You Might Be Surprised at What We Find on Regular Preventive Maintenance Inspections

By all appearances it might look like everything on your aluminum extrusion line is working okay, but you just might be surprised by what we find on regular furnace and extrusion system preventive maintenance inspections. So often, systems are indeed functioning, but not always at optimum efficiency and it’s costing you money you may not even know you’re losing.

Optimizing performance is in fact, one of the primary benefits that make our Preventive Maintenance program worthwhile, paying for itself through greater efficiency, productivity, and reliability. Here are a few problems we frequently uncover and correct on these inspections that otherwise go unnoticed or lead to bigger issues.

Regular furnace inspections and tune-ups are essential. Probe assemblies are subject to normal wear and tear and if not functioning properly, are over-heating or under-heating billets, potentially impacting profile quality. It's also not uncommon to see pressure controls needing adjustments, which if not addressed, can result in meltdowns. Sometimes, damaged burner blocks are affecting thermal efficiency. We often find operators have made manual adjustments during the course of operations that have furnaces either burning too rich or too lean. Flame adjustments ensure you're getting optimum extrusion temperatures and energy efficiency. We also inspect for sources of cold air entering the furnace. For example, holes inside the furnace and door and seals needing corrections or adjustments can affect thermal efficiency. Tune-ups to furnace and age ovens optimize energy efficiency and decrease cycle times.

During preventive maintenance inspections on various extrusion and handling system components, we often find pullers, chains, rollers, and bearings need adjustment or parts replacement. While they may appear to be functioning properly, you may be unaware of improper tension on the pullers, conditions of chains, and wear on rollers and bearings that are slowing handling and hand-off speeds. While inspecting saws, we can detect back rates out of adjustment and wear on saw blades that although subtle, go unnoticed until cuts on profile aren’t square or profiles require costly, additional finishing.

The daily, weekly, and monthly equipment maintenance regimens you perform augmented by thorough, semi-annual onsite preventive maintenance and service will ensure that your equipment and combustion systems including furnaces, age ovens, and controls are operating smoothly and at optimum efficiency. Perhaps now, at a time when the plans for some new equipment may have been delayed and older equipment must be kept in service longer, preventive maintenance makes more sense than ever.