Inline Engineering were asked to assess the outgo drive gearset on our clients car dumper due to an inspection showing excessive backlash. Our technicians, on closer inspection, found the vertical mount, horizontal support bearing had sheared hold down bolts and this was causing 15mm vertical movement to both the drive pinion and the synchronisation shaft.
Firstly, we arranged to secure the assembly and assess the bearing and gearset to ensure its suitability for ongoing production while we engineered a permanent fix. Then we went to work to replace any compromised components, the clients production was dependant on reliability of its single inloading, single outloading port operation, so a compromised bearing, geared coupling and pinion on a 32 metre drive train driving a 12 metre diameter gear, was not an option.
We sourced another pinion, coupling, bearings and housings and manufactured the shaft and flanged coupling at our Port Hedland operations machine shop.
Then, in shutdown mode, used the tethers to lock in the dumper cell, removed the affected pinion and shaft arrangement, replaced it and then proceeded to set the backlash, root gap and running mark for the gearset. After this we realigned the drive train both sides of the 20 metre sync shaft and passed on our reports and recommended future maintenance recommendations to ensure such defects could be picked up more proficiently.
