Galvanizing can be one of the harshest environments for lifting components. When buying new or replacing lifting equipment for your galvanizing operations, it is important to understand how the equipment can withstand the environment.

The Challenge: A Galvanizer came to Electrolift because they had performance, safety, and downtime concerns with their existing hoists. Galvanizing applications are notorious for having issues with the mechanical load brake when there is a constant load on the hook and excessive heat is generated during long lifts causing premature failure. Constant inspections, downtime, contaminants in the oil, safety, and ongoing concerns of hoist failure proved to the galvanizer a new solution was required.

The Solution: Galvanizing production lines are the industry’s most extreme environments. Your hoist and lifting equipment are working in the heat and corrosive chemical environment and must be made to withstand it all — plus provide safety features critical to worker protection up and down the line. It is not just the galvanizing environment that is hazardous to your hoist, it is the rigorous movement, speed changes, and hang time that take a toll on a hoist’s performance.

In galvanizing applications, there is often a constant load on the hook. Worm gears have an inherent design advantage over other gear sets; the worm can easily turn the gear, but the gear cannot turn the worm. In lifting applications, this feature acts as a secondary brake due to limited back drivability. The worm gear sees no adverse effects or wear from a constant load on the hook.

The hoist motor can transmit motion through the gear reducer, but the load cannot transmit motion back through the gear reducer which regulates the lowering speed of the load and ensures the load will not be allowed to free fall. OSHA [1910.179] recognizes this as an approved means of controlled braking.