When it comes to machine repairs, we usually leave it up to the experts and that means we know nothing about how to diagnose different kinds of machinery. However, it’s best for us as adults to have at least an inkling of an idea of how things work and how things move around especially when we’re surrounded with tons of equipment with moving parts especially here in Texas.
A majority of these moving parts can be reduced to simple machines and other possible moving parts. In this article, we’ll run through different, common kinds of machine parts along with their functions and possible troubleshooting.
Lever
The lever is common among machine parts and tools. All it is any rigid material that turns about a fulcrum to help lift or elevate something heavy with an optimized exertion of force following the force of gravity. Possible problems you may encounter with a part like this one is a misbalanced or misplaced fulcrum or a brittle material that could be at the cusp of breakage.
Spring
Springs are materials that contract and absorb mechanical force and then later, release it. This is present in most machines that experience a lot of shocks. Compression springs are important in anything that has to move weights around uneven surfaces, like fields or construction sites, and these breaking would not hinder the functionality of the machinery per se but would make it greatly inconvenient and weak. You can find dependable compression springs in Texas for your machinery.
Wheel and Axle
This could be the most common among any of the entries in the list. A wheel and axle are a circular material rotating about its axis to amplify the amount of force exerted in rotating a smaller attached gear. One common way this goes out of order is when the belt that rotates the gear gets worn out causing the wheel to be incapable of turning.
A way to diagnose and eventually repair this is trying to recall if you heard any snapping or if at some point it the wheel started becoming inconsistent in turning. This is a helpful way of telling if it’s the belt that needs repair. Usually, replacements are available at hardware stores, just be sure to take note of the width and material you’re looking for.
Pulley
The pulley is a variation of the wheel and axle. Instead of just using the wheel to move along a surface, it makes use of the tension of a cord to elevate an object with contact only occurring at the top or wherever the cable is tied.
This makes it easier to move large weights and is usually part of compound mechanisms in larger machinery used for lifting. Because it’s similar to the wheel and axle, the way it goes dysfunctional is also the same as the wheel and axle.
However, for heavy lifting machinery, it’s important to be able to diagnose compromised tension before eventual breakage and this can be done through routine inspection to look out for any thinning cables.
Machinery with moving parts is nothing to be afraid of. After all, if the going gets tough, there are always experts and engineers we can turn to in looking for help in both diagnosis and repair.
