How to Specify Overload Protection for an Electric Hoist
Safety gear is easy to list and harder to explain. Here is what comes standard on our VERTEX ER hoists, what each device actually protects, and where one of them stops.
Every ER unit ships with three: an emergency stop, a mechanical slip clutch, and upper and lower limit switches. Together they cover the three failure modes that matter in daily lifting — a person in the way, a load heavier than the rating, and a hook travelling past its safe end position. Buyers often treat these as a checklist. They are better read as three separate answers to three separate problems.
The clutch is the one buyers ask about most, so here is the full picture. Load exceeds the preset torque, the clutch slips, and the hoist stops lifting. No sensors or wiring to fail in a dusty foundry or a humid plating shop. It relies on friction plates and a spring — parts a maintenance team can inspect and replace.
What it cannot give you is a calibrated trip point. The release value drifts as the plates wear, so the clutch releases within a range rather than at one fixed number. If your process needs a repeatable, documented overload set point (a certification audit, or a load you cannot afford to guess at), the mechanical clutch is not the right tool.
That is why an electronic overload limiter is available as an option on ER hoists, along with other safety devices selected to match the application. Brake condition, duty cycle, environment and local requirements all shape which devices belong on your unit. A plating line and a warehouse aisle do not need the same package.
What are you lifting, and how critical is the overload setting for you? Send us your specification and we will tell you which configuration fits your application.
Zhejiang Vertex International Trade Co., Ltd. Parent Companies:
1. Zhejiang Boneng Lifting Technology Co., Ltd. (Former Name: Taizhou Boneng Lifting Machinery Equipment Co., Ltd.)
2. Sanmen Youbang Machinery Co., Ltd.
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