Undercutter is a vital piece of maintenance equipment
September 1st 2008

Working with Transport for London, Metronet is responsible for maintaining, replacing and upgrading the infrastructure on eight of London Underground's eleven lines.

As part of this enormous programme, the Metronet Railway Engineering Works in Acton is the main engineering centre for the maintenance and repair of traction motors and associated running gear, as well as electromechanical systems for braking and pneumatics.

A vital part of the maintenance equipment is Whitelegg Machines undercutter model Betamatik-50T. The undercutting process removes mica insulation between the copper segments, to ensure that the carbon brushes do not come in contact with the mica. Prior to receiving the Betamatik machine, Metronet engineers would perform this process using a hand-held air tool.

The Betamatik machine is able to process armature weights of up to 2500kg and armature diameters of up to 600mm. Support engineer at the facility, Richard Watson, sourced the undercutter after seeing a similar machine in use at another site and chose the Betamatik for its flexibility and work rate.

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