ELECTRIC CHAIN HOISTS
SMART AND ALL- ELECTRIC
Essential for lifting heavy loads quickly and safely across various industries, electric chain hoists continue to drive automation and safety in lifting application. Hoists now frequently feature integrated sensors and AI-driven predictive maintenance systems. Equipment can track duty cycles, motor temperatures, and load profiles to prevent failures before they happen. Julian Champkin reports.
S
mart features are now accepted, indeed demanded, on large equipment: owners of overhead cranes expect digital and remote
monitoring, predictive maintenance, IoT integration into Industry 4.0 and all the advantages these bring. The sometimes-neglected smaller chain host – everyday workhorse as it is, an apparently simple, apparently mature technology – can get left out of that thinking. After all, it is basically an electric motor turning a sprocket wheel; what is there to change on it? Such thinking misses out several things. For instance, designs have been quietly improving over the past years. In part, this has been purely mechanical, pocket wheels, for example, are now shaped to reduce the risk of the chain jamming, and to give quieter operation into the bargain. Chains are better now – both in their materials and profiles, and in their surface treatments. And, particularly, chain hoist control systems have improved. The big revolution here came with VFD – variable
frequency drive. With its advent, motors suddenly were no longer limited to a single speed, or, for expensive models, two speeds namely fast and slow. Consequently, precision in positioning, improved speed of overall operation, ease of operation and with
it reduction in operator fatigue, and hence efficiency – all of these underwent a step-change; VFD is all but universal now. One simple example of a benefit that VFD can bring is the soft start. On a conventional system, full voltage is applied across the motor at start-up; since the stationary motor is generating no back-EMF, this results in a current surge through it, which can be several times the design current under load. The motor starts with a jerk, which is bad for the load and for all the mechanical components of the hoist. The large transient current stresses the electrical systems as well. Large amounts of waste heat are generated and need to be vented. Only when the motor is up to speed does the current return to normal. Soft start eliminates all that. The load accelerates
more gradually, so more controllably; stresses throughout the system are reduced; and with that comes reduced maintenance needs and longer lifetimes for the hoists. So, for example, the Pitch PF electric chain hoist from
Planeta is promoted as having soft start (and the low maintenance that is associated with it). So too does its compact-design stablemate the Pitch-K. Load capacities are from 250kg to 32,000kg; they have two integrated overload systems – one electronic, one mechanical. VFD is, if you like, a first step. Full digital control and
integration of chain hoists can follow. Liftket’s StarOne hoists have load-dependent and infinitely variable speed control that is self-adjusting. When it is carrying no load, the speed is twice the nominal at 11m per minute; carrying 250kg it lifts at 7m/min, and, on the medium-capacity model operating at its maximum WLL of 1,000kg, the rate of lift is 2.5m/min. The series comes in capacities up to 2,000kg. Liftket’s STAR VFD also has an integrated status
The Planeta Pitch PF hoist has VFD and soft start.
20 | July/August 2026 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
display that shows not only the operating hours, but also how many of those hours were under full load. The number of brake cycles, the temperature of the inverter and remaining service life are displayed as well. Armed with that information, it is no longer necessary for the service engineer to spend time opening the housing before checking on maintenance requirements.
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