1. Heat and oil leakage In order to improve efficiency, worm gear reducers generally use non-ferrous metals as worm wheels, and worms use harder steel. Because it is a sliding friction drive, more heat will be generated during operation, which will cause differences in thermal expansion between the parts and seals of the reducer, thereby forming gaps on each mating surface, and the lubricating oil will become thinner due to the increase in temperature, which is easy to cause leakage . There are four main reasons for this situation. One is the unreasonable combination of materials; the second is the poor quality of the meshing friction surface; the third is the incorrect selection of the amount of lubricant; the fourth is the poor assembly quality and use environment.
2. Worm gear wear The worm wheel is generally made of tin bronze, and the matched worm material is hardened with 45 steel to HRC4555, or 40Cr hardened HRC5055, and then ground to a roughness of Ra0.8μm by a worm grinder. The reducer wears very slowly during normal operation, and some reducers can be used for more than 10 years. If the wear rate is fast, it is necessary to consider whether the selection is correct, whether it is overloaded, and the material of the worm gear, assembly quality or use environment.
3. Gear wear It usually occurs on the reducer installed vertically, mainly related to the amount of lubricating oil added and the oil variety. When installed vertically, it is easy to cause insufficient lubricating oil. When the reducer stops running, the transmission gear oil between the motor and the reducer is lost, and the gears cannot get the proper lubrication protection. When the reducer is started, the gears are not effectively lubricated, causing mechanical wear and even damage.
4. Worm bearing damage When a failure occurs, even if the gearbox is well sealed, it is often found that the gear oil in the reducer is emulsified, and the bearings are rusted, corroded and damaged. This is because the condensate produced by the gear oil temperature rises and cools down after a period of operation of the reducer is mixed with water. Of course, it is also closely related to bearing quality and assembly process.
