Buy Cheap Slides, Buy Twice...

With a growing number of slide manufacturers on the market, some of whom are from China and Eastern Europe, we're seeing a large increase in cheaper, but less well made slides enter the market.

As tempting as it is to buy a more cost effective slides over and above a more expensive product, there's a reason why it's cheaper and only when things start going wrong do buying cheap, becomes a major problem.

Not only do cheaper slides use softer material, which can cause brinnelling, but cutting corners in the construction process can also mean the slide falls apart under normal shock and vibration.

In this particular incident, the enclosed slide had only been fitted into the vehicle for two weeks and in that time the central 'I' beam had broken free and the inner runner had severe brinnelling.  From a brigades point of view having a VOR (Vehicle of Road) is a worse case scenario and can cause life threatening delays.

What's surprising is that the slide in question is one of the leading brands of heavy duty slides on the market and the slide in question wasn't up for the job.

"Having cheaply made slides that break is one thing, but mis-selling heavy duty slides that simply cant do the job is entirely another," confirms one industry contact who wishes to remain nameless.

The moral of the message is, if you're looking at making savings, think about how you might pay in the long run.  More often than not, buying cheap means buying twice.

Amateur Astronomer Builds Observatory Using Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

When Mike, a partner in an engineering firm and amateur astronomer, decided to build an observatory in his back garden using Chambrelan's heavy duty slides, we knew it was going to be a good story to follow up.  After four years of meticulous planning, the observatory is in the final build stage, with the sliding roof being the most essential aspect of the project.

However this is no ordinary observatory.  Most observatories use two beams supported by a single column to roll back the roof, unfortunately this design has it's draw backs in that the observatory walls can restrict the horizontal view of the sky.  A vertical view is fine, but it means the astronomer must know what he wants to look at before pointing his telescope.

The other observatory design Mike looked at was the classic rotating domed roof, which he felt might be an eye sore in the back of his garden.  So Mike went back to the drawing board and created a design that would not restrict his view of the horizon, allowing him both a horizontal and vertical view of the stars.  By creating an aluminium roof fitted on heavy duty slides, which 'peeled' back the roof, the telescope could be positioned at any angle for greater visibility.

Unfortunately Mike had problems with buying telescopic slides.  The first company he bought them from took his money, but failed to deliver the slides and it was only after he'd gone through his insurance was he able to recoup the money.  However not to be put off, Mike decided to contact Chambrelan.  Having listened to the brief and having discussed Mike's designs the Chambrelan team suggested one of their heaviest duty slides, the E1902.

The E1902 is a three beam zinc plated, nested slide made from carbon steel and because of the design and the materials used, is an extremely heavy duty slide capable of carrying massive loads.  Mike needed a huge amount of extension and opted for a 2000mm with a load capacity of 250kg.

"The new Chambrelan heavy duty slides," confirms Mike, "are exquisite, they're fantastic, a lot more heavy duty than the slides i originally bought.  Wish i'd bought them in the first place."

Fore more information on how Chambrelan heavy duty slides can help transform your build visit www.chambrelan.com 

KME Kovatch Fire Apparatus Takes on Chambrelan Heavy Duty Slides

KME Kovatch incorporate Chamnbrelan Heavy Duty Slides 

Not a spring chicken this story, but nevertheless we hope those of you interested in heavy duty slides on fire trucks might get a little excited.  A while ago Chambrelan breached the US market in that they started supplying heavy duty slides and sliding systems to KME Kovatch, an American manufacturer of specialist vehicles and customised trucks.  For over 6 decades KME Kovatch have built a reputation for quality and reliable delivery and design and build their own chassis, as well as distributing a wide range of commercial chassis.

Smooth pull out / push in sliding system

So when KME started looking at new ways to store and hold essential fire equipment across a range of pumper tankers and airport crash rescue vehicles, they decided to fit Chambrelan's heavy duty RA7R and RA5R's.  

Lower stowage drawer carried on Chambrelan's heavy duty slides

Andrew Yenser, Rescue product manager for KME Kovatch, had this to say on the integration of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides onto their vehicles.  "We were looking for quality and strength; something that was easy to fit and easy to maintain.  That's when Chambrelan's RA5R and RA7R came to our attention.  Their reliability and strength means, as vehicle builders, we can offer additional components to our customers, which otherwise wouldn't have been possible before."

