Short answer
An idle attachment is assumed to be safe from wear, yet standstill has a wear pattern of its own and it is measured in time, not hours. Three things happen: sealing elements dry out and lose their elasticity, grease stiffens in its passages, and moisture condenses inside the housing as temperature swings. None of that needs work to happen, only waiting, which is why "I hardly use it, so it needs no maintenance" works backwards. Storing it properly slows all three and stops recommissioning from turning into a fault hunt.
What deteriorates while it stands
Sealing elements are elastomers and do their job by flexing. A seal left motionless takes the shape of the surface it rests against and hardens in that shape. Months later, the first movement can start a leak; the seal is not damaged, its elasticity is gone.
Grease stiffens in its passages. High temperature greases with solid additives can separate while standing: the oil migrates and the solid part stays in the passage. At the next greasing the gun builds pressure but nothing passes, and you believe it did.
Moisture is the most insidious. Inside a housing that warms by day and cools by night, air expands and contracts; that breathing draws in a little moisture on every cycle. The water that condenses mixes with hydraulic oil and leaves pitting on internal surfaces.
A short standstill and a long one are not the same
- A few days: nothing special is needed. Set the attachment down, cap the couplings, and do not leave the tool in the housing.
- Weeks: grease it and then leave it. Grease both lubricates and separates the inside from outside air.
- Months: store it under cover or a sheet, raised off the ground. Repeat the greasing from time to time.
- A season (a site that stops for winter): recommissioning starts with a service check, not a walk-round. Sealing and the grease line are gone over first.
Putting it away, step by step
- 1
Clean the attachment
Mud and concrete residue hold moisture once dry and start corrosion underneath. Clean the area around the tool and the bracket faces in particular.
- 2
Grease it generously
Greasing before storage is not the same as greasing for work: the aim is not lubrication but filling the gap and keeping moisture out. Grease with the tool pressed up and keep going until it appears around the bushing.
- 3
Protect exposed machined surfaces
Coat exposed machined surfaces such as the tool shank and pin faces with a protective oil. If those surfaces rust, seating at the next fitting will be wrong.
- 4
Cap the couplings
Cap hose and housing couplings with their own caps. Where there are none, use a clean cloth and tape; an open coupling takes in both dust and moisture.
- 5
Raise it off the ground and cover it
Set the attachment on timber blocks or a pallet; a housing in direct contact with soil draws moisture from below. Cover it with a sheet that breathes. Airtight plastic condenses underneath.
- 6
Label it
Write the model, the date it last worked and any known fault on it. Months later, the answer to "why was this taken out of service" should be sitting on the attachment.
Do not leave the tool in the housing
If the tool is left in the housing through a long standstill, the contact area between shank and bushing stays motionless and pitting starts there. When the breaker runs again, its first blows land on that roughened surface and bushing life is shortened from the very first day. For a long standstill the tool comes out, its shank is oiled, and it is stored separately.
Bringing it back into service
An attachment coming out of long storage is treated as newly fitted. A full check round comes first; then greasing is renewed, because storage grease is not working grease and may have picked up dirt.
The first run should be off load and short. Whether the rhythm is even and whether the fittings stay dry is settled in those first minutes. If a leak appears, stopping to separate the cause costs less than working on and losing oil.
Full load is not applied in the first hours. A dried seal recovers its elasticity over a few warm-up cycles; that period is a kind of run-in and follows the same logic as run-in after repair.
Do and don’t
Do
- Clean and grease generously before storage; here grease is a protectant, not a lubricant.
- Remove the tool, oil its shank and store it separately.
- Cap the couplings and raise the housing off the ground.
- Repeat the greasing periodically through a long standstill; one-off protection is not enough.
- Keep off full load through the first hours of recommissioning.
Don't
- Do not set the attachment straight onto soil; it draws moisture from below.
- Do not wrap it in airtight plastic; condensation collects underneath.
- Do not leave the tool in the housing through a long standstill.
- Do not leave a stored attachment uncovered in the rain on the strength of "it is painted".
- Do not recommission on a visual check alone; the off-load run is not skipped.