Do you know that lowering the maintenance fee in your firm can significantly increase your profit margin? While slip rings make signal transmission easy, efficient, and fast, they can also play a significant role in how much you spend on maintaining your machines.
It costs every customer to have a reliable and functioning slip ring. That is why maintaining it for it to last long sounds like the next smart move. How can a customer manage a slip ring to increase lifecycle and performance? It involves many factors.
To increase slip ring efficiency and lifecycle, a customer must have a plan in place after buying one. Where does a customer start to take care of the slip ring? Engineers taking care of the slip rings should maximize the lifecycle and performance of the device in the slip ring in the following three areas.
3 Tips for Maximizing Slip Ring Lifecycle and Performance
Where does taking care of the slip ring start? That is the question every customer should have in mind after purchasing a slip ring. The following are three tips that help a customer maintain and maximize slip ring lifecycle and performance:
1) Get the Best Slip Ring Design
It starts with the design of the slip ring you decide to buy. Here, a reliable manufacturer comes in handy. That is because getting the right quality slip ring assures you less stress in maintaining and increasing the lifecycle. When it comes to slip rings, the customer should look at:
- The Types: With many varieties available in the market, it can be hard to choose the right one for the job. Do you need it to transmit data, electricity, or signal? What space do you have for installing the slip ring? Getting the right slip ring for the right purpose ensures that it performs best and lasts for longer.
- Mechanical Robust: How do the slip rings work under heavy vibrations and extreme conditions? Good manufacturers ensure that every slip ring design is according to the working environment to make it easier for customers to maintain.
- Contact Material: What are the brushes and conductive metals? As you know about slip rings, the right contact material optimizes reliable signal and data transmission. For example, contacts of precious metal and silver alloys are resistant to heat and hence make them suitable for electricity transmission.
- Seals: Does the slip ring you buy have a seal? Seals are to protect the slip ring from external damages hence enabling continuous and undisrupted signal and data transmission. It also acts as an insulator. It protects the slip ring against harsh weather conditions.
- Configuration: It is something that customers overlook and leads to many configuration errors. Getting the right slip ring for a specific task eliminates many issues that arise from slip ring overload. It is advisable to go for a slip rig that allows many channels to reduce maintenance.
2) Slip Ring Installation
It is another underrated task that many engineers ignore. What they don’t realize is a simple installation mistake can lead to an interruption in transmission. So, what should a customer do to make sure the installation maximizes the slip ring life and performance?
- Consider the environment to install: Is the installation place dusty, with much humidity, or under harsh weather conditions? That gives you a hint of how and which slip ring to get to suit the situation. Getting the wrong slip ring means wearing it out faster and hence requires more to maintain it. Rust-free slip ring that is of a good quality metal ensures durability.
- Follow the instructions: A customer gets installation instructions on how to install the slip ring they buy. Every engineer must follow the instructions to make sure the slip ring they purchase is in place and working according to how it is supposed to
- Be keen: Different mounting orientations in a slip ring call for a different configuration. Getting it wrong means recurring signal problems that are hard to identify. Engineers can tackle this by making sure they mount the slip ring using the right parameters and measurements.
3) Maintenance
It all narrows down to how a customer maintains the slip ring after installation. While it sounds easy, it is hard to know where to start managing and how to do it. Different slip rings require different maintenance procedures and include:
- When to do maintenance: When are you supposed to do your first maintenance after buying the slip ring? According to manufacturers, a customer is supposed to do the first maintenance after 50 million revolutions. It can be after one year or less.
- What to do: The basics include dusting the slip ring surfaces and around them. Dust accumulates loads and contacts, and if let’s stay, it leads to corrosion and interruption of the slip ring performance. Customers must have a routine dusting schedule to remove dust
- Oiling is also necessary: Although some like fiber material slip rings don’t require oiling, it is useful to oil the moving part to eliminate friction and keep the rotating part moving without hitches. It also helps to use the right lubricator for the moving part for effectiveness.
- Plan for maintenance: What customers should know is that the maintenance doesn’t start in the factory. It begins on the drawing board in the office. Every customer should plan and schedule maintenance regularly to spot any issue before it brings the slip ring down.
- Have the right maintenance person: Having qualified personnel to handle the slip ring goes a long way in increasing durability and performance. That is because they have the skills to identify and solve any issue that may arise while maintaining.
Conclusion
Maximizing the slip ring lifecycle and performance goes a long way in reducing maintenance costs. While it sounds simple, it can be complicated if a customer doesn’t know where to start. The above tips and areas give you a hint on the areas you are supposed to start from to make your slip ring last for longer and perform at its best.