As an equipment owner or manager, the last thing we want to find in our system is contamination. After all, contamination means loss of efficiency or even downtime, which ultimately costs time and money. Contamination somehow always sneaks its way into our systems. So, how does contamination get in our systems and what are we supposed to do about it?
Controlling the contaminant flow of your hydraulic, lubricant or fuel reservoirs is one of the simplest goals in achieving Total Systems Cleanliness.
Pumps are the heart of hydraulic systems. When the pump fails, the entire system is down until the pump is operational again. This poses a serious threat to any operation relying on hydraulic systems for productivity.
Recently, a hydraulic valve manufacturer was losing 25 pumps a year on their centralized hydraulic system at a cost of $2,440 each -- and that’s only the pump cost. When you account for maintenance resources, lost oil and lost production, each failure costs ~$25,320.
When gearboxes go down, it’s generally because of contamination. This is a costly repair on its own, but once you include the loss of production from downtime, the cost can soar to astronomical figures. Sadly, though, sometimes gearbox failure happens, which wastes your time and money. Let’s take a look at some of the main causes of gearbox contamination and how you can prevent it.
