Background

The customer was using an 1-1/2" impact wrench to remove installed rods that were deemed incorrect.

Problem Being Addressed

The customer needed an efficient way to remove installed wind turbine tower base rods. They were experiencing massive impact tool failure, exposing employees to potential harm. There was also the possibility of an unacceptable amount of lost production time with the potential of incurring project delay expenses.

Approach Taken

Alltite assessed the torque requirements and found that the application needed torque to be steadily applied to remove the rods. This was opposite of the pulsed energy method of impacting. We specified the proper hydraulic method and suggested a way to provide a reaction point for the recommended tool in order to quickly remove the rods.

We provided the required hydraulic pumps, wrenches and custom reaction tooling within 24 hours. We helped keep the rod replacement ahead of the tower erecting crews, eliminating any production delays.

End Result

The customer was able to maintain all production schedules. They successfully removed the suspect rods.

This case study was written by Gregg Wasson, if you have any question please email him at gregg@alltite.net.