These advanced products are
suited to a broad range of food
industry applications, where many
manufacturers of machines and
systems install Molded-Oil bearings
as part of the original equipment.
However, they are also ideal for
retrofit applications.
A case in point can be seen at a
British food manufacturer, where the
standard deep groove ball bearings
in a seven-track conveyor system
were only lasting for a period of
four months. The reason was water
penetration within the bearings
during daily washouts, which resulted
in costly maintenance work and
damage to the conveyor belts. Each
time there was a failure, the company
had to endure downtime of 24
hours, creating a considerable dip in
productivity.
After inspecting the bearings, NSK
recommended using stainless steel
bearings with Molded-Oil lubrication
and DU seals on both sides.
Subsequently, bearing operating life
increased three-fold, to 12 months,
while bearing-related maintenance
costs (including downtime) were
reduced by more than €52,000
annually.
The story was similar at a
manufacturer of frozen pizzas, where
failures were being experienced every
four weeks on the belt tensioner
serving one of the company’s food
conveyors. Regular cleaning of the
production line with water had
led to corrosion. Moreover, the
grease lubricant had been washed
out of the bearings, and the seals
were damaged. NSK inspected the
application and again recommended
the use of Molded-Oil bearings made
from stainless steel. This resulted in
a significantly prolonged operating
life, plus annual cost savings of
approximately €15,700.
Elsewhere, the bearings of belt
pulleys within the cake-cutting
machines at a large bakery were
failing on a constant basis.
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