Technical knowledge centre
Equipment, failure, repair — written by the people who do the work
Ten articles, one skeleton: what the equipment is, how it fails, what causes it, how to inspect and maintain it, when to repair and when to replace, and what Umbusso can do about it. Each is reviewed by the welding coordinator, operations manager or safety officer and cites the standard it relies on.
Conveyor pulley failure: when to refurbish and when to replace
Lagging wear, shell cracking, locking-element slip and bearing failure are the four ways a pulley takes a conveyor down. This article sets out how each shows itself, what to inspect, and how to decide between re-lagging, refurbishment and a new pulley.
Reviewed by the Welding Coordinator · September 2026
Read the article →Output-shaft and bush failure on main conveyor drives: repair, shaft manufacture and re-commissioning
When the output shaft of a main conveyor gearbox fails, the plant loses a belt and often waits months for an OEM unit. This article explains why output shafts and bushes fail, how to assess a stripped gearbox, and how a new shaft is manufactured and the unit re-commissioned.
Reviewed by the Operations Manager · September 2026
Read the article →Specifying and inspecting rubber lining for slurry service: surface preparation, thickness, hardness and spark testing
Rubber lining fails at the preparation stage, not the rubber. This article sets out what to specify and what to witness — blast standard, profile, dust, primer window, thickness, hardness, adhesion and holiday testing — using a slurry-plant scope as the worked example.
Reviewed by the Operations Manager · September 2026
Read the article →Statutory inspection and load testing of lifting machines and tackle under the Driven Machinery Regulations
Cranes, hoists and tackle are statutory equipment: the Driven Machinery Regulations set out what must be inspected, tested and recorded, and by whom. This article summarises the obligations and how a plant keeps its lifting-equipment register audit-ready.
Reviewed by the Safety Officer · September 2026
Read the article →Fan and motor drive refurbishment on closed-circuit evaporative coolers
Closed-circuit evaporative coolers run continuously in a wet, corrosive environment and their V-belt drive trains are the usual point of failure. This article covers the drive components, how they fail, and how a refurbishment restores the units to service.
Reviewed by the Operations Manager · September 2026
Read the article →What ISO 3834-2 and ASME IX qualification mean for a plant owner buying pipe welding
“Coded welding” is often claimed and rarely explained. This article explains what a plant owner is actually buying when a fabricator holds ISO 3834-2 certification and ASME IX qualified procedures and welders, and what to ask for on the next piping order.
Reviewed by the Welding Coordinator · September 2026
Read the article →Corrosion, section loss and connection failure on plant structures: inspection and repair scopes
Plant structures are inspected less often than the equipment they carry, and they fail slowly until they fail suddenly. This article sets out where corrosion and connection failure start, how to inspect for them, and how a repair scope is defined so it can be priced and executed inside an outage.
Reviewed by the Welding Coordinator · September 2026
Read the article →Blocked plant drains: cleaning methods, confined-space controls and permit requirements
Blocked drains flood plant areas and stop work; clearing them is a confined-space job with real hazards. This article covers how drains block, how they are cleared, and the controls that an approved method statement must contain.
Reviewed by the Safety Officer · September 2026
Read the article →Camera, access-control and network maintenance on a power-station perimeter
Surveillance on an industrial site is plant infrastructure that degrades like any other. This article covers the components, how they fail, and a maintenance approach built on seven Eskom orders at an Eskom power station.
Reviewed by the Operations Manager · September 2026
Read the article →Building a shutdown scope a contractor can price: QCPs, hold points, data books and what Eskom returnables require
An outage scope that cannot be priced properly is executed badly. This article sets out what a plant should put in front of a contractor, what the contractor should return, and how quality control plans, hold points and data books keep the work honest from award to close-out.
Reviewed by the Operations Manager · September 2026
Read the article →Valves, HVAC, electrical systems and effluent equipment are in the article plan and will be written when the corresponding service is verified.
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Office +27 17 007 0135 · WhatsApp +27 72 535 1598 · info@umbussoengineers.co.za
