The story begins with one of our long-standing customers and their trusty old; and obsolete, Hick Hargreaves blower-exhauster.
As we were their preferred supplier the exhauster was sent into us for dismantling and inspection with the aim to repair. We found that something as seemingly minor as a cracked oil level window and infrequent greasing spelled the downfall of this long-standing piece of equipment. The oil leak meant that the bearings and gears were worn, and poor lubrication at the drive end caused the bearings to collapse, subsequently damaging the housing along with the impeller tips and shaft. A cautionary tale in maintaining your equipment!
The machine was repairable, but costly and in the longer term was not a viable option.
The customer recognised that should the blower fail again that they were leaving themselves open without a spare, costly downtime and the possibility of making a hasty decision to fill the gap including sacrificing quality or paying over the odds to purchase any available machine which could work.
Waiting an unprofitable length of time until a suitable replacement could be specified, ordered and delivered would not be an option.
Remaining customer focused with an aim to solve their maintenance woes, we quickly worked to find a solution, suggesting that a modern tri-lobe machine would offer them some noise reduction and that we could offer them a good price on a European manufactured package: The Pedro Gil PG35 F1.
This unit has been designed with easy maintenance in mind: with external oil level reading and filling facilities, not to mention that the exhauster is oil lubricated at both ends, should make it easier for the site engineers to keep on top of lubrication.
The machine ticked all the boxes, was ordered and delivered in time for the customer’s summer shutdown, eliminating the need to shut down the line specifically to install their new investment.
The Pedro Gil machine has been running effortlessly for several years now and the customer was so impressed with the easy maintenance and installation that the PG35 F1 package delivers, that they are looking to replace the other Hick Hargreaves units in their factory with the same. Modernising one of their most productive lines with an innovative, fully supported system will see them through for many years to come.
If you would like to see what we can do to help you upgrade your system, please feel free to call us for a no-obligation proposal
