Brake service life

These graphs reflect the remaining service life of all hoisting and traveling brakes of the selected crane. The remaining service life of a new brake is expressed as 100%. As the brake is used, its service life starts to trend towards 0%.

The service life calculation of brakes is based on the number of starts of the hoisting and traveling motors. Common causes for an excessive number of starts include continuous operation of the hoist, particularly when jogging is involved.

If a hoist is used in a jogging manner, it means that the load is lifted in small increments. So, the hoisting motor gets exposed to repeated starts and stops. Jogging particularly wears down the hoisting brake and significantly reduces the service life of the brake and hoist contactors. Jogging also affects traveling brakes.

As a general rule, one hoisting cycle should normally be no more than eight starts. If hoisting cycles repeatedly include more starts, the crane usage should be investigated.

If you spot an unusually steep decline in a brake service life, you should be concerned about premature brake wear or even a serious brake failure.

Example graphs

The graphs present the estimated remaining service life percentages of all hoisting and traveling brakes of the selected crane. Here we have selected a custom time frame extending up to year 2026, so we can see future estimates too.

Traffic lights indicate the estimated remaining service life percentage as follows.

Table 1. Traffic lights

Traffic light	Remaining DWP	Meaning	Required actions
Green	100%–30%	Ok	Always perform regular inspection and maintenance on the brakes, as recommended by the manufacturer or as required by applicable regulation.
Yellow	30%–10%	Warning level	Review the estimated remaining service life and plan maintenance actions.
Red	10%–0%	Alert level	Tag out the crane. Electromagnetic disc brakes: Change the entire brake. Shoe brakes and thrustor-type of disc brakes: Inspect the brake.

	Uncontrolled load drop hazard A sudden failure of the hoisting brake can result in an uncontrolled load drop, which can cause death, personal injury, or property damage. A red traffic light may indicate a severe problem in the hoisting brake. If the traffic light is red, immediately stop using the hoist. Inspect the situation and change the brake if needed.