Automatic Rope Oiler

Automatic rope oiler

With increased operational demands on many ropeways and even year round operation the solution to provide safe superior wire rope lubircation and extend rope life, decreasing down time, is the Automatic Rope Oiler combined with Elaskon NK-A wire rope lubricant.

"Less is more" is an important principle met with the present automatic system. Negative experiences with the secondary lubrication of ropeway ropes keep as rumors in the industry and regularly serve as arguments against the application of secondary lubricants. Concerns of supposedly defective roller inserts, dirty stations, slipping clamps or drive wheels usually prevents re-lubrication where it might be urgently needed. Every rope cycle ensures a displacement and bending of the wires in the rope assembly. This bending and wire displacement is not as harsh on the wire strands if there is a lower inner rope friction; if a rope is not lubricated or even corroded, the sliding movement of the wires is inhibited and the rope wears all the faster. By recharging the mobility of the wire strands in the rope, the rope lifetime can be significantly increased by years over ropes that are not re-lubricated.

Many ropeway users perform annual or biannual re-lubrication of the rope. However, this is where the risk of damage to the system due to the relatively large amount of lubricant increases. In other industrial areas sensitive components tend to be lubricated little but continuously. Even cyclists treat their bicycle chain in a similar fashion: a little oil, but continuous application. Through this philosophy of the automatic oiler, the rope permanently receives a small amount of lubricant, without oil wetness or a significant film building on the rope surface.

The lubricant NK-A from ELASKON Sachsen GmbH & Co. KG was specially developed for this application. It remains clear, penetrates quickly into the rope and remains largely under pressure between the wires. The compatibility with classic roll inserts has been proven by experiments. In addition, the retention of the peel force of terminals was confirmed by the professional use of Elaskon NK-A in tests at the Dresden University of Technology.

With the automatic rope oiler, it is now possible to maintain the rope permanently with small quantities and to achieve a lasting improvement of the running and life characteristics of the treated rope.

The oiler is easily controlled through a LCD screen on the main unit which allows the user to select setting lubrication intensity, review lubricant consumption, and enter rope parameters. Rope speed is detected through a proximity switch which can pick up signal from rope strands of from sheave rotations and a lubricating brush applies oil to the rope. The unit is self contained, is powered off of 110V power supply and does not need to be connected to the operating system of the ropeway.

Please email us for information regarding the automatic oiler.

After less than a year in operation the results of continuous lubrication are clearly visible in the below photos. The first photo shows a dry rope with corrosion visible in the rope valleys. With no cleaning and just using the Automatic Rope Oiler the rope 9 months later looks significantly better, well lubricated with not visible corrosion.