How to Prevent Gear Reducer Failure from Shock Loads
Moving products along a conveyor line is easy to do. But why are conveyor failures so common? One of the main culprits is shock loads. In this episode of STOBER’s Power Tips, we will share how shock loads hurt production and what you can do to avoid them.
The purpose of conveyor lines
Conveyors have one purpose: to move products throughout the plant. While the product being moved is supposed to maintain a consistent weight and size, this doesn’t always happen. During production, products can increase in both size and weight. When these variances happen and drop onto the conveyor, the conveyor system experiences extreme shock load.
What do extra loads and excessive shock loads do?
This extra load forces the gear reducer to compensate for the additional weight by requiring higher torque and creating an increased amp draw from the motor. Excessive shock loads can also increase a gear reducer‘s likelihood of premature failure.
2 simple tricks to eliminate failure due to shock loads
First, size the gear reducer to handle potential shock loads by choosing a service factor that fits your application. Applications are divided into different service factor classes based on hours of operation and shock loads. Service factor is a safety factor that is applied when sizing the solution. This ensures the gearbox is capable of meeting the application requirements.
STOBER‘s engineering team has extensive experience sizing applications that face heavy shock loads. They will calculate the best service factor to ensure you get the most out of your STOBER gearbox.
How STOBER helps solve shock loads
We have helped several customers solve shock load issues, including a meat processor in the midwest. This company had numerous shock load failures on the loin kicker, where the amp draw of the motor spiked and caused numerous gearboxes to fail. Our engineers visited the plant, evaluated the application, and redesigned our solution with a higher service factor to handle this shock load. The customer has eliminated premature gearbox failure on this machine.
Why adding a peak torque booster helps reduce shock loads
Second, add a peak torque booster. This is a clamping collar that clamps around the input coupling to apply additional forces to the pinion and coupling connection. STOBER’s offer a peak torque booster, allowing you to overcome issues with shock loads.
By reducing shock load failures, you’ll improve equipment operating efficiency and reduce unplanned downtime.
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