Questions You Should Know about metso pump spare parts

When it comes to replacing major components for gyratory, cone and jaw crushers, finding the right personnel who are trained for these specialized tasks can be a challenge. Bottomshells, mainshafts or gears eventually need replacement or even an upgrade to take advantage of product improvements. Large and heavy parts often require specialized handling and installation procedures, as well as specialized tools to ensure safety.

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When replacing an eccentric, a pitman, a pinion or any other major crusher component, many questions can come up. Has the site planned this type of work before, and does it have all the right tools? Are all the service steps perfectly understood to do the work safely and efficiently? Are there experienced personnel available to execute the part change-out? Does the site service team know what to look for to make sure the parts come together properly? Are new parts to be used or are the existing parts that are going to be re-used in good condition?

Using in-house expertise, OEM support or both

Many mine sites and plants try to tackle these types of crusher component change outs with their in-house capabilities. However, even with sites that have strong maintenance teams, there are many challenges that may not be considered. Some sites may have to deal with high turnover in key service positions, leading to uncertainty in how to perform these major and non-routine maintenance tasks. Other plants need to service many models and brands of equipment and may not have the specialized knowledge that comes from performing complicated parts’ change-outs on a regular basis. There is also the constant struggle between production and maintenance aims and goals. When the pressure is on to increase production, there can be the temptation to shortcut maintenance times, which can lead to equipment problems or safety concerns that outweigh the time saved doing the actual work.

Having served at mine sites for 10 years, holding roles such as Shift Mechanical Fitter, Leading Hand, Supervisor, Sr Supervisor & Maintenance Planner before joining Metso Outotec as a crusher maintenance expert, has given me a broad view when it comes to service operations. I gained considerable knowledge on the life cycle of a site’s crushing assets and the maintenance required to ensure equipment reliability and in turn plant availability. I can say with confidence that if the on-site crews are well trained, many routine tasks can be handled safely and competently. However, a typical maintenance mentality that I observed (and personally held for some time) is a ‘We can fix anything ourselves’ and that calling in the OEM was not needed, as we could work out the best ways of working ourselves. For many routine component replacements, this was indeed true enough.

However, over time I changed my view and realized that in many cases OEM support complemented a site team’s strengths and led to a far better result in terms of efficiently maintaining a site’s crushing equipment. I would like to share just a couple examples that I have seen first-hand, relating to gyratory crusher component replacement work that display how not pulling in needed know-how can be detrimental and potentially costly.

Issue 1 

Gyratory Crusher – Spider bushing seals are damaged on installation or replacement. If the seals are damaged, it can result in excessive leaking of lubricant. This can lead to potential equipment damage and additional plant downtime, resulting in loss of production, negative environmental impact and increased costs associated with re-work and replacement parts.

How it can occur

A common practice adopted by some customers is installing the spider bushing into the spider before installing the spider onto the crusher, despite Metso Outotec manuals outline that this is not the correct or recommended practice. Theoretically, this practice can be done. However, there is likely to damage the spider bushing seals when positioning over the mainshaft due to misalignment.

Effect

Some customers are not prepared for a shutdown to address the issue immediately, due to the costs associated with loss of production. Instead, they convert the lubrication system over to grease in a temporary ad hoc style, which can result in further issues down the road.

Best practice

With the knowledge of our certified Metso Outotec teams, combined with a drive for continuous improvement, the component replacement process for the service work is revised internally based on best practices. The practice within the Metso Outotec team is to install the spider bushing after the mainshaft and spider are already installed. This doesn’t crucially increase the time to do the job and it helps the installer ensure the seals are not damaged upon installation.

Issue 2

Gyratory Crusher – Pinion or eccentric gear is damaged upon removal of pinion shaft assembly, potentially leading to costly component replacement, reduced equipment reliability and downtime.

