Old timer told me to grease the suction line every shift, I skipped it for a week

Last month on the Mississippi job, I figured a little extra friction wouldn't hurt anything, but by Thursday the pump was running hot and I lost four hours of production unclogging a build-up. Anyone else had a simple maintenance tip they ignored until it bit them?

3 comments

3 Comments

blake79212d ago

Back in '96 working a plant in Baton Rouge, I had an old mechanic who swore by greasing the air intake valve every 400 hours. I got busy and pushed it to 600, then 700. By the time I finally checked it, the valve was so gummed up it wouldn't fully close. The compressor ran nonstop trying to keep pressure up and I burned out the motor windings. Cost me three days and a rebuilt unit. Now I keep a little notebook in my lunchbox with a checklist for each machine. The simple stuff never changes. What bites you hardest is almost always the thing you know better than to skip.

alicemurphy12d ago

Yeah, that "simple stuff never changes" line from @blake792 is dead on. I skipped greasing a suction line once and lost half a shift to a clogged pump. The old timers werent just talking to hear themselves talk.

carter.joseph12d ago

Read that same thing in a maintenance forum once, guy said he skipped greasing a ball joint on a conveyor belt and the whole thing seized up mid-run. Took them two days to get it moving again. Guess the old timers earned their salt the hard way so we dont have to.