GENISYS 220

Hydratight's new portable 3D CNC Thread Milling Service was in high demand - even before its official launch this autumn.

Difficult jobs have been completed in Europe and Africa, partly as a pilot exercise and partly to prove the machinery's amazing effectiveness and efficiency.

The repair of large-bore threads in power generation and marine plant, such as diesel engines and turbines, can cause big problems even for specialist contractors - as it proved on a MAN B&W five-cylinder engine undergoing refurbishment in Durban, South Africa.

The marine diesel was undergoing a major overhaul after many years of reliable service. Long operational hours and exposure to the harsh marine environment had left some of the studs between engine block and cylinders in need of replacement.

Five senior technicians, with local labourers using different types of traditional boring and tapping equipment, had spent over a week attempting to refurbish old M95 studs and re-tap holes to accept them. After 10 days the team hadn't managed to repair any of the studs - leaving the project deadline in jeopardy.

Hydratight was asked to help.

Working closely with the engineers' onsite, Hydratight personnel used the new, portable geniSYS 220 3D CNC Thread Mill and went further, designing and making a special mill mounting plate for the engine.

The new milling machine is relatively light and capable of milling to very high accuracies in situations that would previously have demanded dismantling and removal to an engineering workshop.

Its compact footprint and quick mount base enabled fast set-up of the geniSYS 220 to carry out the procedures without having to remove the adjacent studs for access, which meant more savings for the customer.

As a result 14 studs were machined in three days, to accuracies previously unimaginable in a ship's engine room, bringing the project back on schedule.

"The customer was delighted - the company immediately booked the 3D unit for work on the ship's sister vessel in Durban, and for the first ship's next overhaul in Antwerp!" said Hydratight's global marketing leader, Chris Mitchell.

"The first test of the unit proved to be extraordinarily successful despite difficult working conditions; the official launch of the service this autumn will bring the benefits of the next generation of in-situ machining directly to our clients.

"Hydratight now offers a wholly innovative solution to what has been a big problem for engineers: we expect the tremendous initial reaction to continue.

"The accuracy and efficiency provided by a single Hydratight technician and machine for thread boring & 3D milling applications can not be matched by any other current technologies.

Hydratight now plans a series of workshops, demonstrations and exhibition appearances to provide potential clients some hands-on experience with this ingenious machine and a chance to see for themselves the benefits it offers.

To learn more visit the geniSYS 220 portable 3D milling page