Used to run my dredge pump at 80% power all the time until a senior guy over in Baton Rouge showed me the wear difference on the impeller after 400 hours

Switching to 60-70% and letting the material flow slower actually moved more yardage per shift and cut our blade replacement costs by almost half, has anyone else seen better results dropping rpm instead of cranking it?

3 comments

3 Comments

sandraflores26d ago

Letting the material flow slower actually moved more yardage" - that Baton Rouge guy knew what he was talking about. Our site tried dropping rpm on the primary crusher feeder and it cut wear on the belts too. Nobody thinks about the torque curve flattening out at higher speeds.

williams.jenny26d ago

@sandraflores gotta push back here. Cranking that feeder rpm up actually got us more yardage in the long run down in Mobile. We tested both ways on a gyratory. Slower flow let the material pile up and choke the chamber, caused more liner changes from the uneven wear. Torque curve might look better on paper but real world the extra speed let us dump more rock through before the belts could slip. Plus the downtime from clearing jams when we slowed it down ate up any gains.

susan_bell26d ago

You know what, I used to be all about cranking up the speed thinking faster meant more production, but seeing this changed my whole mindset lol. @sandraflores I bet your crew saw that same drop in belt wear we did after we slowed things down too. It took me a while to wrap my head around the idea that slower flow actually helps the torque do its job better instead of just burning through parts. Honestly, now I tell everyone on site to check their feeder rpm before swapping out any belts or liners.