Following a recent site inspection, SKF found that all fifteen customised K35 design seals installed in a vertical boring mill’s hydraulic rotary joint two and a half years ago have remained in perfect condition and continues to provide seamless operation! The same SKF-manufactured seals were duly put back into service.

The customer, a leading steel manufacturer, was experiencing frequent costly downtime once or twice a year caused by the failure of the hydraulic rotary joint on their vertical boring mill. The repair of this component was not only expensive but also time consuming, taking up to between three to four weeks due to the positioning of the equipment. Despite sourcing OEM spares from the overseas OEM supplier, the problem persisted. 

“Having used our product and service solutions for many years, this long-standing SKF customer approached us in January 2017,” states André Weyers, Technology Manager Seals and Machines Seals at SKF South Africa.

Only one day after receiving the enquiry, SKF conducted a site visit to investigate the problem. “After considering the application, we recommended our customised K35 design seals for the vertical boring mill application.  The K35 compact piston seal’s individualistic profile for machined type seals, its ability to avoid rolling or twisting in the seal groove, and its advanced SKF Hydrolysis resistant seal material made this seal the perfect fit for this application,” explains Weyers. He adds that this smart design enables the equipment to deliver optimal performance leading to reduced downtime and ultimately profitability for the customer.

Within only two days after receiving the order, SKF manufactured all fifteen custom K35 seals on its innovative NG60 Sealjet machine without altering any of the customer’s hardware parameters. On the same day the seals were installed and commissioned by the OEM’s local agent, with the support of SKF.

Whilst SKF was not responsible for product training, the company did share important aspects such as the material and design benefits of the customised SKF K35 design seals with the customer during the validation of the product.

Weyers says that SKF not only won the customer’s trust during this project but also, thanks to their superior service, the customer advised the OEM’s local agent of the huge success which subsequently led to SKF receiving an order for two seal kits.

“We are extremely proud of the fact that our state-of-the-art seals contributed to the customer gaining seven times more uptime resulting in millions of Rands in savings over the two-year period. Though our vast industry experience as a global bearings and rotation technology specialist, we were able to assist our customer in improving their productivity and profitability goals,” concludes Weyers.