ETS Hydraulic Educational Series

"Saving the World - One Customer at a Time..." ™

Educational Series - Volume 3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - April 2026

Hydraulic Myth #1

Hydraulic Pumps Create Pressure

TRUTH:

Pressure is created by the

RESISTANCE to FLOW!

As you can see, the pressure at the end of the pipe is zero because there is no resistance to flow.

It's the same as the fluid returning to the tank in your hydraulic power unit, or water from the hose at the side of your house.

Please Note: in addition to pressure drops created by each component in a hydraulic system, there are also line losses attributed to simply pushing hydraulic fluid thru hoses or pipes that complete your hydraulic circuit. (illustrated above)

Log Splitter Application

Stand-By Mode

System is operating at low pressure because no work is being done - there is minimal resistance to the flow created by the pump.

In this mode, the fluid is simply passing thru the control valve and

back to the tank.

Green = Pump Inlet - - - Blue = Low PSI

Red = High PSI - - - Gold = Medium PSI

Splitting Logs - Cylinder Extending

Pressure in the system builds as the hydraulic cylinder extends to split each log & requires a different force for each depending on wood hardness.

Pressure is felt at the pump, but not created by it - system pressure is instead the result of the resistance of each individual log being split.

The log splitter will move faster if you get a pump with a higher flow rate.

Fundamentals of Hydraulics Classes

Our week-long sessions include two major components of training:

Academic Training (above)

Hands-On Training (right)

(click on images for more information)

Our "Hands-On" training

helps students understand fluid power functionality with actual system components.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR WEBSITE