Just read about this the other day and I still don’t understand
1. what hydraulic fluid exactly is and what it’s for
2. why it can be so dangerous when you mess with it
In: 11
A) The ELI5 answer is that its just oil. Normal oil. But its used in hydraulic systems, eg extending a ram on an excavator.
B) The ELI5 answer is that its not dangerous. Its no more dangerous than cooking oil. However, lets go back to that ram – lets say a leak came in the hydraulic pipe which brings the hydraulic oil to that ram, and the ram has 14 tonnes of weight pressurizing it. Well, the oil exiting from that leak will be like a bullet. It will go straight through you if you are in the way. Even if you live, oil + meat = cancer.
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