After 13 years of continuous service this Cyclo Sumitomo 619 series gearbox started developing some weird noises.
Therefore, we decided to put a case study together and show how and why using the right type of power transmission can save your business a substantial amount of money both in the short term, but also over time.
Bearings and Power Transmission have been dealing with this customer since 2005 and as part of their business operations they use a 2 ton rated ribbon mixer which is like a big auger mixer to mix their stock feed.
The power transmission driving this mixer is a Cyclo Sumitomo 619 series gearbox with a 11.1 reduction.
Previous to using Cyclo Sumitomo gearbox drive and due to high shock loads, the customer was replacing their conventional helical gearbox box drive every 18 months to 2 years.
Key advantage of the Cyclo Sumitomo 619 series gearbox is its revolutionary eccentric cam and cyclo disc design.
Because 67 % of the reduction components are in constant contact at all times it allows this gearbox to transmits very high levels of torque and take up to 5 times more shock load than conventional gearboxes.
Therefore it is a much more reliable power source than a conventional helical gearbox box where only 2 – 3 teeth are engaged at any one time.
This Cyclo Sumitomo gearbox has been in continuous service since 2006 without any need of repair or any parts to be replaced. However, after 13 years of continuous service this Cyclo Sumitomo 619 series gearbox started developing some weird noises.
As a preventative measure, we had it pulled out and replaced with their identical spare gearbox they have had on hand since the first one was put into service. Due to the nature of this particular business, they have elected to always have a backup spare gearbox on hand because they can’t afford any downtime while waiting for a replacement gearbox.
As you can appreciate this gearbox is an absolutely vital part of their operations.
After inspection, we found the outer bearing had failed.
The price to replace the gearbox with a new one was app $ 15,000 with a new the motor costing app $ 4,500.
So, it was nearly $ 19,500 to replace both gearbox and electric motor with a new one.
Bearings and Power Transmission Pty Ltd had the gearbox stripped down.
We found that not only had the outer bearing failed, there was damage throughout the whole gearbox.
One of the advantages with the Cyclo Sumitomo gearbox is we could replace the cartridge and all the moving parts inside that gearbox and just keep the housing and the output shaft.
Replacing all those parts and having the electric motor rebuilt worked out to be very cost effective for the customer compared to buying a brand new gearbox and electric motor. So, the electric motor was stripped down cleaned, sandblasted and painted. New bearings and V rings were fitted.
The completed reconditioning of the electric motor and full rebuild of the gearbox including the cartridge came in at 11,000 dollars total.
Making the total saving $ 8,500 to the customer.
As mentioned before this recently replaced gearbox was in continuous service for app 13 years.
Compared this to a conventional gearbox which would need replacing every 18 month to 2 years.
During this rebuild, BPT replaced every bearing, seal and gasket.
The only parts reused was the housing and the 95 mm output shaft which is on the slow speed output side.
End Result…….
Another Happy Customer from BPT
For more information.
Here is link to an overview of the Cyclo Sumitomo gearbox
Here you can see an animation of how the internals are designed and workings of Cyclo Sumitomo gearbox.