hydraulic band tensioner

[coastlogger]

My mill has a pretty standard I think hydraulic tensioner. "Piston"is around an inch in dia and there is a screw arrangement to exert force on the plunger to send oil to the tensioning piston. I saw at 2500 psi.Anyhow the thing leaks a bit and needs topping up every few days.A pain in the ...I did disassemble and reseal piston awhile ago but it only partially fixed prob.Oil comes out past piston. Im thinking of just switching to grease instead of oil. Anyone tried this?? A friend has a mill similar and uses grease seems to work fine but of course I dont know EXACTLY how all his components compare to mine. Im hoping,given the minor of the leak,that grease being thicker will not come out the gap . Anyone??
clgr

[solidwoods]

Under pressure grease and oil will leak.
And there is allot of pressure on that donut.
Do you have a Kasco?
I have one and that is the type of tension gage system on it.
Mine has O rings which can be replaced real easy,  (once since 92).
jim

[Bibbyman]

The problem I'd see right off with grease is when you go to change the blade and have to back it off quite a bit.  I'd think the grease would not want to push back like the oil. It only be worse in cold weather. Maybe.. I think...

[Magicman]

In the long run, the simplest thing is generally to just "back your ears", get the manual out, talk to the factory, and fix/replace the seals.  Anything less probably won't work or last anyway.