Advice from Tsubaki on how to minimize mechanical chain wear

Chain wear can be slowed down with proper maintenance.

Tsubaki of Canada has a long-time reputation as a provider of high-quality industrial chains – specifically drive, engineered, and conveyor chains. But even the strong, sturdy chains that Tsubaki offers are vulnerable to inevitable mechanical wear after a period of repeated use.

Fortunately, Tsubaki technical support manager Tim Morrison has some practical advice on how to minimize mechanical wear in chains and keep them operating for a longer life.

Proper lubrication is a must

Chain wear occurs because pins and bushings rub against each other every time the chain links engage and rotate with the sprocket. Over time, this rubbing reduces the pins’ outer diameters while increasing the bushings’ inner diameters, causing the relative pitch to increase and the chain length to elongate. Because users can measure and predict it reliably, elongation is the preferred method of chain failure, and this is why manufacturers design sprockets with pitch line clearance, to allow for elongation.

To minimize this wear, Morrison has five important tips for users:

• Ensure that every chain is the right size for its application. If a chain is sized, installed, and maintained correctly, the user should get about 15,000 operating hours out of it before it reaches the elongation limit.
• Make sure that the sprocket faces are aligned and the shafts are parallel.
• Keep sufficient slack maintained on the chain’s non-tension side.
• Clean the chain every so often. Regular cleaning will allow lubrication to get to the pin-bushing bearing area, where it is most needed.
• Use a suitable oil to lubricate the chain. Users should rely on the horsepower rating and Tsubaki’s own viscosity tables to choose the right oil.

Morrison stresses that proper lubrication is vital to a chain’s longevity. For applications in which manual lubrication is not possible, Tsubaki offers the Lambda self-lubricating chain, which uses oil-impregnated sintered metal bushings to keep the pin-bushing bearing area lubricated constantly. Lambda lasts seven to 14 times longer than non-lubricated chains.

With the proper care and maintenance, users can extend the life of Tsubaki industrial chains to the maximum possible.

For more information, contact Tsubaki.

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