Technical Memo

Extend your Gears Life by ensuring Proper Installation & Precise Alignment

It is HMC’s confirmed belief; after investigating many premature gear failures that; when new gears are Improperly Installed they can lose a significant portion of their service life; sometimes within a few hours.

We would like to offer you a few tips that might help you appreciate a Reduced Investment Level for your Very Expensive Gears. 
The primary factor that can make a positive difference in Reducing your Investment for Large Gearing is “Increased Service Life”.
Below are a few of the factors that can help with Extended Service Life. 

1. The higher the AGMA Tolerances the easier it is to identify Alignment Error. There is 100% more Allowable Alignment Error in an AGMA 9 Gear’s tolerances to that of an AGMA 12 Gear’s tolerances.
   
   We are convinced that too many replacement gears have lost years of service life within a short period after run-off due to pitting and metal erosion caused by poor Installation Alignment.
   
2. Increased Capacity – if your gear is designed to meet; for example AGMA 8 and the load requirements asked of the gear are suddenly exceed that which your gear is designed to withstand; shock loading or increased production demand, your gear will most likely fail in a short period of time. However, had your Gear been Over Designed for its application by incorporating Improved Tolerances and Mechanical Properties, your Gear would likely facilitate the overloads and live to see another day.   
   
3. Improved Contact Ratio
4. Reduced risk of initial pitting at run-off
5. Smoother and Quieter Running
6. Significantly Increased Service Life
7. Improved Cost Effectiveness

When Gears are Installed and Precisely Aligned in New Equipment; Mills and other Machinery such as Gear Transmissions, they will perform comparably for many years because they are given the opportunity to wear and conform to the gradual deterioration and misalignment that will occur over time. 

In comparison; when a New Gear is installed in Tired Machinery; Worn Mechanical Parts and Housings with extensive misalignment, the Gearing; unable to conform to this wear and misalignment will pit, erode, and even crack very early on after run-off.