ is probably the main reason for breathers vs some kind if accumulator.

 

[Jvest24]

I deleted breathers and installed filters.

I was thinking of something like this. There are desiccant breathers on bearing housings on pumps and motors where I work, I was thinking of putting those on top of the breather lines.

 

[Rebus Knebus]

Here’s an old thread on bellows Axle breather (Creeper Breather) - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/axle-breather-creeper-breather.341422/

 

[Jvest24]

Here’s an old thread on bellows Axle breather (Creeper Breather) - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/axle-breather-creeper-breather.341422/

Thanks so much! I did a forum search but wasn't able to find that thread with the search tool. I actually came across the bellows last night. I think that's the route I'm going.

The one thing I think that thread got wrong is people were trying to figure how much air expands when it heats up. Its the oil/fluid.

Adding heat to a gas increases pressure by a bit if it has no room to expand. Adding heat to liquid increases volume and that causes pressure to skyrocket if it has no where to expand...turns into a hydraulic ram.

 

[VagabondJesse]

Thanks so much! I did a forum search but wasn't able to find that thread with the search tool. I actually came across the bellows last night. I think that's the route I'm going.

The one thing I think that thread got wrong is people were trying to figure how much air expands when it heats up. Its the oil/fluid.

Adding heat to a gas increases pressure by a bit if it has no room to expand. Adding heat to liquid increases volume and that causes pressure to skyrocket if it has no where to expand...turns into a hydraulic ram.

If it were a system of 100% fluid, you'd be right, but diffs have a fair amount of air in them, which has a higher expansion coefficient than the oil, so it's going to dominate the equation. It's the air pressure and volume expansion you need to be worried about.