MechChem Africa March-April 2023

⎪ Water, wastewater and pumping solutions ⎪

The dangers of non-OEM peristaltic hose

Reinhard Seidel of Verder Pumps SA talks about the dangerous and potentially expensive consequences of fitting that “cheap, yet surprisingly expensive,” non-OEM peristaltic hose.

I n any industrial setting, the balancing act between cost savings and profitability is a careful one. The mining industry for instance, driven by needs for profitability, efficiency, and yield maximisation, is one of the toughest industrialised working environments in which to achieve this balance. Too often in such a competitive arena, companies are driven to keep purchase costs as low as possible. So, they resort to fitting non-OEM aftermarket spare parts into so phisticated pieces of equipment. This approach undermines the company’s ability to keep up with tight production sched ules and ensure minimal downtime, as the non OEM aftermarket parts seldom stand up to the rigorous duty the OEM part was designed for and, ultimately, ends up impacting on uptime, resulting in production losses. In a recent case study at one of the largest copper producers in SADC, the hidden costs of buying a “cheap, yet surprisingly expensive,” peristaltic hose were realised. For commercial reasons the mining company chose to fit a non-OEM hose in a Verder peristaltic pump. Production bore the brunt of this com mercial decision, as the non-OEM hose failure rate was, on average, at three failures per week. This resulted in production stoppages and increased maintenance and manpower requirements. In response, Verder was asked to investigate the reason for the failures and present a solution. The remedy was simple: fit the OEM hose. The exercise of buying and fitting a slightly lower cost, non-OEM hose in an attempt to reduce inventory costs and minimise expendi ture proved to be an expensive choice. While non-OEM aftermarket hoses may cost less on initial purchase, using hoses with incorrect dimensions, and hoses of inferior construc tion, leads to frequent hose failures, which in turn leads to the unplanned stoppages, production losses and unavoidable mainte nance costs. Hose failures also result in other direct and unavoidable costs: the need to replace the hose lubricant; premature gearbox failure due to the ingress of the pumped media into the gearbox when the hose bursts; and the direct cost of fitting a replacement hose. Verder’s OEM hose was fitted to the DURA Pump experiencing these problems and run

under the same operating conditions. Records were kept over this time to monitor the hose conditions and the remaining life for avoiding a potential failure of the Verder hose. The results have been astonishing. The non-OEM hose had failed and been replaced, on average, three times a week. In comparison, the Verder OEM hose installed on 1 December 2021 is still in opera tion on the date of writing this article, without failure or loss of production throughput. The cost saving has far outweighed the cost dif ference between the cheaper non-OEM hose and Verder’s properly engineered OEM hose. Every Verderflex hose is manufactured to tight specifications for consistent wall thickness, to ensure that the fibre reinforcing is embedded centrally when the hose is constructed. With the precision manufacturing process, the need to carry out machining of the outside diameter is eliminated. Verder hose also has a signature textured finish, which enhances lubricant adhesion to the hose, thereby reducing surface friction between hose and shoe. Lower surface friction leads to lower temperatures and longer life. The importance of correct pulsation dampeners and other technicalities that af fect hose life cannot be understated. Even dimensional differences will have an influence on hose life, which leads to costs associated with unplanned stoppages. The construction of the OEM hose plays an integral part in

the life span of the hose. One must consider that the OEM is there for the long haul and that its hoses have undergone extensive test ing in its own equipment. For operators to be sure that an OEM hose is being fitted, they can check for the Verderflex hose’s clear colour-coded identifi cation stripe, along with the Verder branding along the length of the hose, which indicates the material of construction. “If the hose being fitted to your Verder peristaltic pump does not have these mark ings, you can be sure that while you may be saving upfront costs by buying cheap, you will most certainly be buying at least twice as many hoses and experiencing far more unplanned stoppages than necessary,” Seidel concludes. www.verderliquids.com/za The Verderflex Dura 55 is the class leader for this size of peristaltic pump, significantly outperforming its competitors in both continuous and intermittent duty applications.

Verderflex Dura pumps offer fast and easy hose changes because of their unique connection system.

March-April 2023 • MechChem Africa ¦ 11