Chambrelan's heavy duty slides in action

As you can imagine importing products, in this instance heavy duty slides, have to face extensive safety tests before they can be incorporated into vehicles and a strict evaluation process for all new products need to be agreed before any supply agreement is reached.  The KME committee, made up of sales reps, purchasers and engineers, looked at things like the materials used, mechanics and engineering and of course a supply chain that isn't going to break.

In this respect Chambrelan had the right heavy duty slides and 50 years of experience in working alongside specialist vehicle builders, what's more as manufacturers they could guarantee supply.

For more information on how Chambrelan can help you with your stowage and heavy duty slides, click here.

SEM Fire and Rescue Uses Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

SEM Fire and Rescue - sporting Chambrelan's heavy duty slides

SEM Fire and Rescue, the specialist vehicle builders based in Australia, recently won a contract from the Country Fire Authority (CFA) to build a Technical Rescue Vehicle (Hino FM 2630) for front line fire and rescue alerts, which could also include water rescue, control and a range of fire and rescue operations including forest fire, house fire and commercial properties in and around Australia.  Complete with Chambrelan's heavy duty sliding systems, this build was something that took our breath away when we first saw the designs, but when we saw the photographs, we were blown away.

Heavy duty slides carrying tool boards and kit drawers

You see, this is no ordinary rescue vehicle and has been designed as a transportable pod or module, which is dismounted from the chassis and thereby be operated as a stand alone unit, encompassing all the necessary equipment relevant for that particular operation.

By using a massive hino A09C-TT turbo charged intercooled 6 cylinder diesel engine, the pod is lifted and dismounted using the multi-lift LHS 250, which has enormous lifting capabilities up to 17,000kg.  The module itself has been designed to carry a series of storage compartments, work benches and sliding generator as well as a series of slide and tilt pull out drawer systems, that deliver essential kit to the operator, quickly and easily.

A range of Chambrelan's heavy duty slides have been integrated into the build and were chosen for their high strength and extension, as well as being easy to fit and easy to maintain.

Work benches and tool drawers extending out

We caught up with Jeremy Binnington, Director of Chambrelan UK, to find out a little more about the build as well as finding out how growth in the South East Asian market is faring.

"It's going well, as you know we've been stocking Australia quietly now for about a year and in that time we've come across some very interesting applications."

By doubling their commitment to the Australian market Chambrelan continues to lead the way in the development of sliding systems for heavy duty applications in the mining, fire and emergency and defence markets.

For more information on these or other Chambrelan heavy duty slides and linear rails, please visit www.chambrelan.co.uk 

Museum in Wellington Use Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Slides

How would you go about displaying a range of ancient fabrics and cloaks in a museum?  Well one company, Anderson Design, were posed with that very question when they were asked to design and build an artefacts case for the Roturua Museum of Art and History in Wellington New Zealand.

Anderson Design originally chose to use a pair of heavy duty slides (we cannot name the manufacturer for obvious reasons) for the build and everything was going swimmingly, with the artefact case being fitted at the museum and everyone was happy.

It's only when things start going well, that they start to go badly!

It was soon found that the case was requiring far too much force to open and close the sliding draws.  The heavy duty slides were grinding and locking up and there was a fear that school children and elderly people might have problems opening the draws mounted on heavy duty slides.

After an emergency internet search Anderson came across Chambrelan's range of heavy duty slides and linear rail motion systems.  Within 24 hours of Anderson sourcing the product from Chambrelan's heavy duty slide supplier in Australia - Integrated Emergency Equipment - the problem was identified and within 7 days of placing their order a new pair of Chambrelan RA7 heavy duty slides were sent to the Anderson Team.

Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slide is one of the best heavy duty slides in the market, with unrivalled strength, smooth operation, length and protection Anderson Design realised they were going to need a massive 1500mm extension capable of carrying 95 kilos.  Still uncertain that Chambrelan's heavy duty slides could take the extreme weight of the draw and glass; the team of designers and engineers took it upon themselves to give it a test and climbing on to the draws they jumped upon down until they were satisfied Chambrelan's RA7 heavy duty slides were strong enough.

