The document describes the process that a blower unit goes through when being repaired at Lamb's Machine Works, from arrival to completion. Key steps include inspection and disassembly to check for issues, repairing or replacing worn parts as needed, reassembly and testing before being returned to the customer. The repair process is intended to thoroughly inspect and address any problems with the blower in order to provide reliable repairs and savings over sending units elsewhere for work.

2. Inbound Unit
The following is a journey of a blower that has come in for repair at Lamb’s
Machine Works. In the next few minutes you will see how a blower is repaired
from start to finish at Lamb’s.

3. New arrival
The unit arrives at
Lamb’s. This unit
happened to be brought
in by the customer.

4. Preparing for inspection
Once the unit is off
loaded, the inspection
process begins.
All the unit information
is recorded allowing us
to get the correct
information for your
unit.

5. Checking Clearances
The inspection
continues with the
repair technician
checking the clearances
of your blower. This will
help him in determining
the condition of your
blower when brought in.

6. Draining the oil
The oil is drained from
the unit. As the oil is
drained it is also
inspected. Our
technicians look for
particles, water, and
sludge. This will help us
in determining if
contaminated oil was a
factor in the units
failure.

7. Disassembly begins
Now the disassembly
begins. As the parts are
removed they are
labeled with the
customers name as well
as the job number.

8. Inspection during disassembly
As the unit is
disassembled the
inspection process
continues. Here our
technician records the
backlash on the gears.
Too much backlash
indicates worn gears.

9. Removing the gears
Next the gears are
removed. At this time
the technician will be
inspecting the fits of the
gears to the shafts.

10. Removing the head plate
After the gears are
removed the head
plates are then
removed. The bottom
picture shows the drive
impeller still in the head
plate. This is due to the
bearing being seized
onto the drive shaft.

11. Inside the unit
As you can see the unit
has a lot of rust build up
inside. The shiny place is
due to the impeller
rubbing on the head
plate.

12. Gear end head plate
The remaining impeller
is then pushed out of the
gear end head plate.
Notice that the
technician is pressing
the impeller out, not
beating it.

13. Disassembling the head plates
Bearing and shims are
removed and labeled.
This will allow us to add
back the proper shims to
the proper bearings. The
gear end head plate is
then removed from the
unit.

14. Disassembled unit
The unit is now
completely
disassembled.

15. Continuing inspection
The inspection process doesn’t
stop with the disassembly. In fact
we’re just getting started. One of
the more common problems we
see is product getting into the
units. As you can see in this picture
product has indeed gotten into
this unit. Product in units can
cause major problems such as
closing clearances and throwing
the impellers out of balance.
Imbalanced impellers causes
vibration which in turn can cause
bearings to fail.

16. Inspecting the drive head plate
This drive head plate is greased,
some are oil lubricated. The
technician will inspect the grease
in a similar way that the oil was
inspected. He will look for burnt,
solid, or dirty grease. All possible
causes to bearing failure.
The casing side of the head plate
is also inspected. The general
condition is noted as well as any
cracks or scoring.

17. Inspecting the oil seal journals
The oil seal journals are
inspected for signs of
wear. As you can see in
this picture the dark
lines indicate wear. If not
repaired the oil can leak
past the seal causing
problems.

18. Checking the bearing bores
Our inspection continues with the
inspection of the bearing bores.
The bores are measured to within .
0001 of an inch and held to tight
standards. This is because the
bearings are the back bone of your
blower. They support the impellers
and if they are over sized will allow
your impellers to sag. Too tight
and friction within the bearing
develops. We ensure, with this
inspection, that your unit is within
factory recommended
specifications. If not we have the
ability to repair them.

19. Bad bearing bore
As you can clearly see in
this picture the bearing
bore is worn. The dark
ring is an indication that
the bearing has spun
thus causing the burn
marks. This will require
repair.

20. Checking the bearing journals
We next check the bearing
journals on the impeller. They also
have tight tolerances and our
inspection ensures that they are
within factory specifications. Once
again, should they need repair,
Lamb’s Machine Works can handle
the job. All the inspection
information is recorded by the
technician and passed on for
review during the quoting of the
job.

21. Inspecting the impellers for straightness
The impellers are also
inspected to ensure that
they are straight and
running true. Bent
impeller shafts can ruin
gears and bearings and
lead to unit failure.

22. Cleaning the unit
After repairs have been
authorized the unit is
thoroughly cleaned.

23. Repairs begin
Here we have a head
plate being repaired.
The bearing bore is
prepared for a sleeve on
a milling machine.

24. Installing the sleeve
The sleeve is then
installed and secured in
place with set screws.
The sleeve is then
machined to the proper
specifications for your
unit.

25. Repairing the oil seal journal
The oil seal journal is
repaired in one of two ways.
Either by sleeving or
metalizing. This unit is being
metalized. First the worn
part is undercut. The dye
keeps the spray metal from
sticking to areas you don’t
want it applied to.
Next the repair area is pre
heated prior to metalizing.

26. Metalizing
A metal powder is then
introduced into a flame
where it is melted and
applied onto the repair
surface.

27. Finishing the metalizing process
The top photo shows
the metalized shaft after
the metalizing process is
complete.
The machinist then
machines down the
rough finish to factory
tolerances to complete
the repair.

28. Balancing the impellers
Once the repairs to your
impellers are complete they
are balanced. This will help
in preventing excessive
vibration when the unit is
running. Unbalanced
impellers cause excessive
vibration that can lead to
bearing failure.

29. Assembly of the unit
Now that all repairs are
made to the head plates and
impellers it’s time for
assembly. We start out by
installing the seals in the
head plates. As you can see
to protect against leakage
the seals are also siliconed
in.

30. Installing the impellers
With the drive head
plate on the impellers
are then installed. Then
the remaining head
plate is installed.

31. Installing the bearings
The bearings are then
installed and set into
place. A sharp blow to
the inner race ensures
that they are properly
seated. Once installed
they are locked into
place.

32. Installing the gears
Once the bearings are in
place it’s time to install
the gears. The gears are
placed on the shafts and
torqued down to factory
specifications.

33. Setting clearances
Once the gears are installed
the proper clearances are
set. The factory provides us
with the proper clearances
that will take into
consideration factors such as
thermal expansion. This
ensures that once your unit
is at operating temperature
that it will have proper
clearance between the
impellers and casing.

34. Finishing the drive end
We finish the drive end
by installing the drive
shaft grease seal. Once
the seal is in place the
drive end gets the
proper amount of
grease.

35. Test run
Your unit is now built. The
last step before painting is a
test run. The unit is placed
on our test bench and
brought up to operating
temperature. Once up to
temperature we perform a
12 point vibration analysis
on the unit. This will tell us if
there is any excessive
vibration.

36. Ready for the road
Once the unit passes our
final inspection it is then
painted and wrapped for
shipping.

37. End of our journey
The circle is now
complete. The unit is
returned to another
satisfied customer.

38. Savings to you
As you have seen, all of the repairs to your blower were handled by our facility.
This means that nothing is sent out, it’s all done in house. This keeps your costs
down by eliminating third party involvement which adds to your costs.

39. Prologue
We hope the tour that you just took will shed some light as to the capabilities of
Lamb’s Machine Works. We take pride in our people and our repairs. Lamb’s is
capable of handling virtually all of your blower repairs in a professional and
timely manner.

40. Key Benefits
Lamb’s has over 25 years in the repair industry.
Factory support.
Factory trained technicians.
Capabilities of handling all repairs onsite.
12 month warranty.
Competitive pricing on repairs and replacements.
Large inventory of repair kits.