Servicing Final Drives and Axles
Final drives and axles operate under extreme loads. Metal fatigue, bearing wear and gear damage can lead to expensive and catastrophic failures. Maintaining the final drives on haulers, excavators, dozers, or other tracked or wheeled equipment not only prolongs the life of the final drive, but also benefits the entire machine.
Sampling fluids from final drives and axles gives a clearer picture into the state of the equipment. This can help to identify issues before they become serious, avoiding costly and lengthy rebuilds or the purchase of new parts or equipment.
While fluid sampling can help gain vital information about the condition of the equipment, it must be done properly to avoid injuring workers, consuming large amounts of resources, or contaminating systems. Below are a few things to consider when sampling final drives and axles.
Safety
Servicing procedures should cover system depressurizing. When opening up a working system for servicing, heat can build up in the airspace of the drive, sometimes due to high or low fluid levels. An overheated and over pressurized headspace can cause a plug to launch or fluid to spray, potentially leading to devastating injuries to technicians.
Resources
Sampling fluids requires the allocation of resources, such as time and personnel. And when done improperly, it may result in a poor quality sample. Improperly obtained samples can give misleading results about the state of high value equipment, which may lead to fluid changes or repairs that are not actually required.
Contamination
Contamination from dirt and water is a leading cause of premature seal, bearing, and gear wear. This can result in lost production and expensive repairs. Many people are unaware that simply removing final drive plugs can add contamination into the system. Larger windblown sand or dirt particles become ground down to smaller particles which can enter the contact points of bearings and gear sets. Water from rain, snow or mist can also create rapid deterioration.
The LE Series
To alleviate the above issues with sampling final drives, Checkfluid has developed the LE Series service sampling valve. This low profile, high flow valve replaces the standard drain plug on a final drive, allowing the quick extraction of gear oil without opening up the system. This allows technicians to obtain a quality sample quickly and safely, lowering the risk of injuries, reducing service time and cost, and avoiding the introduction of contaminates into the system.
Benefits
- Safely relieve high pressure systems, reducing the risk of injury to workers
- Quickly and properly obtain samples, eliminating the need to drop curled tubing to a midpoint location that might scrape the sides or bottom of a tank and introduce contamination into the sample
- Sample directly from the valve without removing the drain plug, eliminating the risk of introducing contaminates into the system
Features
- 0-125 psi pressure range
- Low profile design
- Protective cap
- Optional high powered magnet
How it works
Simply remove the existing drain plug from the equipment and replace with an LE Series valve. You can now extract a sample from the valve using a probe or vacuum pump.
Draining
Purging the system of oil has never been easier. To drain, simply remove the LE Series valve. The optional high power magnet provides another visual to indicate ferrous debris associated with premature wear at the time of draining.
Top ups
Sometimes a small top up of oil or additive is required for the system to continue operating properly. Using the Checkfluid PUMP-02 top up pump, several ounces can be added cleanly and easily to the system through the LE Series valve.
Venting
Built up pressure in the system can create a safety hazard for workers. The LE Series valve combined with a probe can be used to relieve the pressure safely, avoiding injury to technicians.
Order today
For more information about the LE Series and how it can benefit you, call us at 519-652-6373, or reach us by email at info@checkfluid.com.
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