A customer came to us with ongoing problems with a winch system used to lift and lower a heavy steel hatch. The hatch provides essential access to a pump room, allowing equipment, materials, and other service goods to be safely lifted into and out of the area. With the existing system repeatedly failing, the customer needed a reliable, long-term solution that could be installed with minimal disruption to site operations.
Industrial
A Failing Hatch Winch System Replaced in Just One Day
When an unreliable winch system repeatedly failed at our customer's London site, we redesigned, manufactured and installed a more robust solution, all within a single day.
Background
The Challenge
The existing arrangement used winches that were not designed for the demands of the application. The supporting pedestals were also too short, which left the cables running at an unsuitable angle and subjected them to excessive force during operation. The cables snagged as a result, causing repeated damage and making the whole system unreliable.
Our task was to redesign the arrangement to remove those problems, correct the cable alignment and provide a dependable system capable of safely handling the heavy steel hatch. Because the hatch is an important access point to the pump room, the installation also needed to be completed as quickly as possible.
The Solution
We assessed the existing system and its operating requirements, then designed and manufactured two new, taller steel pedestals in-house. The additional height corrected the winch cables’ alignment and reduced the forces acting on them, addressing the cause of the snagging rather than its symptoms.
We also supplied two new winches of a far higher standard, properly suited to the application and capable of the dependable operation the customer required. Our engineers then attended the London site, removed the failing equipment and installed the new pedestals and winches.
The Result
Once installed, the new system was thoroughly tested to confirm that the winches, cables and steel hatch all operated correctly and safely. The upgraded winches and corrected cable alignment together delivered a stronger, far more reliable arrangement for lifting and lowering the hatch.
The whole job was installed, tested and signed off by the customer within a single day, keeping disruption to site operations to an absolute minimum. The customer was extremely pleased with both the quality of the finished installation and the speed with which our team completed the work.
The whole job was installed, tested and signed off by the customer within a single day.
