Hydraulic reservoir for dual station heel pump

[Donald]

My former trawler had a gravity fied reservoir of hydraulic oil which kept the system continually full of hydraulic oil The new boats system has no reservoir, although there is some hydraulic oil in each of the two helm pumps. The helm pumps are interconnected by one of the two plugged openings in the rear of the home pump. They also each have an opening just behind the steering wheel for filling and burping the system. I would like to put in a reservoir, gravity, fed slightly above the upper helm pump. My question is whether I should plumb it into the other plug on the rear of the upper Helm punp or to the filler opening just behind the wheel on the outside of the bulkhead. I note when filling the system with hydraulic fluid using the plug immediately behind the steering wheel that the fluid moves up and down in the process of burping the bubbles out, but the wheel Turning does move the rudder. The problem with Plumbing into this opening is visual since the filling pipe would be sticking out. If I use the plug in the rear of the helm pump, visual effect is better, but I’m not sure that it would have the same effect. Has anyone any experience with this?

 

[C lectric]

Who is the mfgr. of your current system? It should matter as they have specific needs and recommendations. Have you contacted them?
Unless you tell us the specific mfgr. AND model of your existing system
I suspect that whatever ever advice ???? you get will be questionable
.

To me your description is not very clear.

My now gone boat had two steering pumps to operate my Wagner syste., One on the interior station, one at the upper station. THe upper was the one to maintain the oil level at.
THe upper pump was also where the changes in air were provided for.
The upper was where the system was filled from with a lot of wheel turning to move the oil through the WHOLE system at the same time purging the air.

THe only air space once purged properly was in the upper pump ONLY and was intended to be very full.

Are you trying to use the lower help pump to fill and purge? I just realized it sounds like that is what you ae trying to do. I suspect that is wrong and should be done from the upper pump

But again contact the mfgr.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. It always helps to have specific information like the model and manufacturer. Photos of the system in question don’t hurt either.

 

[sean9c]

Plumb your reservoir to the port that you would normally fill the pump with. Obviously put the reservoir above the highest pump.

 

[Keysdisease]

What you describe sounds like a Wagner or SeaStar system. What C lectric describes is correct, upper helm is for filling. The caps for the upper and lower helm are different, the lower is a plug and the upper is vented. Opening the lower helm might cause all the oil "uphill" to drain out.
My olde Mainship had a SeaStar system. When I bought her she was 20 years old and I owned her for 11 years. Never had to add oil, had a bottle in the lazarette, probably still there.
When these systems do eventually leak, it is almost always slow, and the feel of the steering will change enough to give you a heads up long before you loose use of the upper helm. The lower will typically continue to work unless you have something catastrophic happen. If you have a leak underway, you can add oil at the upper station as necessary until you can fix the leak.
These systems are very robust and reliable. They do not "use" oil, and if you need to add oil there is a leak somewhere. Unless you have a leak, get a quart or 2 of the specified oil, top the system up, and enjoy your boat.
I think you're trying to re-create "what I had on my former boat" for no good reason. Basically a can of worms left unopened, or if it ain't broke, don't fix it
$00.02