If your hydraulic equipment is exposed to spikes of high temperatures, industry standard thermoplastic polyurethanes, or TPUs, may fail you.
In a previous blog, we wrote about the GlobalCore series of hose from Parker, which can streamline your hose and fittings inventory and provides a high-quality, robust standard for hydraulic hose in the most common pressure ranges. GlobalCore series hoses use the 77 series fittings from sizes -8 through -32, which are available in a wide variety of styles and configurations, but had previously only been manufactured in carbon steel. Parker is excited to announce the introduction of stainless steel 77 series fittings, the ideal choice for highly caustic or corrosive applications and environments.
Last year, Parker introduced the Gen II style hydraulic cylinders, which replace the legacy 2H and 3H series. This change brought many improvements to the cylinders' delivery times and longevity. So how do you convert your old part numbers to the Gen II cylinder part numbers? The short answer is that Parker already did the work for you - for the most part.
Anyone running a pneumatic system knows that producing compressed air requires a lot of energy. In a typical pneumatic plant, 20 percent or more of the plant’s energy is consumed by an air compressor. As quoted in this MRO article, “Based on energy audits conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 95 percent of compressed air systems present opportunities for saving energy."
A cylinder attached to your equipment has broken down and needs to be repaired or replaced. Before you can get it fixed, however, you will need to identify the type of cylinder that you have. If you’re lucky, you will be able to find a part number and other OEM information located somewhere on the cylinder body. From there, a Google search will most likely lead you to a distributor who can sell you a replacement, or at least parts to fix the broken cylinder.
Using Parker Parflex hoses? Read this!
Changes are scheduled for January 2017.
In March 2014, Parflex launched their global 56 series (read our earlier blog on that) which became the preferred fitting used on the majority of Parker Parflex hoses. Parflex still offers fitting series 55, 58, 58H and 57 series, but that is about to change, along with hose consolidation affecting about a dozen Parflex hose series.
Parker announced an expansion to their SensoNODE Blue line of sensors at the Sensors Midwest Conference in Rosemont, Illinois this September.
| This tubing is specially formulated with Sanitized® to resist degradation from mildew, algae, fungi and biofilm that can accumulate on the inside or outside of tubing in filling and processing applications. For use in water systems and food, beverage & other applications where microbial growth can cause problems. Use with Parker antimicrobial filters to create a complete system. |
In water systems, food and beverage, and other applications for transporting media that must remain potable or food-safe, microbes are a constant concern. Algae, mildew and fungi can accumulate inside or outside of tubing due to moisture while they are in use. This accumulation can not only create impurities in the transported substances, but it also leads to premature equipment degradation, which can raise maintenance costs and cause costly break-downs in the production line. Parker has a solution to both problems with their EA Series of tubing.
Brewery Hose
With the recent explosion in demand for craft beer has come an equal explosion in demand for the equipment that helps produce it. Parker is doing its part in the craft beer revolution by providing the SS200 Series Brewers Discharge Hose.
While hose failure occurrences can be minimized with the best practice of regular maintenance, including checking hydraulic hose assemblies for wear and damage, there is no guarantee that they will never happen. Total failure of hose assemblies are relatively infrequent, but when they do happen, they can cause serious damage to equipment, and injure or even kill nearby personnel.
When choosing between a hose assembly and tube assembly for a hydraulic application, there are a few basic questions that must first be answered:
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Hammer Union Connections
- Ideal for the oil and gas industry
- One piece, segmented design
- Strong industrial grade steel
- Durable and resistant to hammer connection
- 90° hammer union connection “HB”
- 45° fatigue resistant hammer union connection “HE”
- Wingnut is not captive on hose assembly
- Easy removal of wingnut for replacement or rework
Hammer union connections require strong components to withstand the pounding required to make the connection. Parker uses 4340 industrial grade steel to give the fitting extra strength. This material has been field tested and specified by the leaders in the Cementing sector.
