Chain for Special Applications
In this article, we discuss the importance of selecting the right chain for the job.
Renold can assist with all aspects of specifying a chain to suit your application. At the end of the article you can contact our skilled and experienced team for more assistance.
There are some industrial applications on which even standard chain won't offer the performance and wear life of one selected from our range of Solution Chains. Factors like the inability to lubricate, hostile environments, regular wash downs and arduous conditions will reduce the performance of standard chain and cause it to wear rapidly.
Chain Lubrication
An example is found on applications where lubrication is either difficult or undesirable, such as in the food industry where the possibility of product becoming contaminated with lubricant is unacceptable. There are many other applications where lubrication may be undesirable or difficult and such conditions will cause standard chain to wear rapidly.
To solve this problem Renold offers Syno, a lubrication free chain that has been designed around a sintered bush containing a lubricant that is only released onto the friction surfaces while the chain is running. As soon as it stops the lubricant returns to the bush, and there is no possibility of product contamination. It's a dry-to-the-touch, fit and forget solution that, on most applications, requires absolutely no additional lubrication at all.
High performance chain
Arduous manufacturing processes can cause standard roller chain to wear rapidly and in the most extreme examples standard chain lasts only a matter of days before it needs replacing. One European manufacturer of steel cans was routinely replacing standard roller chain every three days and, like many companies with similarly demanding applications, needed a new longer-lasting chain to reduce replacement costs and cut downtime.
To address this Renold developed Renold Synergy, a high performance transmission chain that lasts up to six times longer than standard chain, and in some cases more than that. It was designed to deliver long wear life that was previously impossible, even with the highest quality standard chain, in conditions of extreme wear and high shock loading.
Longer lasting chain not only reduces chain replacement costs, it also cuts downtime. This is particularly important on production lines that run 24 hours a day because production time lost to maintenance cannot be made up. Some manufacturers cost downtime at over £50K an hour and so it's easy to see how the savings from longer lasting chain can be almost immediate.
Corrosion Resistant Chain
Corrosion is another problem on many applications, but again, these issues have been addressed by Renold's range of Solution Chain. Stainless Steel chain is available for applications where machinery is routinely subjected to moisture or wash downs. However stainless steel cannot deliver the working load capabilities of a standard steel chain.
Renold have developed Hydro-Service, a surface treatment for standard steel chain designed to resist corrosion therefore delivering the same operating performance and is a much more cost-effective product. Each component of the chain is mechanically treated with a series of coatings to protect it against corrosion before assembly. So effective is the Hydro-Service corrosion resistant chain that it will resist corrosion for up to 30 times longer than a standard carbon steel chain.
Abrasion Resistant Chain
There is even chain in our solutions range that has been specifically designed to operate in abrasive environments where there might be significant amounts of dirt and debris that would cause a standard specification chain to wear rapidly. Renold Sovereign abrasion resistant chain has a special pin and bush that delivers greatly enhanced wear resistance in abrasive environments.
Renold Sovereign was chosen by JCB to drive the rear wheels of its Groundhog utility vehicle, specifically because of its wear resistance in the gritty and dirty conditions it would be likely to operate in.
In fact for any demanding application Renold has a product that can respond. A solution that, in each case, has been designed to offer better performance, longer working life, reduced maintenance, operate lubrication free, tolerate dirty working conditions or resist corrosion.
Discuss your application with our skilled team today.