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Plant seals up spindlecontamination problem

Dec. 13, 2005
AirShield spindle seals keep cutting fluids from causing spindle failures at an Indianapolis automotive plant. An Indianapolis automotive plant was experiencing spindle failures in a transfer line that produced power-steering ...

AirShield spindle seals keep cutting fluids from causing spindle failures at an Indianapolis automotive plant.

An Indianapolis automotive plant was experiencing spindle failures in a transfer line that produced power-steering components. Four identical spindles had bearing-contamination problems caused by high volumes of coolant that was used within a confined, guarded work envelope. These spindles failed within six months, and the plant needed a remedy.

Setco Industries Inc. (www.setcousa.com), a manufacturer and rebuilder of precision spindles and slides, suggested its AirShield spindle seal, and retrofitted one of the failed spindles with the AirShield. Three other spindles provided benchmarking to determine the seal's effectiveness in eliminating the contamination problem.

The AirShield-equipped spindle outperformed the others and operated as if new. Setco says it ran for over three years without failure.

Setco uses AirShield seals in its ProMetrix and Sentry spindle products. ProMetrix is the company's customizable belt-driven spindle, while the Sentry is its standard building-block model that is a low-cost solution for applications requiring a precise, high-performance, standard belt-driven spindle.