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To protect your workers, it's essential that you ensure that your crane does not suffer from crane failure. When your crane fails, this can cost you money and also place your workers at risk. But there are, fortunately, ways that you can prevent this.

Inspect the Crane

Make sure that your crane is properly inspected before using the overhead crane. Fortunately, there is equipment that is designed to serve this purpose. The equipment is designed for checking for cracks, finding damaged parts, identifying faulty wiring, and checking for worn-out ropes. 

Keep Records

Figure out how often your crane needs to be inspected. In some cases, your crane might even need a daily inspection. Any inspections performed of a crane need to be recorded and kept on file. This allows for you to audit whether workers are inspecting the crane at the correct intervals.

Don't Overload Your Crane

Make sure that your crane is not moving a load that exceeds the rated capacity. Otherwise, you might damage the wire or rope, which is one of the most common problems that occurs during an overhead crane failure. Other issues with the wire system are that it might jump out of the sleeving system or be broken or worn out. Also, the end connection might become corroded. 

Look for Common Crane Problems

The hooks must be very durable because they are a small point of failure. When the hook is not meant to support the weight held by the overhead crane, this will lead to the hook bending and may also lead to a crane failure. Your hooks can also deform over time, so you'll want to inspect them regularly to look for signs of this.

The end truck wheels can sometimes wear out. For that reason, you'll want to inspect them to make sure that they do not break down prematurely. But eventually, these wheels will need to be replaced.

Through an inspection, you might discover an issue with the electric system. If this occurs, your overhead crane might need to be serviced or might need future maintenance. Otherwise, you may not be able to operate the crane.

The crane might not be properly aligned. When the crane is skewed, this can place strain on the system. As a result, you will not want to operate your overhead crane if your inspection tools discover that your crane is not in the proper alignment.

For more help with maintaining your crane, work with a supplier like American Equipment Inc.