Tumbler Upgrade
CASE STUDY - Tumbler Upgrade (value $10,000)
SITUATION
- Sandstone quarry at Helidon grades stones according to size in a large rotating tumbler.
- Due to failing components the downtime was causing unacceptable lost production
TASK
- The drive system was under rated by the original manufacturer
- Repair the tumbler to minimise lost production
ACTIONS
- Analyse the system and upgrade in the most cost effective way
- Details were taken and drawn for analysis
- Consulting mechanical engineer determined sizes and manufacturing techniques to use to ensure components meets the needs of the tumbler
- Determine cost effective way to repair failed drive. That is repair or replace
- Repair to drive was carried out and still in operation years later
- It was apparent the original design and manufacture by others was inadequate
- The customer was happy with the job and did not question the price
- This is one of those jobs where a fabricator just built a tumbler from what he thought should work and unfortunately got himself into a lot of trouble having to repair and replace parts until eventually he told the customer that he would not repair for free anymore. Before we did any work I looked at the job and determined it was time to analyse the loads on components and strengths these components could take. Once the analysis was done it was a relatively simple matter to repair.
RESULT
- ✓ Downtime all but eliminated
- ✓ Customer can produce more product in the same time
- ✓ Customer happy that problem fixed at reasonable price compared to replacement