Why and How to upgrade the overhead crane capacity?

It can be much more cost-effective to upgrade and modify the capacity of an existing crane in your facility than to buy an entirely new crane system. This will help to determine if your crane’s mechanical, electrical, and structural components are capable of being upgraded to meet your new lifting or usage requirements.

Why need to upgrade an overhead crane’s capacity?

Upgrading an overhead crane’s capacity comes down to one thing: Something has changed in your manufacturing or production processes.

• Lifting a heavier type of material.
• Making more frequent lifts.

Any of these changes can create additional wear and tear on the individual components of your overhead crane system. Making more frequent or heavier lifts can put a strain on your crane equipment if the demands of the new process exceed the duty cycle or crane service classification that they were originally designed for.

How to upgrade overhead crane capacity?

We’ll take a look at what components are typically upgraded when you increase your crane’s capacity, and what that might entail.

Lifting Hoist:

• If your crane is equipped with a built-up hoist/winch, then a lot of the internal components can be swapped out or interchanged without having to completely remove and replace your existing hoist and trolley.
• The internals were originally specified to meet application-specific requirements, so if you upgrade your crane’s capacity, the internal components including the gear sets and motor will need to be swapped out with more substantial parts. It’s possible that an upgrade to the wire rope reeving system could be recommended as well.
• For lower-duty electric hoists, these systems come as a complete system and would need to be swapped out and replaced with a heavier-duty hoist package and re-installed.

End Trucks and Wheels:

• One of the most common problems with overhead cranes is uneven and excessive wear to the end truck wheels.
• The wheels on an overhead crane will naturally wear down due to normal use and may require more frequent maintenance, replacement, and adjustment than other components.
• However, a crane that is out of alignment or is moving loads outside of the capacities and service classes that it was designed for, will put extra stresses on the end truck and wheels as it moves down the runway.
• You can upgrade to wheels made of a harder material that is better suited for the application and for the hardness of the rail itself.
• A wheel that is harder than the hardness of the rail will begin to cause excessive wear to the rail or beam itself, so make sure that the wheels were made specifically for the rail they’re running on, but can also handle the added load.
• The bearings can also be upgraded with an anti-friction design to reduce wear while increasing productivity demands.

Bridge, Runways, Structure:

• During the feasibility study, a P.E. or structural engineer can help determine what type of reinforcements may be required to strengthen the existing bridge and runway girders in order to support the new wheel loads.
• The beams themselves may need to be reinforced by adding a cap channel, or you may have to have specially-engineered plating designed and installed to allow the existing bridge and runway beams to handle the new loads being applied to the crane system and supports.
• At the same time, DQCRANES can make a recommendation on any changes that should be made to the bridge motor, bridge gearbox, and bridge braking systems.
• A foundation survey should also be performed to ensure that the foundation and flooring of the building can support the crane’s new load requirements.

Controls:

• When the work of the motor changes, the drive system changes as well.
• Any changes to gear sets or motor size will require changes to the crane’s drive system and controls as well.
• Adding in a modern control system, like a variable frequency drive, can provide smoother acceleration and deceleration controls—which eliminates abrupt starts and stops and helps prevent load sway.
• Smoother starts and stops, and less load swing all help prevent everyday wear and tear on your crane equipment.

Brake Systems:

• If you choose to upgrade your crane’s brake system at the same time that you add variable frequency drive controls, you can greatly reduce the wear and tear and maintenance on your brake system—especially if the crane is lifting and moving loads heavier than the original brakes were specified for.
• Having a microprocessor control the motor and slow the crane’s motion versus using the brakes to slow down the crane, can prolong the life of the crane’s brake system.

If you’re interested in speaking with a crane service specialist, please contact us for a quote today. We can work with you to develop a specialized crane upgrade or modernization program for the fraction of the cost of a new system!