Success-Story - LIX-SPO

…is part of a global Swedish group which provides solutions for “life on the move” in the air conditioning, hygiene and sanitation and food and drink industries. The customer’s German headquarter manufactures windows, doors and roller blinds for caravans and mobile homes. The 450 employees of the customer generate an annual turnover of around 80 million euros on a production area of 20,000 square metres.

The customer has established a new process for treating components on carts in a vacuum plasma system. These systems create a negative pressure in a vacuum chamber to modify the surfaces of the components. A process gas (like O2) is fed into the vacuum chamber at a pressure of approximately 0.1 mbar. When the process is complete, the chamber is ventilated and the modified component is removed. The casters must be capable of withstanding temperatures of up to 212 °F and a maximum load of 375 lbs. per caster. The customer wanted to keep using their existing carts with a wheel diameter of 5 inches, but wanted to ensure that no “external” issues, e.g. a chemical reaction involving the lubricants used for the existing casters, would interfere with the delicate process.

Our experts initially recommended a heatresistant stainless steel caster without lubrication to withstand the processes which occur within the plasma system and the temperatures of up to 100 °C. After thoroughly testing a variety of rigs and wheel types, the customer found no technical issues with the casters. However, the customer wanted to use a PFPE (perfluoropolyether) lubricant to improve their running characteristics. This special lubricant has the best possible properties for vacuum coating due to its temperature resistance, pressure resistance, chemical resistance and compatibility with oxygen.

Tests in extreme conditions showed that the casters performed brilliantly with the special grease in the swivel head and ball bearings. Therefore the caster can be used without changing the manufacturing process. The customer will now switch all of its transport trolleys to the new LIX-SPO 125K-933089 caster with special grease.