High and dry
13 May 2015
With the installation of six, new dry-running screw vacuum pumps, Eaton says its Crouse-Hinds business has benefited from increased uptime and realised a return on investment within 12 months.
Based in Nottingham, Eaton’s Crouse-Hinds business manufactures manual, visual and audible alarms and loudspeakers designed for harsh environmental conditions and where there is a risk of explosion.
It was previously using oil sealed vacuum pumps within its moulding process, which led to regular breakdowns.
“For a more consistent finish, we use a slightly different method to the ‘traditional’ vacuum moulding process when manufacturing our products,” says Lawrence Marson, a maintenance engineer at Eaton’s Crouse-Hinds business.
The amount of downtime experienced due to maintenance of the previous vacuum pumps used within this process led the company to look for a new supplier, he says.
“We were visited by an Elmo Rietschle engineer, who explained how the dry running S-VSI 300 ‘Twister’ screw vacuum pumps could significantly reduce our issues with breakdowns,” says Marson.
The S-VSI 300 is a dry-running screw vacuum pump, which needs no coolant or sealing medium in the suction chamber.
“The evidence that Elmo Rietschle provided in our initial discussions gave us the confidence to install six, new S-VSI 300 pumps – two per moulding machine,” says Marson.
“As they’re dry running and water-cooled, there’s no oil for any debris to stick to in the S-VSI 300s, and they operate consistently 24/7.”
The new machines are now serviced every six months, which has significantly reduced maintenance costs, he says.
The pumps are installed in cradles, which can be stacked, meaning they can be easily swapped-out for scheduled maintenance without disrupting operation.
“We’re so pleased with how the S-VSI 300s have been performing that we’ve recently placed an order for two more pumps for another moulding machine, and expect to install Elmo Rietschle pumps on two more machines in the near future,” Marson says.
