Trailer couplings

REQUIREMENTS

Coupling assemblies coated with dirt and grease had to be cleaned while still installed, in order to allow a visual inspection.

In addition, it had to be tested whether freshly injected grease escaped at the bearing or at the ball pin.

OUR SOLUTION

In the low-pressure hot-water cleaning process, greasy and oily parts – here the trailer couplings of the Paris Metro carriages – are cleaned with a medium heated to up to 95°C and at low pressure (up to 7.5 or up to 14 bar).

For this, the couplings were cleaned in the mounted state on the carriage using our alkaline cleaner B1200 in the pit. The very confined space and the need to collect the cleaning fluid with a KW tray made the task anything but easy. After the first clean from the outside, almost all the grease and dirt could be removed.

In a second step, the grease nipples on the couplings were removed and prepared with a previously manufactured adapter to hold the ph-cleantec spray gun. In this way the coupling pin could be flushed from the inside with the cleaner B1200 and hot water. This pushed the bulk of the dirt and grease out of the coupling from within.

Because the drawgear was cleaned from the inside, it could be checked whether and where the fresh grease escapes during lubrication. Without this option, the complete drawgear had to be dismantled, which per carriage means an effort of approx. 8–9 hours of assembly work.

The low-pressure hot-water cleaning therefore offered the ideal solution here:

• Outstanding cleaning quality, since even internal areas that could not be reached by hand could be ideally cleaned and flushed out at 95°C.
• Thanks to the adapter, very good results even in areas that are otherwise not accessible at all – here the inside of the coupling pins.
• Work in and at the pit possible without any problem.
• Because the units are mobile, work directly at the respective carriage or coupling; no transport of the carriage into separate wash rooms, hence no travel times.
• Overall, therefore, massive savings in working time and far more efficient work.
• No damage to sensitive parts thanks to the low pressure of 3–7.5 bar.
• Minimal water consumption: only 1.8 litres/minute (7.5 bar) or 2.8 litres/minute (14 bar).
• Adding a maximum of 1–3% alkaline cleaner B1200 means minimal quantities of chemicals at 1.8 or 2.8 litres/minute, i.e. low costs and minimal environmental impact.
• Low investment, no running costs.

YOUR BENEFITS

• Efficiency/quality: Enormous time savings combined with fast and thorough cleaning:
• High temperature and sufficient pressure enable fast and complete cleaning in the shortest time, especially of oily and greasy contamination.
• Thanks to various lances and nozzles, efficient cleaning even of hard-to-reach areas – here the interior of the coupling pins.
• No damage to sensitive parts.
• Optimal accessibility, hardly any space required: Units and trays are mobile and largely self-contained, so cleaning is possible directly at the carriage. No separate wash rooms required.
• Minimal splash-back effects, no droplet clouds, no aerosols, therefore ideal in workshops or depots too.
• Cleaning medium: Hot water without added chemicals. Minimal costs for procurement and disposal; process water can be reused many times over.
• Considerably more pleasant, faster and more efficient work than by hand, with a cold wash table or similar.
• Occupational and environmental protection: No or minimal chemicals means high environmental compatibility, high occupational safety and significantly lower costs.
• In summary: Low investment, minimal space required, hardly any running costs, but in return high efficiency and quality as well as enormous time savings.

DOWNLOAD

Cleaning trailer couplings (PDF)