After testing the pull-out load, using a spring balance, the Anderson team we pleased that the traction load had been reduced from 17.5 kilos using the old heavy duty slides, down to a very easy 5.5 kilos using Chambrelan's heavy duty slides.

Check out Chambrelan's bog for more information on this story or alternatively go to their website for a full list of heavy duty slides and linear rails

Chambrelan's Heavy Duty Carrier for Their Slide and Tilt System

Chambrelan's carrier

In our last issue of 100% Extension - that razor blade blog covering all things heavy duty slide related - we discussed what's available in terms of new Slide and Tilt systems currently on the market.  Well, it seems we touched a nerve because not longing after posting, Chambrelan's marketing team dropped me a line and with an image of one of their carriers.  Thanks Chambrelan's marketing team!!

As you can see this is a uniquely designed product in that the carrier sits on re-circulating ball bearings, which spread the load more effectively and allows easy operation even when carrying extreme weights.

For more information on Chambrelan's heavy duty slides and linear rails visit their website:  www.chambrelan.co.uk

The Ins and Outs of Slide and Tilt Systems

Slide and Tilt systems are used by the Fire industry and defence markets in vehicles to allow front line crews to access essential equipment.  The slide and tilt system allows quick and easy access and have been designed to be operated by gloved hands.  Since coming onto the market a few years ago slide and tilts have become standard kit - especially for the emergency services - but with more and more slide and tilts being designed and built, we thought we'd take a look at what's out there and run a comparison.

Essentially there are two main designs, ones that use a dual roller system and the ones that use re-circulating ball bearing carriers.

To be honest with you there's not much difference between the two in terms of operational design, but where each of the designs differ is the internal movement which extends the drawers out.

The first is a dual roller system that uses a set of rubber wheels to extend the drawer out.  The problem with this system is that if the drawer is heavily loaded, the wheels tend to 'drag' or 'buckle' with the weight, meaning users will have to use more pull to draw the system out.  This can become hazardous especially in an emergency situation when essential equipment is needed.  Having said that this system - because it's been around for so long - is used by most brigades.

However, that was before Chambrelan, the French based heavy duty slide manufacturer, launched their own slide and tilt system earlier this year.  Chambrelan's slide and tilt system - although very similar to the other systems on the market - is notably different due to one feature, the circulating ball bearing carrier.  This is one nifty piece of kit as the carrier spreads the load to the ball bearings ensuring that a smooth and easy pull out is possible even under the heaviest conditions.

Cost is also important and I understand that Chambrelan's heavy duty sliding system is a little more expensive, but as more and more brigades are finding out, buy it cheap often means buying it twice and it's these companies that are realising that delivery and quality are more important than saving a few quid up front.

Heavy Duty Slides - The Problems of Brinelling

A major problem for Fleet Managers, Engineers and operational teams when using heavy duty slides in their applications is when a material surface failure, caused by contact stress, exceeds the material limit.

On a practical level surface on surface wear causes permanent denting or 'brinelling' and this will cause operational failure.  In addition to the brinelling effect, heavy duty slides can also suffer from 'fretting' and 'false brinelling', which is caused the friction-wear of components caused by minute oscillation, which displaces the beam material and grease to block movement.  When this happens the speed of wear to key components accelerates.

The major factor causing brinelling is caused by shock and vibration and regular use in extreme conditions.  From a manufacturing point of view, brinelled slides are a major problem and the only preventative action is the quality of the heavy duty slide in the first place.  Buy cheap, buy twice, comes to mind, but there are many engineers and fleet managers who, having their budgets restricted, have chosen a cheaper alternative, much to their later disappointment.

There are a number of Heavy duty slide manufacturers out there, Accuride and Thomas Ragu, but having done extensive research we've found that Chambrelan's heavy duty slides are easy to fit, easy to maintain and due to their manufacturing techniques and materials used, reduce the the stress and shock that extensive hard use causes.

Chambrelan's steel slides use cold drawn steel section and come in a range of different lengths and strengths and have an extensive range.

However should you have already bought slides, then there are a couple of things you can do to minimise the risk.  Getting the right size and fitting it into the right space envelope is essential and also using the slide to it's full extension will improve the life cycle of the slide.