Battery Locomotives
Vesconite bushes for battery locomotives
Thousands
of Vesconite bushes have been successfully
used since 1973 in underground battery locos in South African mines.
Vesconite is the premium non-metallic material which successfully replaces bronze in heavy duty and precision engineering applications.
As well as generally lower cost, Vesconite bushes offer
- Longer life, even with faulty lubrication
- Do not cause seizures
- Ideal for ultra deep mines
- Much less wear in very wet conditions
- Lower friction and reduced power losses
- Less wear of steel axle
- Easier fitting
- Large stocks for immediate deliveries
Vesconite proved for over 25
years
Vesconite bushes for battery locomotives give the longest life of any bearing
material. When first tested in the early 1970's, Vesconite was quickly
recognised as a major technical improvement, giving over twice the life of the
traditional gunmetal bronze bushes.
Vesconite for minimum
maintenance
Vesconite survives if greasing is not carried
out regularly, a major advantage when low maintenance standards prevail.
A
motor axle bush is a precision engineered part which operates in the wet and
highly abrasive conditions found underground. Since it is a time consuming
operation to replace a worn motor axle bush, the bush should be able to operate
for as long as possible with a minimum amount of wear.
Longer life for axle shafts
- Unlike bronze, irregular greasing of Vesconite bushes does not lead to seizure or damage to the motor axle shaft.
- In addition, axle wear is significantly reduced when using Vesconite bushes.
Vesconite survives wet conditions
- Very wet conditions, like those found in ultra deep mines, cause problems for bronze bushes.
- When locomotives operate in excess water and mud, good lubrication is not easily maintained and bronze wears quickly and can fail within weeks. In contrast, Vesconite bushes survive wet conditions.
Vesconite leads to major cost savings
- It is seldom realised that excessive bush wear can cause accelerated wear of the axle, motor pinion and drive gear.
- If misalignment results, this can lead to failure of the electric motor bearings and costly damage to the motor.
- By using low wear Vesconite bushes, motor pinion and drive gear wear is reduced, and the risk of motor damage is greatly decreased. These hidden savings are the least obvious but most important advantage of using Vesconite.
A further advantage of Vesconite is its low friction compared to bronze. This results in power savings.
Vesconite gives you much more,
yet costs less
Using Vesconite bushes is highly cost effective because better performance and
longer life is obtained at a lower cost. Vesconite loco bushes cost one
third less than bronze bushes. Vesconite bushes have been tested and
approved by major mining buying organisations for many years and are today used
throughout South Africa.
Last updated: Feb 20 2001
