Hoist Inspection

Structural Technology, Inc. will conduct an annual inspection with the hoist in its normal location and usually it does not require the hoist to be dismantled. Covers and other items normally supplied to allow inspection of components will be opened or removed during our inspections. Our technicians are trained to recognize safety discrepancies that can be present in your hoist. All safety discrepancies will be noted in a written report that is issued on-site.

STI examines the following items during the course of an annual inspection.

Operating mechanisms checked for maladjustment and listened to for unusual sounds that may indicate problems.

Tightness of bolts, nuts, and rivets.

Excessive wear, corrosion, cracks, or distorted parts in the following:

load blocks

suspension housings

hand chain wheels

chain attachments

clevises

yokes

suspension bolts

shafts

gears

bearings

pins

rollers

locking and clamping devices

Damage or excessive wear on hook-retaining nuts or collars and pins and welds or rivets used to secure the retaining members.

Excessive wear or damage on load sprockets, idler sprockets, hand chain wheel, and drums or sheaves shall be checked for damage or excessive wear.

Hand chain-operated hoists checked for evidence of worn, glazed, or oil-contaminated friction disks; worn pawls, cams, or ratchets; and corroded, stretched, or broken pawl springs in braking mechanism.

Evidence of damage to supporting structure or trolley.

Presence of legible warning labels .

End connections load chains shall be checked for evidence of wear, corrosion, cracks, damage, or distortion.

10.

Welded link hoist chain

11.

Hooks

Welded Chain Inspection

1.	The hoist shall be tested under load in lifting and lowering directions and the operation of the chain and sprockets shall be observed. The chain should feed smoothly into and away from the sprockets.
2.	If the chain binds, jumps, or is noisy, it shall first be checked to ensure that it is clean and properly lubricated. If the trouble persists, the chain and mating parts shall be inspected for wear, distortion, or other damage.
3.	The chain shall be examined visually for gouges, nicks, weld spatter, corrosion, and distorted links.
4.	The chain shall then be slackened and the adjacent links moved to one side to inspect for wear at the contact points.
5.	The chain should be measured according to the hoist manufacturer's instructions. If instructions are not available, the process shall continue as follows. An unworn, un-stretched length of the chain shall be selected (e.g., at the slack end). The chain shall be suspended vertically under tension and, using a caliper-type gage, the outside length of any convenient number of links shall be measured (approximately 12 to 24 inches overall). The same number of links in the used sections shall be measured and the percentage increase in length shall be calculated.

Hook Inspection

1.	Cracks, nicks, or gouges.
2.	Latch engagement, damaged or malfunctioning latch (if provided) .
3.	Hook attachment and securing means.
4.	Deformation. Any bending or twisting exceeding 10 degrees from the plane of the unbent hook.
5.	Throat Opening. Any distortion causing an increase in throat opening exceeding 15 percent.
6.	Wear. Any wear exceeding 10 percent of the original section dimension of the hook or its load pin.
7.	Non-Destructive Testing for surface or subsurface cracks.

Welded Chain Inspection

Information Request Form