Refractory Installation Equipment Care

The following is an excerpt from Stacey Rice, BBS Service manager, and her response to our agent’s service report and follow up request on how their customer can reduce maintenance costs

“Unfortunately with what I see and your report they are not taking care of the machine. It is important to clean the machine after they are done using it. If they have no place to put the machine that will keep the dust off they should seal it up in plastic so no dirt can infiltrate and damage the system. The system must be oiled at all times. If there is no oil you will defiantly loose cylinders and then the master valves will cease to work, especially with the dirt in the system.

These types of cylinders cannot be repaired. If they keep the system well oiled and they are using mud, they should wipe down the shafts often to keep the mud off them. They can also use a silicone spray on the cylinder shafts to help keep the mud off them. Mud on the cylinder shafts breaks down the o rings in the tops of the cylinders.”

“They should avoid water in the system, Keep the lube bowl full of oil (to the max line) all the times, The actual bowl on the filter section is missing. They also should change the filter every other outage due to their air quality issues. They need to avoid water and dirt though out the system. If that is the quality of the plant air they should get a dryer to put on their line. Look up “Tufit Auto drain valve” it comes from Jaipur.  They are inexpensive in price.”

Stacey’s response is right on! You would not drive a car that wasn’t well maintained or without oil or with water in the gas, the same applies to our equipment. Treat the equipment with respect and it will serve you well. Preventative maintenance and general repair maintenance education is critical. This educational service, evaluation (not only of the equipment but of the people charged with the care of the equipment) is valuable. In the US more and more customers are not only willing to pay for the service one time but want to reeducate, reevaluate on a regular basis.”

When you add safety issues to the maintenance, preventative maintenance and regular evaluations of the equipment you have a full fledge service program that provides a marketable service to the customer. I emphasize the word “Service”. We do not want our equipment to get a bad reputation due to negligence and do not want our customers to suffer the consequences.