Burlington Ontario Canada
+9053351440
sherim@thomson-gordon.com

Thordon COMPAC Drop

Can Thordon COMPAC Survive The Impact?

Film Review

COMPAC propeller shaft bearings just do not break. That is the conclusion from Carl who in his early life, was a Marine Engineer on multiple vessels. He joined Thordon after the sea and
had became a Technical Service Representative. Carl’s now the current Production Manager, and as a Thordon Bearings’ service engineer who has devoted considerable time and energy attempting to smash one to pieces. Carl’s latest exploit, caught on camera by a Cinema 16 crew filming at the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters, Hamilton, Ontario, sees the Thordon Bearings employee drop a COMPAC bearing 12m (40 ft.) above solid ground simply to “let it bounce on the concrete”. “It’s the first time I have done this on purpose. Be prepared to have your mind blown,” he said.
 
The two minute video footage, shows the elastomeric polymer COMPAC bearing hitting the ground at considerable speed but the impact fails to cause any damage whatsoever.  

Thordon is unique for it’s toughness as a bearing. That doesn’t mean much when you think of it nicely sheltered inside it’s housing, exposed only the scratching of a turning shaft.
However, the very property that gives it it’s toughness is what makes it so exceptionally resistant to wear when dirt gets between the rotating shaft and the bearing surface.

Nobody’s going to drop a perfectly good bearing from a height unless it is a pure accident.
And et it happened at least once in a European shipyard. The rudder bearing about to be fitted reportedly rolled off the deck of a ship high up in a dry dock and came crashing to the dock bottom.

People assumed it would be destroyed…. But it turned out to be in perfect condition, and it was fitted later that day. Nobody from Thordon was there to see it happen.

We thought it might be fun to see just how it behaved so we set up a trial so others could see it’s amazing strength.

“There you have it: strength, flexibility and durability. We have been making bearings for 45 years so we know our stuff, he concluded.”

We’re going to take this typical rudder bearing high up in a scissor lift and drop it to the concrete pad below.

Let’s watch it and see for ourselves if it survives…..

Location

The entire production was shot at the Canadian Centre for Inland Waters, Hamilton, Ontario in a one day span.