You may recall an earlier blog about the electrical conductivity of rubber hose back in April of 2013. In this blog, we discussed that unless a hose is specifically designated as either conductive or non-conductive, you must assume that the electrical properties of the hose are not controlled during the manufacturing process, and that conductivity of the hose can change with each production run without notice. In this blog, let’s look at what can be done to make your industrial hose assembly electrically conductive for the purpose of dissipating static electricity buildup.
The truth is that if you are using equipment in the elements, corrosion is inevitable. The question is not if, but when you will have to change the rusted parts. The trick is to find the fittings and adapters that will last as long as possible.
Most maintenance managers and other professionals responsible for keeping machinery running are not likely to agree with accountants on the quantity of spare parts needed in stock. Accountants try to limit inventory of parts on hand, which in some cases sit around for months before being used. The accountants recognize that stocking large quantities of spare parts ties up company’s money in inventory and decreases the company’s profitability.
On the other hand, maintenance professionals often need to have a large quantity of parts on hand in order to keep the machinery running and down-time to a minimum. Since they have no way of knowing which machine will break down next, and which parts will be needed to fix it, inventory reduction is not high on their list of improvements. Machinery sitting idle while waiting for a replacement part can also kill profits in a hurry.
Both the accountants and the maintenance staff have a point. The challenge for MRO organizations is finding the right balance of stocking enough parts to not run out without tying up too much cash in the inventory.
Back in May, you may have read our blog about remote hydraulic system condition monitoring. In that post, we presented Parker’s SensoNODE™ line of sensors, which monitor temperature, humidity and pressure changes in a hydraulic system and can be accessed remotely via Bluetooth® app. However, the connected technology of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is growing and changing rapidly – just five months after the original post, there is already more to share with you on the topic. First, we will quickly review the three major methods of monitoring the condition of your hydraulic equipment.
In a previous blog from January 2014, Don’t Kill Your Pneumatic System With Bad Air, we wrote about how water, dirt and oil contamination can damage your machine and cause it to run inefficiently. Rust, dust and other impurities can clog air systems and contribute to premature wear and tear on seals and other components. To provide the purest air quality possible, a combination of filters should be connected to the air-flow to capture these impurities before they contaminate the system. However, each compressed air system has unique needs – what may be right for one system may not be the correct choice for another application, when considering environmental factors or fitting a system into a tight space.
Hose and coupling connection is critical to the safe performance of any hose assembly, but the practice of using hose and couplings from different manufacturers to fabricate industrial hose assemblies poses some underappreciated risks.
When people talk about oil spills, the first image to come to mind is often the large-scale disasters involving oil rigs, oil pipelines or derailed trains. Barrels of oil saturating the soil or dumped into a body of water, with devastating effects on the environment– this is a worst-case scenario come to life. The cost of a major spill, in dollars, man hours and damage to a company’s reputation, can be enormous. What you may not realize, however, is that spill containment on a smaller scale can be very costly as well.
Many scenarios like this one can be prevented with the right monitoring equipment. The ability to take frequent readings of pressure, temperature and humidity can make all the difference when it comes to keeping your equipment running at top performance. Parker’s SensoNODE™ advanced monitoring system provides immediate access to accurate readings of your most vital equipment’s condition, allowing you to identify any potentially damaging changes before a failure occurs.It’s one of any company’s worst nightmares. A key component of your equipment has failed and production has halted. You determine that the part failed due to overheating or an unforeseen spike in pressure. Whatever the reason, your company loses revenue for as long as the downtime continues – not to mention the inevitable cost of repairs.
Parker’s 5CNG Compressed Natural Gas Hose will be on display at ACTEXPO 2015 in Dallas, Texas, May 5-8, in Parker booth number 537.
Parker’s Fluid System Connectors Division (FSC) is implementing a conversion of FC701 and FC702 flow controls in fractional sizes. Replacement options for FC701 are Parker/Legris FCM 731, FCC731, and FC705. The replacement option for FC702 is FC708.
