Viking Polymers, a plastic polymers manufacturer, needed to replace the electrical contacts on a two-roll mill at the company’s Jamestown, NC facility. The mill was built in Germany over 35 years ago. It mixes and heats compounds for quality control purposes.
In the mill, two electrically heated chrome-plated rollers are positioned close together to mix composite materials. The electrical contacts on these shaft rollers were originally made of carbon and bronze rings. Over time, one of the rings had broken into three pieces and was held together by wire. Every time the electrical charge would pass a crack, the machine’s roll heaters would momentarily turn off, causing a slower heat-up. The holders for the brushes had been replaced with makeshift holders; the springs that held the brushes against the contact were fatigued and unreliable. The mill needed replacement brushes, carbon and brass rings and brush holders.
The plant engineer, Richard Setele, found the Swiss company that had acquired the original German manufacturer. He contacted the company to discover that the mill was no longer being manufactured but replacement parts were available. A quote for the parts was faxed to him, in foreign currency, with a lead-time of fourteen weeks. Setele decided to locate an American company to make the parts.
Setele searched for an electrical contact manufacturer on the Internet and found Helwig Carbon Products, a Milwaukee, WI based manufacturer of carbon brushes, brush holders, mechanical carbons, and electrical contacts (www.helwigcarbon.com). His email request was forwarded to the regional service representative Geoff Wienke who responded within 24 hours.
“For Viking Polymers we were able to come in, evaluate the applications, test the current parts, determine the necessary carbon grades and develop solutions,” said Jeff Koenitzer, president of Helwig Carbon Products. “This request is not an uncommon one for us. We frequently develop replacement parts for machines from many countries in Asia, Europe and the Pacific Rim.”
“Wienke came in the day before Christmas, inspected the machine and took photographs. I couldn’t have expected anything more from a sales rep,” said Setele. While he was at the facility, Wienke asked if they knew what grade of carbon was used on the original machine. Viking Polymers’ electrician checked the resistance of the rings to determine the proper grade, but could not provide sufficient detail to enable Helwig Carbon to make a replacement.
On a Friday evening, Viking Polymers overnighted the broken carbon rings, brush holders and springs to Helwig Carbon where the parts were tested for hardness, density and resistivity. Helwig Carbon turned around the testing quickly and shipped the parts back to Viking to arrive on Monday morning. The company never missed a day of production.
Helwig Carbon determined that a new fixture was needed, a combination of new rings and brush holders. Helwig Carbon made a change from the OEM design and used a constant force spring, in addition to the newly designed carbon slip rings, and a bank-of-two brush holder. This modified design allowed for constant brush contact. The new fixture created a continuous current flow, and helped the application to heat up faster, keep constant temperature and improve temperature control tremendously.
Helwig Carbon’s replacement parts saved Viking Polymer money in several ways. The component replacements were about the same cost that the Swiss company had proposed. But the lead-time from Helwig Carbon was just four days from Milwaukee, rather than fourteen weeks from Europe. Helwig Carbon manufactured and shipped the rings, brush holders and springs within four days. Part numbers are now on file at Helwig Carbon for easy reordering. Plus, there are no communication barriers.
“Aside from the cost savings on the parts and the ease of working with an American company, we feel the real benefits are in the reliability and consistency of our machine with the new parts and the improved control of the application,” said Setele. “Helwig really delivered in many ways!”
Helwig Carbon Products, Inc. produces top quality carbon brushes, brush holders and mechanical carbons for thousands of customers all over the world. For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.helwigcarbon.com or call them at 800-962-4851