Allen Hall and Joel Saxon, hosts of the popular Uptime Wind Energy Podcast series invited Soren Kellenberger to talk about CNC Onsite’s yaw ring repair which is conducted uptower.

During the 24-minute program, Soren explains how the yaw ring teeth in a wind turbine can get damaged. Possible causes include wind direction whereby a limited area takes the majority of the wear cycles. Extraordinary wind conditions and extreme loading can also result in misaligned yaw gear.

How widespread is the problem of yaw ring teeth damage? When one turbine is affected in a wind park often others have the same problem explains Soren.

Increasingly, CNC Onsite is called out to repair damaged yaw ring teeth, a process that CNC Onsite conducts with its mobile precision machine in the tower itself.
The patented yaw ring repair service takes place up-tower in the wind turbine.

The nacelle therefore stays in place and is not dismounted as is usual if you replace the whole yaw ring. These costly logistics are eliminated and, of course, there is no need to buy and transport a new replacement yaw ring. Obvious environmental benefits are reduced CO2.

How are defect yaw gear teeth detected? There are various monitoring systems that can detect that a yaw ring gear might be damaged. It depends on how old the wind turbine is and which monitoring system was fitted.
Often, however, damage to the yaw teeth can is suspected if the turbine is not yawing as expected.

In the 24-minute episode on yaw ring repair, Soren talks about:

• Possible causes of damage to yaw ring teeth
• How widespread the problem is
• CNC Onsite’s patented repair process and duration
• How CNC Onsite operates in different world regions
• Transporting the portable machine uptower

Watch the full episode Uptime Wind Energy Podcast: CNC Onsite’s Innovative Yaw Ring Repair Method