You wouldn't dream of going out into a rainstorm without a waterproof jacket, or into a blizzard without a warm coat.  Encoders, too must endure a wide range of environments and you want to make sure that they are appropriately "dressed" for the elements.

Usually our encoders wear an environmentally-friendly inert coating over their cast aluminum bodies that, like a good work shirt, can take the abuses of everyday hard duty.  But when the environment turns nasty, you need something more.

If you're expecting strong salt spray or alkali attack, then a good Hard Anodize coating might just be the ticket for your application.

For frequent harsh detergent washdown or other chemical exposure an Electroless Nickel coating is a great protector - standing up against a wide variety of harsh substances.

If you're expecting some rough "weather" for your encoders then give us a call.  We can help guide you to the right encoder with the right coating that will help your encoders survive.

This Thursday, the Thanksgiving Holiday will be celebrated in the United States.  Canadians had their Thanksgiving celebration last month.  Traditionally this is a harvest festival and a time to give thanks for all the bounty of the year. Similar harvest festivals are celebrated throughout the world and it's a good time to remember that there is more in this world that unites us than divides us.  In that spirit, here are some notable quotes about this holiday and celebration.

"Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow." - Edward Sandford Martin

" Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast." - William Shakespeare

"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds." - Theodore Roosevelt

"If we meet someone who owes us thanks, we right away remember that. But how often do we meet someone to whom we owe thanks without remembering that?" - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

For more Thanksgiving Quotes click this link.

 Answer:  The "dirty" environment meant that the operator wanted the maximum contact pressure between the workpiece and the measuring wheel, to avoid slippage and accidentally cutting material too long.  The encoder/wheel combination was mounted on a fixed swing arm and he made sure that he really put a lot of pressure on the measuring wheel to ensure it was in solid contact.  Unfortunately this led to radial loads that exceed the encoder specifications and hence the shortened lifetime.  Since bearing life is reduced by the third power of the loading, doubling the load cuts the lifetime by a factor of eight.  We suggested that he use either springs or weights to ensure that the side load was not excessive.  If he had the latitude to change out the encoder, then he could go to an H25 with a 1/2" shaft which can take up to an 80 pound side load.  And if that wasn't enough, then he could use a high load bearing assembly which could tolerate up to a 300 pound side load.  The challenge of course in these types of applications is always to balance the load ratings against performance and cost.  In his case, he switched to the H25 with the 1/2" shaft and brought the performance in line with a cost effective solution.

 

Check out PDF's of our H25 and of our High Load Bearing Assemblies by clicking the pictures below.

 

  H25 Incremental Encoder               High Load Bearing Assembly

I'll end this month's letter with a little story.

There was a rather shy engineer who decided to finally splurge on a luxury cruise to the Caribbean. It was the "craziest" thing he had ever done in his life.  Just as he was beginning to enjoy himself, a hurricane roared upon the huge ship, capsizing it like a child's toy. Somehow, the engineer, desperately hanging on to a life preserver, managed to wash ashore on a secluded island.

Outside of the beautiful scenery, a spring-fed pool, bananas and coconuts, there was little else. He lost all hope and for hours on end, sat under the same palm tree. One day, after several months had passed, a gorgeous woman in a small rowboat appeared.

"I'm from the other side of the island," she said. "Were you on the cruise ship too?"
"Yes, I was," he answered. "But where did you get the rowboat?"
"Well, I whittled the oars from the gum tree branches, wove the reinforced gunnel from palm branches, and made the keel and stern from a eucalyptus tree."
"But, what did you use for tools?" asked the man.
"There was a very unusual rock strata on the south side of the island. I discovered that if I fired it in my kiln, it melted into ductile iron. Anyhow, that's how I got the tools. But enough of that," she said. "Where have you been living all this time? I don't see any shelter."
"To be honest, I've just been sleeping on the beach."
"Would you like to come to my place?" the woman asked.
The engineer nodded. She rowed them around to her side of the island tied up the boat and they walked up a winding stone walk she had laid around a palm tree. There stood an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white.

"It's not much, but I call it home." Inside, she said, "Sit down please; would you like a drink?"
"No thanks," said the man. "One more coconut juice and I'll throw up!"
"It won't be coconut juice," the woman replied. "I have a crude still out back, so we can have authentic Pina Coladas."
Trying to hide his amazement, the man accepted the drink, and they sat down on her couch to talk. After they had exchanged stories, the woman asked, "Tell me, have you always had a beard?"
"No," the man replied, "I was clean shaven all of my life until I ended up on this island."
"Well, if you'd like to shave, there's a razor upstairs in the bathroom cabinet."

The man, no longer questioning anything, went upstairs to the bathroom and shaved with an intricate bone-and-shell device honed razor sharp. Next he showered-- not even attempting to fathom a guess as to how she managed to get warm water into the bathroom-- and went back downstairs.

"You look great," said the woman. "I think I'll go upstairs and slip into something more comfortable." After a short time, the woman, smelling faintly of gardenias, returned, wearing a revealing gown fashioned out of pounded palm fronds.
"Tell me," she asked, "we've both been out here for a very long time with no companionship. Haven't you been lonely? Isn't there something that you really really miss?  Something that would be really nice to have right now?!"

"Why yes there is!" the man replied, shucking off his shyness. "There is something I've wanted for so long. But on this island all alone, it was just, well... impossible."
"Well, it's not impossible any more," the woman said.
The man, panting in excitement, said breathlessly, "You mean... you actually figured out some way we can check our e-mail?!"