There’s nothing worse than being in the middle of a job and having your equipment fail on you. And when it comes to construction or industrial equipment, one of the most common failures is a lack of power. This is due to clogged filters or drives components.
Fortunately, a planetary flush is an easy way to help avoid this issue.
In this article, we’ll discuss:
- What a planetary flush is?
- What is the importance of planetary flush?
- How to carry out planetary flush?
- What are the benefits of planetary flush?
Read on to find out!
How Would You Define Planetary Flush?
Planetary flush is a quick and effective way to clean your final drive system. This process can clean out contaminants, including debris, mud, and water.
It can help keep your equipment running smoothly for years to come. In case you continue using your final drive without removing these contaminants. Then this will damage your final drive.
What Is The Importance Of Planetary Flush?
You cannot ignore the importance of planetary flush. The planetary flush leads to the following consequences if performed periodically.
1. Reduce Wear and Tear
Rapid Wear is a normal process of chipping components on all mechanical parts, leading to premature failure. The main contributor to rapid wear and tear is moisture content, dirt, and water.
It may start with small rapid wear and tear, but if left untreated, it can quickly degrade your entire final drive. Planetary flush help to reduce the pressure on your vehicle’s transmission and improve the efficiency of its power transfer.
2. Maintain Required Speed
When there is a lot of contamination or wear and tear, your final drive cannot meet the speed requirement.
Planetary flush removes out every single piece of contaminant, thus maintaining an appropriate clearance level. It ensures tight tolerance levels to specific requirements. As a result, there will be no reduction in speed.
3. Promote Silent Operation
Planetary flush contributes to silent operation on site. As mentioned above, it eliminates every contaminant contributing to excessive noise in your final drive.
4. Result in Longer Working Life
Planetary flush directly leads to less wear and tear on your drive. It eliminates rusting elements and debris particles from your final drive.
This, in turn, creates a smoother, more stable running drive that produces greater torque for a longer period. This will also promote efficient and effective operation in your final drive.
Things You Need To Perform Planetary Flush
The key things that you need to perform Planetary flush are as follows:
· Tools
Tools come in various shapes, sizes, and materials. It is useful to have the right tool. So, you can complete a task quicker and more efficiently by properly selecting which tool would best suit the situation.
Using tools reduces the amount of effort needed to finish a task. There are different tools that you can use to perform the tasks. The main tools you can use include Wrench, Hammer, Needle Nose Plier, Screw Driver, etc.
1. Wrench
A wrench is a tool that assists in the turning or loosening of nuts, bolts, and other fasteners. The function of wrenches is to act upon an object by leverage.
Leverage means introducing kinetic energy from the operator’s body into the object to be turned or loosened. It aids in removing parts from the final drive.
2. Hammer
The hammer is an instrument you can use to strike with a fast, hard blow. You can also use it on other objects to make them vibrate fast enough.
So, that part of the vibration moves another object. The function of a hammer is to create sound waves, which move other surfaces or objects and make them vibrate rapidly.
3. Needle Nose Plier
Needle Nose Plier is a type of plier that has a needle nose and jaws. Its function as a mechanical device is to hold, modify or bend metal objects.
It does this by twisting its jaws and applying pressure. It helps in unmounting the final drive parts and covers.
4. Screw Driver
It is a tool that allows you to remove and tighten the screws from any piece of material.
It has many tips depending on the type of screw you remove. It helps you isolate the front cover of the final drive.
· Non-Chlorinated Brake Cleaner
Non-chlorinated brake cleaning products are a safe choice for final drive Planetary flushing. They contain no harsh chemicals, including trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). This can damage the rubber seals of the transmission and clutch shoes.
Non-Chlorinated Brake Cleaner helps to remove dirt, debris particles, oxidation deposits, and engine crud from your transmission’s internal components. The advanced chemical formula removes rust and sludge deposits to allow more effective functioning.
In chlorinated brake cleaner, these chemicals are present. You need to consider the presence of these chemicals because they destroy your final drive seals. Damaged seals will result in more contamination. It will also lead to severe leakage.
Another precaution you must take into account is that the non-chlorinated brake cleaners are flammable. On the other hand, the chlorinated cleaners are not flammable. So take care while you are dealing with them.
· Pressurized Air
Pressurized air is a common name for compressed air. Pressurized air is an air tool that you can use to flush the entire drive. Pressurized air promotes uniform cleaning of the internal planetary gears and shafts.
It also softens dirt and grime, resulting in long-lasting performance, upkeep-free, and complete protection against corrosion.
· Gear Oil
Gear Oil is a lubricant and conditioning agent for automatic transmissions, rear axles, and differentials. Different from traditional oil, it has optimum viscosity and reduces friction. It possesses anti-wear characteristics. It works well both in the heat cycle and cold soak conditions.
After completing planetary flushing, you need to fill in this lubricant oil for the effective functioning of your final drive.
Step by Step Process on Planetary Flush
The step you need to follow to carry out Planetary flush for your final drive are as follows:
- First of all, remove the front cover of the final drive
- Now use the non-chlorinated cleaner mentioned above
- Uniformly put this cleaner throughout the final drive planetary components using the spraying technique
- Utilize pressurized air to remove each dust, dirt, or debris particle from your final drive
- Ensure complete drying of all the gears in your final drive
- Fill the normal gear oil in your planetary hub up to an optimum level
- Now operate your final drive motor for about 15 hours
- Later change the oil with standard gear oil
- Now you can use your final drive regularly
Verdict
The Final Drive of a vehicle is one of the most efficient and reliable components. However, the lack of maintenance errors, deterioration can occur in the planetary hub. It forms stresses on the gearbox, which leads to premature failure. This damage often involves an expensive repair or replacement.
Planetary flush prevents you from doing this. It also helps restore contact between the sliding gears and your transmission’s internal parts. If your final drive faces submergence or dip in the water, then you need to perform the planetary flush. This will ensure a longer and more efficient working life of your final drive.