Planned shutdowns and regular swivel preventative maintenance are key to swivel joint performance and longevity. Downtime is expensive. But unplanned downtime brought on by a malfunctioning system is even more so. Help your liquid handling system go the distance with OILCO’s preventative maintenance tips and resources.
Protect Your Investment
OILCO’s triple v-ring swivel joint design offers a tremendous amount of touch point contact to prevent fluid exposure to the mechanical chamber. But time, chemical content, and operating environment can all contribute to a loss of function.
It’s time to inspect your system and perform regular maintenance if you’re seeing:
- Declining RPM rate
- Visible seepage
- Increased torque kink
Schedule Swivel Preventative Maintenance
With proper maintenance and monitoring, OILCO products can last for decades. For example, general lubrication should be performed on a programmed basis (bi-annually, quarterly, or monthly) depending on service and operating conditions. When service is severe, such as high temperature and abusive environments, heavy loads, or constant rotation, frequent lubrication may be required.
Use these guides to make sure you have the necessary parts on-hand, so you can maximize your maintenance window.
Don’t Underestimate the Value of Regular Inspection
Whereas regular swivel preventative maintenance will extend the life of a swivel joint, visual inspection should be used to evaluate the likelihood of mechanical failure. This is of particular importance in more corrosive environments, in acidic transfer services, and in more harsh operating conditions.
Regular inspection can help you avoid situations like those shown below.
Pitting and Erosion
Chemical and metallurgy reaction is a fact of life for liquid handling industry professionals. Signs of pitting and erosion should be monitored as an onset indicator of potential problems.
These issues occur at a swivel’s body-sleeve surface edge where the Teflon spring adapter rests. Gaps can begin to form as the penetration of fluid increases, making it easier for pipeline contamination to find its way into the chevron package.
If left untreated, this developing condition can:
- Create elevated adherence loss in the seal stack
- Deposit erosion materials on the adapter shelf
- Pull contamination up through the seal stack
As fluid penetration increases, contaminants can enter the lead seal position. This seal forms the final safeguard bond between product, sealing surface, and mechanical chamber.
All 90 Series units have a soft seal lead in this configuration package. Although chemically compatible with the handled product, the seal will inevitably face erosion challenges and begin to fatigue. When that happens, all safeguards have likely been bypassed and out-of-service issues are on the horizon.
Corrosion Example
In this photograph, arrow #1 shows the onset corrosion condition. This indicates a pitting interrupted the sealing surface tolerance. The lines of each separate seal can almost be made out as the product began to work through the seal stack. Arrow #2 shows visible contaminants in the v-groove. This highlights the full penetration of the seals and a pending mechanical chamber intrusion.
The level of pitting shown in this photo is significant enough that this sealing surface could not be reconditioned. Reconditioning is only an option of the problem is discovered at the very earliest stage. Luckily, the raceways show no evidence of contamination. For operational safety, OILCO recommended this unit be removed from service and replaced.
Seal Failure Example
This photo showcases a 16” Model 192-FS swivel joint. This unit transferred highly contaminated water in a hot, harsh environment. No one inspected or maintained the unit for roughly 2.5 years. Please don’t do that, ever. Don’t let your swivels get to this point.
OILCO was contacted when the swivel refused to rotate, and leaks were evident throughout the mechanical chamber. The customer shut down operations immediately because all of the rubber had failed. We rushed a replacement unit to the customer, but they still faced a nine-working day delay.
OILCO: Reliability at Every Turn
Preventative maintenance keeps your business turning. You can always email us photos to get an outside opinion on the state of a swivel you maintain. We’re here to help.
Proudly designed and manufactured in the USA since 1935, OILCO Liquid Handling Systems’ reliable products keep industries moving. From our unparalleled swivel joint line to our innovative loading arm assemblies, OILCO products are engineered to do more. Put our experience to work for your business.
