AI invest in electronic brake testers for HME fleet
Company invests in BrakeCheck4Quarries electronic brake testers from Bowmonk Tapley
AGGREGATE Industries have recently taken delivery of a quantity of electronic brake testers to allow their heavy mobile equipment (HME) management team to closely monitor the braking performance of all heavy mobile plant and site vehicles, as part of their mandatory safety inspections.
Paul Mitchinson, UK HME manager, said: ‘We researched the equipment available and decided a suitable option was the BrakeCheck4Quarries brake tester from Norfolk-based manufacturers Bowmonk Tapley.
‘In addition to the brake testing, this system also allows us to save all of our test results electronically on to our HME software solution utilizing Bowmonk’s CabCheckS PC download option,’ he added.
The Bowmonk BrakeCheck4Quarries is a fully self-contained, user-friendly, portable brake tester, suitable for use in quarries, coal sites, concrete plants, brickyards, recycling plants and HGV workshops. The instrument records the braking efficiency in a matter of minutes, and can optionally record the percentage of braking imbalance.
The device determines braking efficiency of the service brake (foot brake) by measuring the rate of deceleration from a speed of around 12 miles/h until the vehicle comes to rest.
Designed to be self-compensating, the instrument will indicate on the LED screen when it is positioned level enough to perform a brake test, with a generous tolerance to ensure that this is easy to achieve. As an optional feature the unit can indicate whether the vehicle pulls to the left or right during braking.
To test the handbrake, the vehicle is parked on an incline with slope angle displayed and recorded by BrakeCheck4Quarries, while the operator confirms that the parking brake holds the vehicle stationary.
BrakeCheck4Quarries also prompts the user to enter the condition and type of surface on which the brake test is being carried out, ie wet ground, dry ground, snow or ice, or tarmac.
The device can store up to 99 test results for both the service brake and handbrake in its onboard memory. Test results can be viewed on the display panel or subsequently downloaded to a PC for saving or printing (optional software and cable required). A printed report can also be produced at the time of testing using the optional portable infrared printer.
The device operates on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack and will power-down after a period of inactivity to conserve energy.
As well as purchasing the brake testing equipment, Aggregate Industries also subscribed to Bowmonk’s comprehensive training facility, to ensure their dedicated operational personnel were fully conversant with the correct testing procedures.
