Straightpoint Load Cell Beats Jakarta Elements

Straightpoint (SP) equipment is suited to use even in the Jakarta, Indonesia monsoon season, as a recent application proved.

Lifting equipment and services provider Wiguna Artha Lestari utilised an SP Radiolink plus load cell and Wireless Hand Held Plus to complete testing of a 15 ton capacity frame using a 50t capacity Tadano TG500E. Although lifting operations ceased during heavy rainfall, IP67 environmental protection meant that the load cell didn’t have to be dismantled from the hook once the load was temporarily lowered.

Jakarta can be hit by stormy weather at multiple points during the year but is especially likely to experience wet conditions when monsoons blow in from the south and east in June through September and from the northwest in December through March.

The latest wet-season assignment involved Wiguna using a 55t capacity Radiolink plus, SP’s best-selling product, and the handheld reading device to load test a frame beneath the hook of the mobile crane and record measurements against a patchwork of rainclouds. The load cell features a separate internal sealed enclosure providing the electronic components with IP (Ingress Protection) 67 (NEMA 6) even with the battery cover plate missing, making the dynamometer suitable for use in the harshest environments. The long range 2.4GHz version of the Wireless Hand Held Plus, meanwhile, provides a range of 1,000m (3,280 ft.).

Yoshiro Dharmadi, director at Wiguna Artha Lestari, said: “IP67 essentially means that equipment meeting that criteria can be dropped into a body of water up to a meter deep for half an hour. While that is not a practical scenario in terms of our use of the equipment, it gives us peace of mind given the extremes of wet weather that we endure here. We can leave the load cell on the hook and wait for the rain to stop. I can’t imagine heavy lifting applications where we’d have to take down the rigging gear in bad weather.”

“Further,” he said, “The [SP] range offers us—and our clients—great accuracy regardless of whether we are working with light or heavy loads.

Battery power

Dharmadi also pointed to the favourable battery life of the SP range; the Radiolink plus, for example, operates with standard AA batteries that offer 1,200 hours of life. The Radiolink plus (or RLP) is supplied with an update rate of 3Hz and can be easily configured to run at speeds of up to 200Hz making it ideal for dynamic force measurement. Constructed from aerospace-grade aluminium it features an advanced internal design structure, which is behind the ingress protection and, of equal importance, high strength to weight ratio.

Dharmadi added: “We provide lifting equipment for various sectors—oil and gas, construction, mining, ports, heavy industry, marine, etc.—and all present challenging applications that test the durability of our equipment, and that’s before Mother Nature has her say. Only approx. 5% of our work involves crane testing and inspection, but we utilise load cells and rigging gear for a variety of applications on a daily basis.”

Wiguna stocks eight RLPs, up to 100t capacity, which complement a core business that centres on wire rope, chain, and synthetic slings. Dharmadi said: “Business is better than last year, but competition intensifies year on year here in Jakarta. Since we are focusing on high-end customers, we are serving a niche, specialist marketplace. We are constantly looking to add to our product portfolio to become even more efficient and productive.”