KNOW WHAT YOU NEED .

In the explosive market of C&D debris recovery, there are many companies that now offer complete C&D recycling
systems. Before you buy, do your research. Find out about maintenance issues, equipment durability, recovery percentages, and other factors that could cost you down the road. Ask that the manufacturer take youto see their systems in operation, and talk to the operators of those systems to learn what they like and dislike. Proper equipment
selection will be the difference between a successful operation or a failure. Up front homework will allow you to know what you are getting into before you buy.

Keep your equipment clean.

Nothing wears equipment out faster than dirt and debris. In the C&D environment, it is especially important to inspect your equipment daily to make sure no materials are lodged in locations that may damage your equipment.

Following recommended maintenance schedules also significantly contributes to extended machine uptime. Keep bearings properly greased, belts at the proper tightness, and vibratory equipment properly lubed and tuned. Taking a few minutes per day to check your equipment can lead to hours of profitable business down the road.

Tradeshow season is here!

General Kinematics is deep into our tradeshow season. We will be exhibiting at the following shows in April and May, so stop by our booth and say hello!

Coal Prep 2008 - Lexington, KY, 4/29/2008, Booth:

International Powder & Bulk Solids 2008 - Rosemont, IL, 5/6/2008, Booth: 1018

Waste Expo 2008 - Chicago, IL, 5/6/2008, Booth:

CastExpo 2008 - Atlanta, GA, 5/17/2008, Booth:  

Eliminating wet tank issues with GK’s DE-STONER®

One of the biggest issues in recycling systems occurs when utilizing a wet tank for density separation. Not only does the material you are processing get wet, but any contaminates on that material are transferred to the water, which makes it subject to EPA disposal regulations.

One way to avoid this is to use an air classification device such as the General Kinematics DE-STONER®. The DE-STONER uses a high velocity, low pressure air stream to blow lighter density material through the machine while heavier material falls out the bottom of the device. By separating the material this way, lights and heavies can continue on for further processing without having to dry the material. Further, there is very little maintenance involved with the DE-STONER… just an occasional cleaning and greasing of the low horsepower vibratory motor.

For more information on the DE-STONER air classifier, contact the GK Recycling Department, or log onto our website, www.generalkinematics.com

VIBRA-CLEAN Media drum eliminates rotary headaches.

Customers have told us of the frustration of current media drums: damage to castings, media jammed into casting crevasses, and the inability to run fragile castings. GK has eliminated these issues with their new VIBRA-CLEAN® vibratory media drum.Combining the advantages of natural frequency vibrating design with drum-type material motion, the General Kinematics Media Drum provides a complete, reliable, one-position system for preconditioning castings.Dramatic cost savings are achieved by reducing or even eliminating shot blast cycle times by pre-cleaning castings prior to blasting. Vigorous scouring agitation, together with unique internal construction, assure full media contact on all surfaces of even the most intricate casting shapes. Fragile castings can be handled without danger of breakage, nesting, or surface nicks because rough, rotary tumbling is eliminated.

Because the VIBRA-CLEAN is non-rotating, feed and discharge interfaces are easier to design and operate. Features such as water addition or dust control ducting, in the event of dry processing, are simplified.

 For more information about the VIBRA-CLEAN, please contact the GK Foundry Department, or visit our website at www.generalkinematics.com.

What are you really bolting onto your GK conveyor?

For decades, service personnel at General Kinematics have been called to a customer’s facility to address mysterious running issues associated with certain GK conveyor units. After inspection, they have found the strange change in machine motion was a direct result of either rocker legs or bushings that came from manufacturers other than >General Kinematics.

As the old adage goes, “you get what you pay for”. So holds true in vibratory component parts. To qualify that GK stabilizers are distinctly different than other bushing and leg manufacturers, lab technicians in the GK R&D Department conducted a number of specific tests to compare and contrast both the performance of bushings as well as the overall mass effect of ductile stabilizer castings versus the GK standard aluminum castings. What they found was that bushings supplied by pirate parts houses and other vibratory companies had different spring rates, deflection rates, and manufacturing methods which adversely effected machine performance. Using bushings with different spring rates caused improper machine stroke, which can lead to rapid wear of components and stress to structural members on the machine itself. Improper deflection rates are caused by the wrong durometer of the rubber, and can lead to tracking issues and increased need for re-bushing your conveyor.

Technicians also analyzed the differences between ductile iron and aluminum stabilizer legs, which can be found on most brands of vibratory conveyors. The immediate and obvious difference is found in the weight of the two castings. With bushings, the ductile iron leg weighed in at a stout 21 lbs. while the aluminum stabilizer weighed a much more reasonable 12 lbs. The additional weight of the ductile iron casting produced an increase in stroke on our vibratory test drive of an 1/8^th inch for one leg. While that does not seem like a lot, a unit with 10+ legs can quickly operate out of spec if not retuned to function with the additional force and mass applied by these legs.

Bushing life was also compared between the two castings. Both legs were placed in our vibratory test drive and were run at a punishing stroke of 2 inches. The legs ran approximately 31 hours at this rate before the iron leg bushing failed. Upon further investigation, the difference in temperature between the aluminum leg and the steel leg was 20+ degrees F., enough to cause the bushing rubber to heat up enough to fail in the iron leg. The bushing in the aluminum leg showed no signs of wear. The resulting tests concluded that the aluminum leg significantly outperforms the ductile leg in both bushing life and stroke control.

As our competition says, “not all parts are created equal”, and they are correct. Certain off-the-shelf components can easily be substituted into a precision tuned product such as a GK conveyor, but custom parts like bushings and stabilizers have been proven time and again to not perform like the original equipment. All GK components are designed specifically to optimize machinery performance and uptime, which can be compromised when using parts made to different standards and of different materials. For more information about GK stabilizers or any component part, contact the GK Component Sales team at 815-455-3222 or check out their website www.gkparts.com.