Re: When To Change A Howling Bearing????
thanks goerge...... i find alot of humor in that post, i have done it BOTH ways. listen to the equipment it will tell you when it hurts!!!
now we use a infrared heat gun,,, if there is an unusual temprature rise from week to week , we investagate with oil samples ,,, ■
Bearings
Greetings George,
Usually in my case it was a severe case of crash and burn to a total stop from overload, then we would have to remove the entire shaker arm and replace the bearing then reinstall the shaker arm providing their were no visible cracks in the shaker arm and hope it worked praying the grease seals held-of course with Tylers it did not matter that much.
The big problem with elliptical screens is that they are not purchased with surge capacity or larger capacity in mind period. And it always bites you in the gluteus maximus.
Its always better to overbuy meaning a wobbler feeder and a longer screen deck and more screens than the bare minimum which in turn effects operations on the tertiary side of the physical plant.
All the more reason for "Bradford Breakers"
Taper barreled rollers in screen service are only as good as the shock loads and maintenance they get and the environment even new bearings will fail after a proper installation from even the smallest amount of dirt or salt dust as far infra red heat detectors/cameras go unfortunately infra red heat guns dont work well in hot mines.
The biggest example I can always relate to and explain is the fact that WR Stamler uses boxcar bearings in its primary crusher belt feeders-the word box car says it all. ■
Infra-Red Heat Guns
The old gentleman that I learned and travelled with...did not cotton to things of a modern nature.....like infrared heatguns.....
Old Frankie used to say to me......put your finger on the bearing housing and if you can't count to ONE.....it's too hot and you need a bearing change. Sounded corny, but it actually works in practice.
A lot of the bearings we used to check were 120, 140, 160 mm diameter double spherical roller bearing type, typically w33 wide series........most had the max operating temps around 160F
range.
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We would also use heat check strips that you would stick onto the steel bearing housing and they would burn black to the temperature operating range.
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A tip from the 50 year experienced gentlemen to me.......if you take the temperature on the outside of the bearing hsg.....at say 135 deg F........you can assume the oil inside is plus minus 15-20 degrees F hotter than that.
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Did you know if you see oil PUKING out coming out of the air breather at the 12 o'clock position.....this is an indication of OVERFILLING the oil chamber. The machine expells the extra out of the breather at that point.
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Did you know, if you see oil seeping from the 6 o'clock position, this would indicate an OIL LIP SEAL PROBLEM....seal is out of shape or the little stainless steel keeper coil is a tad LOOSE, INDICATING a new double lip seal is needed.
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Did you know, if you were on site, with no new oil seal available and had the above problem, there is a trick to fix. Just pull the male end out of the female end of the stainless steel keeper coil, SNIP a tiny piece off the MALE END, 1/16" AND re-insert the male end into the FEMALE end. Why? This actually tightens the rubber lip seals down onto the shaft and stops the OIL LEAK til you get new LIP SEALS ordered, in, and installed at the next mtce shutdown.
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One last one on the did you know campaign, Always make sure your OIL BREATHERS are kept CLEAR and not plugged by very fine dust particles.....(Can you imagine, dust in a limestone quarry?)
If plugged, pressure is built up inside the tube assembly and two things happpen, OIL can be forced out thr the double lip seals to appear as an oil leak at the six oclock position and on the shutdown the OIL can be SUCKED into the middle of the tube assembly especially on models that are OIL in the END COVERS ONLY design. Use a mushroom head breather vs the breathers with 3 little PIN PRICK holes in them....much better airflow.
As we say in the business, Oil's well that ends well.
........... Keep smiling. ■
When to change a howling bearing????
If you hear your vibrating screen bearings HOWLING.....this is an audible CALL FOR HELP by mr bearing.
What to do? This is an absolute indicator of a bearing change upcoming relatively soon. Change it as quickly as possible.
What NOT do do? You do not want to wait til it stop howling. At this point, it will typically STOP AND SEIZE. Now, you have the bearing spun on the shaft, spun in the bearing housing and your costs just TRIPLED and downtime increased MEGA.
You probably will have to CUT BEARING out of the housing, because you experience DIFFICULTY pulling it out with puller tools.......WHY? cause the molten ridge of metal built up when it spun and seized on the shaft and OVERSIZED THE HOUSING race.
Probably, need 2 new bearings housings, big bucks, may need new shaft depending, bigger bucks, will need 2 new bearings and overtime to fix.
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If you had changed when still HOWLING.....much much much easier and a truckload LESS EXPENSIVE. Something to think about next time you hear one howling. ■