It is normally observed that 80 % of the castor failures are due to improper selection of castor wheels, hence, while selecting any wheel or castor for any purpose or application, one should keep following points in his mind. |
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LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY | |
To take care of overload for above mentioned reasons, a thumb rule is to consider the load carrying capacity of a castor at 50 % to 60 % of the nominal capacity. |
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PUSHING / PULLING EFFORTS | |
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Floor Surface | |
Pushing / Pulling efforts, noise level & life of wheel depend upon roughness of the surface on which wheels roll. Rubber, PU wheels & light duty castors may be avoided on rough surface if slightly higher noise level is permitted. It is advisable to use UHMW-PE or Cast Iron wheels & medium duty or heavy duty castors on rough surface depending upon the load. Rubber, PU or PP wheels & light duty castors may be used on smooth surface & light loads. | |
Noise Level | |
Rubber & PU wheels are soft & have low noise level. PP, NYL & UHMW-PE wheels have comparatively higher noise level. CI wheels have very high noise level. If very low noise level is essential, you may check for Rubber or PU wheels with higher diameter. | |
Atmospheric Conditions | |
In chemical or pharmaceutical industries, castor wheels are subjected to use in highly corrosive atmosphere. In food industries, the atmosphere is highly humid. In such industries, polymer wheels with stainless steel brackets are suggested to use. In order to reduce cost of the castor, today many industries are using mild steel brackets with hard nickel chrome plating as a substitute for stainless steel brackets. | |
Pushing / Pulling by power driven vehicle | |
All wheels & castors are designed for manual pulling or pushing at a speed not exceeding 6 Km/Hr. Therefore, pushing / pulling of trolleys or trolley mounted equipments by power driven vehicle must be avoided. The driver does not get any feel even if the wheel or bracket get jammed. As a result, a jammed wheel or castor is dragged over the road and gets completely damaged. Therefore, life of wheel or castor cannot be predicted in such a situation. However, if pushing / pulling of trolleys or trolley mounted equipments by power driven vehicle is unavoidable, UHMW-PE or CI wheels with heavy duty brackets are suggested. Much higher factor of safety must be considered. |
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