Annual guillotine checks

To ensure continuous reliability, it is essential that the following procedure should be carried out at each annual guillotine check:

• Cut cable with bolt cutters and withdraw through paying on gear
• Hands clear!
• Operate guillotine
• Check clearance between closed guillotine blades (should be < 0.005" or 0.013 mm). (Blade clearance may be adjusted by re-shimming.)
• Support paying-on gear and remove six nuts and bolts
• Remove paying on gear
• Remove assister springs
• Remove guillotine actuating pivot bolt
• Remove four bolts securing cable guide
• Remove remaining four bolts securing guillotine blade retaining slides
• Carefully withdraw moving blade and coaxial spring assembly - take care with compressed springs
• Clean all detritus from mechanism and springs
• Clean and inspect all metal surfaces
• Check guillotine blades for damage and repair/replace if necessary
• Lubricate springs and sliding surfaces with lithium based grease
• Replace everything but the paying in gear in reverse order. (The moving blade is replaced in a similar way to that used to load the guillotine)
• Load guillotine
• Thread two pieces of cable through the guillotine assembly
• Hands clear!
• Fire guillotine - should cut two wires cleanly
• If OK - replace paying in gear and sign off

Equipment required:

Feeler gauges

Metric socket set and spanners

Releasing oil and small scraper/rags to clean mechanism and slides

Lub grease

Guillotine setting lever and pivot board.