Conveyor Replacement Parts – Why Pay More?

by Steve Simmons

Conveyor Replacement Parts – Why Pay More?

Why Pay More?

Many suppliers of conveyor spare parts will tell you that they can faithfully reproduce quality spare parts for lower prices than an OEM. Replacement parts are not as interchangeable as these manufacturers would have you believe and often the tubes and spirals for the flexible screw conveyors are made to a much lower quality so they can achieve these lower prices. If you’re tempted by these lower prices we’re going to explain why sometimes its best to pay more.

Many companies are offering cost saving solutions on flexible spirals and tubes or ropes and discs and claim that these are manufactured to a high quality.

“There Is Hardly Anything In The World That Someone Cannot Make A Little Worse And Sell A Little Cheaper, And The People Who Consider Price Alone Are That Person’s Lawful Prey” – John Ruskin, 1819-1900.

Read the Full John Ruskin blog here.

Quality Guarantee

At Spiroflow we have over 45 years experience in the solids and bulk handling industry and we manufacture high quality replacement parts for flexible screw conveyors and aero-mechanical conveyors.

For the flexible screw conveyor, our spirals are manufactured either in mild steel or stainless steel and are heated treated to provide greater strength and longevity. The tube is made from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) food grade conveyor tubes are of the highest quality and more durable and abrasion resistant than any others on the market.

Replacement Tubes & Spirals

What are the risks?

Our spirals are heat-treated which means it is taken up to a critical temperature point and held there until the internal stresses of the steel have reduced. This will improve the ductility and toughness of the spiral resulting in a stronger and more uniform spiral.

Heat-treating the spiral in this way increases the cost of production which may be missed by other 3rd party suppliers in order to keep costs down. Ultimately purchasing spirals that have not been heat-treated comes with serious risks. The structural integrity of the spiral may not be to the standard you need for your process and under stress can warp, snap and excessively elongate causing you to buy a new replacement earlier than planned. If you have to buy it twice because it is of poor quality is it really cheaper?

An Example:

A customer has bought a poor quality motor from a 3rd party supplier and attempted to fit it to our equipment. Everything ran fine for a short period of time until they noticed the seal they had supplied had ruptured causing the powder to jam up the motor bearings. They then came back to us to resolve the above issue, they are now back up and running.

Replacement Parts for Multiple Manufacturers

We, of course, provide replacement parts for our own bulk material handling systems but did you know that our first quality parts are designed to work in systems supplied by other manufacturers? We supply the most high quality spares so make sure your existing equipment performs at its best with Spiroflow replacement parts.

So Why Pay More?

So when you’re looking to purchase your replacement parts consider the risk you will be taking purchasing inferior parts.