HireSA HireSA April 2017 | Page 13

[ NEWS ] SPH Kundalila, which ascribes part of this success to its choice of haul equipment, has recently added four Bell B25E 6x4 Supertrucks to its fleet. We would only look to replace our Bell ADTs after 20 000 hours but with the proper preventative maintenance we apply, this can easily be pushed to 24 000 hours.” SPH Kundalila’s new Bell B25E Supertrucks have been bought with standard warrantees with Bell Equipment doing services at 1 000 hour intervals and SPH Kundalila’s mechanics doing the intermediate maintenance. Engine oil sampling is diligently done every 250 hours and sent for analysis and the same is done every 500 hours for the oil in differentials, drop boxes, transmissions and final-drives. Looking after the SPH Kundalila fleet of Bell ADTs is Workshop Manager, Hennie Stroebel. “We have a good relationship with Bell Equipment, which undertakes our servicing and repairs from Bell Equipment’s Customer Service Centre in Jet Park, and I must mention the name of Ben Spannenberg, Bell’s Customer Support Representative, who really looks after us,” he says. “Ben sees to it that we can rely on servicing and parts when required.” With the gold price showing a steady recovery, gold mining companies are looking to lower the cost of production and SPH Kundalila’s clients are no different. “We work on wet rates, which means that we watch fuel consumption very closely,” Graeme Campbell says. “We are happy to report that our new Bell B25E Supertrucks return fuel figures of between 12 and 16 litres per hour and that to us is a clear indication that we’re moving material at reduced cost per ton”. NEW LAB INSTRUMENTS ADVERTORIAL GENERATE FASTER SAMPLE RESULTS Leading condition monitoring specialist WearCheck recently invested over R1.7 million in new high-tech equipment in both the transformer and fuel sections of its Joburg-based speciality laboratory. T he Kruss K11 tensiometer, an ADU 5 distillation unit, a SVM3001 Stabinger viscometer as well as the PMA 5 Pensky-Martens closed-cup flash point tester are among the new pieces gracing the countertops in WearCheck’s laboratory. These highly accurate, sophisticated instruments – which have boosted the lab productivity by offering new tests and saving time on existing ones – have also reduced the turnaround time to generate customers’ sample results. The ADU 5, a fully-automated distillation unit, which is operated by a touch screen interface, performs distillation tests according to ASTM D86. This is recognised as one of the most reliable methods to determine the boiling range characteristics of petroleum products, and is a critical measurement of the overall performance and safety of fuels. The SVM3001 – a Stabinger viscometer – is capable of multiple parameter measurements in a single analysis, eliminating the need for many separate tests. It can simultaneously measure kinematic viscosity according to ASTM D7042, dynamic viscosity, as well as density according to ASTM D4052 in lubricating oils, base oils, additives and fuel oils. The sample is simply injected using a syringe and measurement is started via a touchscreen. The automatic PMA 5 Pensky-Martens closed-cup tester measures the flash point at the lowest temperature at which the application of an ignition source causes a sample’s vapours to ignite. The ADU 5, SVM3001 and PMA 5 are upgrades to existing equipment operated by WearCheck. Senior laboratory technician at WearCheck, Lizzy Chabangu, operates the condition monitoring company’s brand new PMA5 Pensky Martens closed cup flashpoint tester. The acquisition of these instruments has boosted service delivery by yielding highly accurate results and reducing turnaround time which is of benefit to customers. For more information, please contact WearCheck on [email protected] or call (031) 700-5460 or visit www.wearcheck.co.za. APRIL 2017 | HIRE SA | 13