Repairing Industrial Wound Components to Restore Productivity
Case Study
5 min read
Type:
Customer:
Challenge
Wound Component Repair
Leading designer and manufacturer of Engineered Elastomeric Products.
To repair a large obsolete industrial solenoid urgently required to alleviate production line downtime.
The manufacturing industry involves large-scale production in factories that use highly specialized equipment. Though the scale of operations is industrial, the little details are still critical. The factory floor is an interconnected network of machines, and if even one of them goes down for any reason, production grinds to a halt.
This is why it’s critical to ensure that all the components of every machine on the factory floor are in good working condition.
Solenoids, or electrical devices that trigger the movement of an armature, are frequently a cause for concern. They undergo constant stress when machines are in use.
Velatron Technologies: The Solenoid Specialists
Solenoids are widely used in an array of machines. They are simple devices, consisting of three main parts:
A coiled wire
A movable plunger called the armature
Housing for the coil and armature
When electricity travels along the coiled wire, it creates a magnetic field that moves the armature. Once the current stops, the armature snaps back into place. In the simplest linear solenoids, this creates a back-and-forth motion.
Velatron Technologies has been making custom electromagnetic components since 1945. Since then, this Kitchener, Ontario-based company has designed and produced custom solenoids for a wide variety of projects. Its experience has put it in good stead after completing a recent project, which required the creation of a custom solenoid.
A Solenoid-Related Stoppage
Velatron Technologies is proud to serve clients from different industries. One such client is a leading manufacturer of engineered elastomeric products. Their factory equipment includes a large industrial calendering machine that, like so many other electrical devices, relies on an industrial solenoid to power its rotations.
The client reached out with an urgent request. Their production had stopped entirely because the calendering machine’s solenoid had burned out. A replacement was needed as quickly as possible.
Over time, repeated internal short-circuits fried the solenoid’s wound coil. The solenoid was also an older model, which had become obsolete by current standards. Its replacement is further complicated because there was no documentation about the original coil. This made finding a ready replacement quite tricky.
With the search for the right solenoid coil going poorly and production at a standstill, the client decided to pivot. Rather than trying to buy a readymade coil, they approached Velatron Technologies to craft a custom solution.
Solenoid Solutions from Velatron Technologies
Since there was no information about the older solenoid readily available, the solution had to be engineered from scratch. The first step was taking apart the calendering machine’s contactor and removing the defective solenoid winding.
Finding the right solution took place over three stages:
Information Gathering
Consulting with client’s technicians to gather electrical data
Studying the performance of similar solenoids
Analyzing the earlier defective solenoid to identify design flaws and potential improvements
Modeling and Testing
Creating a new coliform wound component model using software
Building a prototype based on the model
Measuring prototype performance against modeled performance
Installation
Adjusting the coil’s design to achieve the client’s desired results
Replacing the solenoid coil with the new design
“[Velatron Technologies] team leapt into action, reverse engineering the coil, procuring the unique components and material needed to build a custom part for our application, and building it in record time. They provided a reliable solution in a fraction of the time it took us to track down a spare. They went on to provide a second, brand new coil as a spare for the remaining contactors. Thanks to their team, we will not have to resort to used parts in the event of a future failure.”
Chad M, Maintenance Manager
Results of Using a Custom Solenoid
The effectiveness of a custom solution, especially when it comes to electromagnetic components, should never be underestimated.
The new solenoid coil restored the calendering machine to top working condition and saved the client from a jammed production line. What made the client happiest was the rapid turnaround executed by the experts at Velatron Technologies.
As an added safety measure, the client was given a second custom coil to serve as a backup. So if the new coil were to fail for any reason, the client would not have to face an extended period of downtime while waiting for another component.
There were many lessons to be learned throughout this urgent, time-bound project. Some of the most important insights include the following:
Even minor components can cause major delays.
Constant stress makes solenoids common points of failure in large industrial machines.
Custom solenoids can restore productivity and get out-of-commission machines working again.
For urgent electromagnetic repairs, Velatron Technologies has a proven track record of success.
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