The gear may seem like a simple, unimportant object, but it drastically changed the course of human history. Gears are simple machines that transmit energy from one part to another. On a bicycle, for instance, gears help transmit energy from the pedals to the gears. (The chain is involved in this transfer as well.) From a classic physics perspective, gear teeth are levers that can exert force. By pairing gears of difference sizes, it is possible to reduce or increase the rate of output rotation, as well as the force being created. Without gears, automobiles, windmills, and many other human conveniences would be impossible.
Also called gear reducers or speed reducers, gearboxes can allow force to be reduced or increased. With a gearbox, intense energy that would spin gears too fast to be useful could be exchanged for strength at a slower speed. Gearboxes can also reverse the direction and/or axis of rotation.
Within a gearbox, various gears are perfectly designed to mesh together without excess friction or wasted force. Today we’re covering providing a complete overview of how to select, maintain, and replace FALK gearboxes.
How to Select the Right Gearbox For You
Beyond universal business concerns such as budgeting, buying a FALK gearbox is no easy feat. The buyer must have an engineer’s sense of speed, shape, and power requirements, in addition to a business owner’s sense of what makes a good investment. Here are a few things to think about when choosing a gearbox:
Consider available space, OSHA noise requirements, and the surrounding gear drive. Gears with higher contact ratios will create less noise, which may be crucial if your facility threatens to exceed legal noise exposure levels for workers. Your production line’s available room, surrounding configuration, speed, and efficiency will also define which gearboxes will work in your system. To be sure you’re getting the best gearbox, we recommend consulting with an experienced FALK gearbox supplier. He or she will be able to explain whether repair or replacement is your best bet.
Look up the recommended service factor. Service factor measures a speed reducer’s equivalent horsepower. To ensure your application will run smoothly, without the need for repairs, it’s important to look up the American Gear Manufacturer’s Association’s (AGMA) recommended service factor. Factors such as external load dynamics and longevity contribute to service factor. The AMGA’s recommended service factors must also be tweaked to account for high, severe, or unusual loads. Repetitive shock loading and other vibration patterns require drive customization as well. Once you have a service factor, you can multiply it by the motor nameplate power to figure out the size of drive required for the job.
Check Mar-Dustrial’s online reducer inventory. We’ve dedicated years to collecting a diverse range of surplus gear reducers. It makes good financial sense to check our database for any speed reducer you may require. Chances are that we can save you some money with a surplus part.
How to Get the Most Out of FALK Gearboxes
Like any mechanism, FALK gearboxes thrive with consistent attention to maintenance, including the following tasks.
Keep well lubricated with the correct lubrication. Gearboxes require either mineral-based or synthetic lubrication. For longevity, follow gearbox manufacturers’ guidelines for pour point, acceptable additives, and viscosity as well. Oil breaks down over time, so make sure your gearboxes are always well lubricated. It’s important to track and complete oil changes according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Meet Scheduled Maintenance Schedule. Lubrication oil is just one factor of drive performance that must be seen to regularly for proper maintenance. Minimum maintenance tasks include checking the oil, cleaning the gearbox, and watching for wear on parts.
Keep an Eye on the Oil. Checking oil regularly is especially important, as oil sample analysis can reveal gear wear before it cripples your production line. For instance, high copper in an oil sample can indicate that a copper gear is malfunctioning and/or in need of replacement. For more lubrication sampling information, check out this Mar-Dustrial blog resource on correctly sampling gear oil to assess your machinery’s health.
Conduct Vibration Analysis. Vibration and harmonics data can also help you avoid the need for repairs. When in good working order, a drive will naturally create a certain rhythm and tone. Any change in these factors suggests that internal parts may be wearing against each other, or that alignment is off in some wary. Recording and analyzing vibration and harmonics is key for preventive maintenance.
Make these tips your teams’ habits and you can typically avoid gearbox failure. It’s also wise to educate yourself on the common causes of speed reducer problems, such as:
- Improper lubrication. Think of lube as your drive’s blood. Just as we take a person’s blood sample to assess their overall health, you can test your overall system’s vigor through testing the oil. And just as we must match a patient’s blood type, maintenance managers must carefully select the proper lubrication for their drives.
- Poor fit between gearbox and surrounding parts. This gets back to gearbox selection. Choose the wrong one and your whole production line will be thrown off.
- Misaligned couplings. Aligning couplings can be tedious work, but it’s time well invested. Improperly aligned couplings can easily cause system failure.
- Lackluster maintenance. Beyond the maintenance tasks we’ve described so far, it’s also wise to monitor noise levels temperature. Watching all of these performance variables will allow you to notice when something’s off, so that you can carry out repairs before major failure occurs.
What to Do if a Gearbox Fails
Let’s face it: It’s not a perfect world, and gearbox failure does happen, even with the best maintenance intentions. If your gear reducer should fail, here’s how to prevent damage and figure out what went wrong,
First, power down the system. To prevent tainting failure evidence, remove the faulty part and quarantine it to a place where employees and others cannot disturb it. Install a new FALK surplus gear reducer to keep your line running. The failed part will need to undergo thorough analysis to understand why gearbox failure occurred. This includes gearbox removal and disassembly, including a fine-tooth-comb approach to documenting each part as it is removed. Gearbox failure analysis is like detective work; seemingly small details can add up to a complete story. To successfully figure out why failure happened (and how to avoid the same problem in the future), you’ll need to assemble a team and gather resources. Read our blog on gearbox failure analysis for more details.
For ongoing tips on selecting, maintaining, and buying FALK gearboxes, stay tuned to this blog.
Posted under Machinery Maintenance, Tips and Tricks on Tuesday, May 27th, 2014