How it can occur

Due to time constraints and the desire to bring the plant online sooner, some customers tend to remove their pinion shaft assemblies without first removing the MPS and eccentric assembly. Again, this can be done in theory if proper care is taken. However, it can be quite challenging to do in practice. The eccentric and pinion gear are a spiral bevel type of gear, which means you would need to rotate the pinion as you try to withdraw the pinionshaft assembly from the housing. On multiple occasions, we have observed the pinion gear binding up against the eccentric gear attempting to do it this way. When this happens, the application of more force is used to free up the gear, which can cause damage to the gear teeth in the process.

Effect

As the pinionshaft and eccentric assembly form part of the crusher drive train, any damage to these sensitive components can have a catastrophic effect on equipment reliability and functionality.

Best practice

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Metso Outotec recommends removing the MPS and eccentric assembly prior to removing the pinionshaft assembly. This ensures no damage is incurred during the removal or installation process. Our team of experts have done this process many times and have optimized the procedure to ensure it is accomplished safely, in time and without damage to components. Taking a risk to save 8-12 hours of downtime is certainly not worth the cost, especially if things go wrong.

Combining approaches for highest crusher uptime

Having strong in-house site teams to service crushing and screening equipment can bring many benefits and cost savings to a plant. However, complementing their efforts by having an OEM service team either execute or supervise larger, more complicated, or less often performed component replacements should always be considered and can bring the best of both worlds. Leveraging OEM know-how for major component replacement can pay dividends in terms of smoother change-outs and higher equipment availability due to less issues and rework caused by small missteps.

By utilizing Metso Outotec crusher component replacement services, sites can benefit from the OEM team’s experience in scheduling and staging pre-outage activities, as well as executing the work quickly to significantly reduce downtime. It also brings the advantage of having one point of responsibility for the entire maintenance event. In some cases, OEM warranties can often be extended when Metso Outotec crews perform the installation of major parts. With access to global knowledge centers, trouble shooting and adjustments can often be done on the spot by our on-site crews, bringing further uptime benefits.

When it comes to replacing major components for Filtration and other dewatering equipment, the challenge often revolves around finding personnel with the required expertise, correct tools, instructions and background to execute the service work both quickly and safely. Plates, filter cloths and other components need regular monitoring and timely replacement for equipment to run smoothly. Plates and plate packs can also be challenging to change-out due to the component’s size and weight and in addition, require careful handling as well as specialized tools to ensure safety.

Asking the right questions before starting the work

When servicing filtration equipment, it is important to objectively evaluate the site capabilities and the team who will be performing the work. Key questions to ask are:

• Has the site planned this type of work before, and are all the right tools available?
• Are all the service steps well understood to do the work safely and efficiently?
• Are there experienced personnel available to execute the part change-out?
• Does the site service team know what to look for to make sure the parts come together properly?
• Will new parts be used or are the components part of a service exchange or plate refurbishment program?

Having a good feel for these questions can help determine the right mix of in-house work and what level of OEM support is required.

Knowing what to look for

In my time as a Field Service Engineer for filters in Australia and the USA, as well as during the period of serving as a site account manager for our eastern USA customers, many sites had a fine team of service personnel maintaining their equipment. However, even well-trained and knowledgeable teams would often run into issues with their filters. What was the reason and how did the problems go unchecked and escalate into larger mechanical issues? One common reason was simply personnel turnover. Maintaining filtration equipment demands both knowledge and experience and learning to look for warning signs is often gained over time. New team members require time and guidance before they spot the signs that filtration equipment could be about to run into an issue.  It often came down to service personnel simply not knowing where to look, what to look for and how often to perform their filter checks.

A second reason came down to not always using the right parts for the job. While performing my work on filters, one common issue I ran into was hydraulic and mechanical failures. In several cases, local 3rd parties supplied hydraulic components which were used during maintenance and breakdown events due to perceived faster lead times, rather than using standard OEM parts. However, some filter hydraulic systems components need to be pre-set and bench tested before installation. Several sites I visited had limited knowledge and capability to perform these checks before using the 3rd party parts. It generally caused more issues in the hydraulic system than expected and often led to extended downtime for the equipment. I would like to share a few additional examples of common filter issues I ran into over my time in the field.

