This company is a designer, manufacturer, and supplier of engineered products and services for the international rail transportation industry. In particular, the company specializes in railcar parts, repair, and reconditioning services. One of the services they provide is cleaning and rebuilding train bearings for reuse and they use a bearing parts washer to get these parts clean automatically.
Cleaning Challenge
Bearing washing is challenging as it produces large amounts of waste grease. The company had an old conveyor-style bearing parts washer that was not getting the parts clean enough, and the rejection rate was high. In addition, they required a smaller system, preferably a turntable-style unit, that would fit into their newly built, smaller work cell environment.
Solution
In view of their challenges, the solution was a model RD-4000-P, front-loading turntable-style bearing parts washer with a 40-inch diameter turntable, roll-in door, and drag-out conveyor. The system washes two complete sets of bearings consisting of 8 parts each (seals, rings, cones, spacers, cups, and caps). First, a custom fixture/rack holds the parts secure to protect them from damage during the cleaning process. Secondly, a center-drop spray manifold, coupled with an oscillating manifold, ensures powerful spray cleaning from all angles. Lastly, the drag-out/sludge conveyor removes the heavy grease from the wash tank to meet the strict cleanliness specification.
In addition, the system also features:
- 10HP pump for flushing
- oil/water coalescer
- increased wash tank (200-gallon)
- double sets of dual in-line bag filters with a manual switch-over ball valve
- steam exhaust system
- Allen Bradley PLC/HMI
Please contact us to learn about more cleaning applications and systems like this!
