British manufacturer FB Chain will offer visitors to ProMat 2015 a chance to try out the company’s professional chain wear gauge and experience first-hand its ease of use at booth 1891.
Throughout its 30-year history, British chain manufacturer and supplier FB Chain has been a key driver for quality and safety in the industry – its product specialists helping to review and set new ISO standards as representatives on the BSI (British Standards Institute) technical committee. And this dedication to excellence does not end when each length of material handling chain leaves the warehouse – it continues throughout the chain’s service life. FB Chain’s loyal customers have come to see the company not just as a supplier but as a source of valuable advice on the correct specification, tension and lubrication for each individual application.
One of the most frequent enquiries the company receives is the best way to measure wear – an essential part of any lifting equipment inspection. If a chain has elongated by as little as 3% due to wear, it is neither safe nor legal and could break at any time. Yet many service technicians struggle to carry out this safety-critical task with a sufficient level of accuracy.
The steel or tape rules traditionally used to measure wear are difficult to line up and hold steady. And seeing as the measurements involved are so small – 0.25% wear is only 1/32nd of an inch over 12 inches – even a slight misalignment can have a significant impact on the result. Moreover, once a technician has managed to take an accurate reading, he or she still needs to perform some arithmetic to convert the increase in length into percentage wear.
“The more complicated the process, the more room for error – which is why we designed our own wear measurement tool that can be used by anyone, quickly and confidently,” says Bradley Pyne, leaf chain aftermarket specialist at FB Chain. “Our patented wear gauge is the only tool of its kind available and is now widely considered the industry standard for leaf chain wear measurement.”
Fool-proof solution
To use the FB Professional Chain Wear Gauge, a service technician simply needs to set the nominal pitch of the chain and measure over the number of pins displayed on the front of the tool. The V-jaws ensure the tool is correctly positioned (similar to a vernier calliper but without the weight), allowing it to accurately compare the chain’s actual length to the nominal pitch length and calculate the percentage wear. This figure is shown in 0.25% wear increments from 0 to 4% worn with a red warning box appearing at 2%.
The FB Professional Wear Gauge – which is now used by service technicians around the world – will be the star of the company’s booth at the upcoming ProMat show in Chicago, where visitors will be able to test its speed and simplicity for themselves.
“The high degree of accuracy removes the risk of chain remaining in service when dangerously worn – or being replaced prematurely, leading to unnecessary costs,” Pyne says. “What’s more, its simplicity encourages routine service checks to be completed without fail, while the ‘how much worn’ feature allows for accurate scheduling of servicing and replacements. All these benefits help increase the overall uptime of lifting equipment.”
The FB Professional Chain Wear Gauge is suitable for measuring wear on all leaf chains from 3/8 to 3 inch pitch. It comes with a protective case and a set of comprehensive instructions detailing how to determine the nominal pitch of a chain and the correct measurement procedure.
“This innovative and well-designed service tool has enabled customers worldwide to improve the safety and uptime of their lifting equipment. This is the message we will be bringing to ProMat 2015,” Pyne concludes.
FB Chain’s representatives will also be available to discuss the company’s wide range of leaf, roller and conveyor chains, each with quality, consistency and traceability guaranteed.
