bearings
- April 30, 2021
When Vesconite Bearings’ team visited knife-gate valve manufacturer A.C.Valves to fully understand how its client was using low-friction wear-resistant Vesconite polymer guide strips in knife gates, the company was manufacturing two valves for a mine that had experienced a break-down.
The 20” valves had been requested the day before and the mine’s supplier was due to pick them up on the day of Vesconite’s visit to the company, which can manufacture 200 – 300 knife gate valves a month depending on the size of the valve.
A.C.Valves director Collin Scott notes that the mine required two narrow-design Wafer Ring Flange (RF) bi-directional valves, which are A.C.Valves’ most popular design and the design that uses Vesconite as a guide strip.
The valves, which handle light and medium slurries, are relatively thin and are designed in keeping with mining company plant designs that require small compact plants.
- April 15, 2021
Difficult seal applications come from all industries and sectors of the economy.
While far-reaching operating conditions certainly consume their fair share of engineering hours, often one constraint also probes the boundaries of sealing technology and design ingenuity: limited hardware space.
The Client’s Issue
A manufacturer was using a pneumatically actuated cylinder to dispense a chemical in a production process. The piston was drawn back in the cylinder thus filling it with the chemical product. The piston was then pushed forward to dispense the chemical out of a nozzle.
- February 03, 2021
Vesconite's Hitemp 160 - Innovative New High Temperature Bearing Material
A pump containing three sleeve bearings made from a new bearing material, Hitemp 160 − which can operate to temperatures up to 160°C (320°F) and is resistant to abrasive material − has been tested in a pump that has received South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) certification.
“The pump manufacturer tested and later concluded Vesconite's proprietary Hitemp 160 material, which has excellent abrasive properties, negligible water swell, and allows the pump to run dry periodically, is working well under the conditions encountered in the mine.”
The new material fills a gap in the market for high-temperature bearings that are able to operate to 160°C in immersed conditions.
- December 24, 2020
A large beverage producer turned to Vesconite Bearings for a solution when it found that its forklift side-shift pads were not able to cope with the typical 2-t beverage loads that its single double-pallet-handler forklifts carried.
Side-shift pads are located between the forklift attachment and the carriage of the forklift, and allow the user to shift a load for quick and accurate placement by a stationary forklift onto a goods truck.
However, in the case of the beverage company, the originally-installed pads were quickly bitten into by the forklift attachment when moving the heavy beverage-containing pallets.
“The original nylon pads lasted about two weeks until they started being bitten in to, and then we had to use silicon spray,” says the company’s forklift technician.
Since forklifts are an integral part of the company’s business, which relies on efficient materials handling and logistics to supply large volumes of beverages, an intervention was needed.
- November 24, 2020
Bearing and wear part manufacturer Vesconite Bearings has increased its efforts to develop better -than-the-original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) forklift parts.
The company has long known that its gantry support bearings, tilt cylinder bushings, side shift pads, mast pivot bushings, steer axle articulation bushings, king pin bushings and lever and pedal bushings offered low-friction, wear-resistant and high load capacity characteristics. The Vesconite parts last longer than the originals and do not need regular greasing. They are sought after by the forklift rental companies who appreciate the longer wear life and savings achieved from reduced maintenance.
- October 22, 2020
Vesconite Hilube is a bearing material specially designed for long life, low maintenance bearings and bushes.
Vesconite Hilube is internally lubricated with advanced solid lubricants to give a very low friction, even without additional grease or other lubrication.
Vesconite Hilube Wear Ring Benefits:
- No water swell
- Superior performance
- Extended wear life
- Low friction
- High load-bearing strength
- Dimensional stability
- Temperature limits
- Shaft friendly
- Chemical resistance
Vesconite Wear Rings Improve Pump Efficiency
Independent tests by a major pump manufacturer prove corrosion-free Vesconite Hilube wear rings safely allow reduced running clearances and improve pump efficiency.
Bronze casing wear rings with a clearance of 0.3 mm were tested against no-swell Vesconite Hilube at 0.1 mm.
- April 22, 2020
Vesconite Hilube Saves Energy Costs for Pump OEM
The installation of Vesconite Hilube wear rings can result in electricity savings that more-than-pay for the wear ring.
This was the result of a study by a large pump original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that compared energy usage on a typical submersible pump when Vesconite Hilube wear rings were in place versus stainless steel wear rings that had been previously installed.
Vesconite Hilube is a low-friction wear-resistant polymer. Wear rings made from the material are designed to seal the pressure leakage of the liquid between the inlet and the impeller and the pump casing, and should result in a higher pumping efficiency due to lower by-pass.
Vesconite Bearing technical pump consultant Phillip de
- February 18, 2020
One of Vesconite's customers, a large independent polyurethane and plastic foam manufacturer, restarted an important gear pump without difficulty after the company's closed period from December through January. This gear pump is used to pump glue to rebound foam chips.
Because it pumps viscous adhesive liquid at one of the company’s two chip plants, the gear pump can fail to restart if component parts are immobilized by glue after a long period of inactivity.
Viking Pump Restarts With Ease With Hilube
However, with the introduction of Vesconite Hilube polymer bushings in the well-known Viking internal gear pump, the company’s pump restarted with ease.
Not only that, the Vesconite Hilube pump bushings, which were inspected at
- December 18, 2019
Freudenberg Sealing Technologies has developed an optimized design for its proven Levitorq axial thrust washers.
Through a new “scoop” feature, the enhanced Levitorq design is able to collect and push lubrication under the washer to enable higher critical speeds and enhanced performance. Levitorq is part of the company’s Low Emission Sealing Solutions (LESS) product portfolio.
The original Levitorq design was created to reduce weight, decrease friction, improve thickness/flatness control and often provide a cost benefit to the customer. It relies on the principles of hydrodynamic oil film technology and is designed to create a surface on which a bearing can roll, or a load can be applied. Traditionally, thrust washers are made from metals, but Freudenberg has used its material expertise and design knowledge, along with proprietary software and testing capabilities,
- November 27, 2019
Changing Bushings to Vesconite
A UK manufacturer of brackets for electrical equipment has changed its 3D printer bushings to Vesconite bearings.
The manufacturer had previously used roller bearings on its two Prusa 3D printers, but had found that roller bearings wore away the printer rods. They also required regular greasing, which limited production uptime and value.
Following some online searching, Triple Link Manufacturing founder Mark Bagnall discovered a reference to Vesconite 3D printer bushings and was attracted by the fact that they were low maintenance and required no greasing.
In addition, he was pleased with the fact