Issue 1 – Oil contamination

Larox® PF – hydraulic system components failure is something I have seen at several sites. Generally, hydraulic components failure came from oil contamination and wear and tear when the equipment was not serviced regularly. Various alarms and oil leaks occurred when some components failed. Troubleshooting on hydraulic components failure can be difficult as you need to utilize multiple specific tools (Hydac measurement tools & PLC) and experience to locate the failed components.

How oil contamination can occur

Lack of maintenance on the hydraulic system is the most common reason. Typically, customers will repair oil leaks after they have been observed. Some customers have limited spare parts stock and maintenance time, which causes oil-leaking situations to continue for much longer than expected. These leaks often lead to the introduction of dust and particles into the hydraulic system.

Effect

Once hydraulic oil is contaminated and if the leaking continues, the system can pass beyond its self-cleaning capability. Oil contamination stays at a high level or starts to worsen. If oil sample analysis is not continuously conducted as scheduled or final analysis results are not reviewed by experienced personnel, hydraulic systems can be operated over their designed parameters, leading to hydraulic component failure. Once hydraulic components begin to fail, various alarms will start to occur and interrupt production. Some customers install non-preset components or fail to locate the components at the root cause of the failure, leading to the frequency of alarms eventually reaching unacceptable levels and finally filter shutdown.

Best practice

To reduce the chances of these types of events happening, Metso Outotec stocks preset hydraulic components ready to deliver to customers in a short period of time. Using preset components helps to eliminate incorrect initial settings of hydraulic components in the filter hydraulic system and minimizes confusion for local maintenance teams by reducing the number of components having issues. Metso Outotec also builds up knowledgeable local field service teams equipped with proper hydraulic and electrical tools to help customers to analyze the root cause of failures and replace critical components in a timely manner.

Issue 2 - Misaligned plates due to using improper plate alignment procedures

One site I made a service call to had a Larox® PF filter with 22 plates that had not been maintained properly. The plate pack was badly misaligned – dry air was leaking, and the filtrate was leaking from the collector. This was causing noise issues and could have led to the contamination of the entire filter building. No one was able to work close to the filter due to the leaks and noise caused by a misalignment when changing out the plates of the filter on a previous service stop. A shutdown of the filter was required to correct the alignment of the plate pack. The entire realignment took several days to fix and field tests to ensure all was working properly. The work required 3-4 people working over several days with specialized equipment and ended up costing the customer significant service work and lost production.   

How plate misalignment occurs

Many sites may not have the personnel trained to conduct a proper filter plate alignment. Plates may not be aligned at all or secondly even if they are aligned – a slide piece could wear out prematurely if too much torque is applied.

Effect

If the plates are not aligned, the site team would have to repeat the entire process again to ensure the alignment is correct.  If not properly aligned, cloth tracking issues could occur, or slurry can leak. In most cases, stopping the filter to conduct repairs results in unplanned downtime. A second option would be to leave the filter working as it is but, in most cases, the issues tend to escalate if not addressed.

Best practices

It is critical to adhere to OEM workbook procedures to ensure plates are aligned which reduces future service work. In some cases, certain components need on-the-spot repair such as the VAT, pin or other components linked to the plates. Inspections are also important to detect issues early with set inspection points checked regularly.  Safety issues can also cause issues – lifting methods need to be monitored and performed properly by the workers. Cranes need to be used, but specific tools are also needed – such as a lifting beam to stabilize the lifting procedure – some customers may perform the lift without the beam which causes issues.

Leveraging OEM Filter knowledge

Having a well-trained in-house service team can offer many benefits. However, for the change-out of large components that need accurate alignment, leveraging OEM support can make all the difference. By utilizing Metso Outotec filtration component replacement services, sites can benefit from the OEM team’s experience in scheduling and staging pre-outage activities, as well as executing the work quickly to significantly minimize downtime. There are other advantages in terms of having one point of responsibility for the entire maintenance event. In some cases, OEM warranties can often be extended when Metso Outotec crews perform the installation of major filtration parts. With access to global knowledge centers, troubleshooting, alignment and adjustments can often be done on the spot by our on-site crews, bringing additional uptime benefits.

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