Cost to maintain a 35 cpm canner?

[TGTimm]

We're using an ABE Lincan 35 canner right now. It works pretty well, now that we have most of the wrinkles ironed out.

But the maintenance parts are killing us! A set of seals for the filler heads--two little rubber gaskets and one tiny plastic bushing--costs $74. The little rubber (urethane) balls tat close the filler tubes? $38 (these folks are really proud of their balls). There are seven of each and require replacement rather often (we're replacing the seals twice a year and the balls annually). Anything metal and you're looking at real money.

Is there an equivalent canner out there that costs a little less to run? Several $K/year seems steep to me.

[Starcat]

Interesting, and yes that does sound SKY HIGH for high call repair parts. I would likely be registering a complaint and asking that short lived parts be re-designed around.
With that said, the ACS5 filler does have some temperamental factors that can be a pain under certain circumstances and this design sequence is not quick to work on when problems come up. By your description the ABE filler while similar, uses very different tech to start and stop the flowas compared to the Cask.
I would say we are able to maintain the filler on the Cask ACS5 for much less on repair parts. The O-ring seals are cheap, and the shuttle members are SS and do not require replcement that often. The 24 VDC solenoid coils are low quality and are not " potted."
The older style seamer is the most expensive item on the line to maintain with the main cost being in bearings which typically run around 6 month cycles with our throughput. Because Angelus has proven that its possible to make hybrid-ceramic bearings to run in the seam rolls which perform and last almost forever, it should seem logical that someone would have made hybrids for all positions on the seamer, but this is not the case. The new style seamers are said to be more rugged and with " implied " longer run time between maintenance interval. Other repair parts include Magnetic Field Sensors, Air cylinders, C02 and Air regulators, and Pre-Post rinse solenoids. The Pre-Post rinse system should be re-fitted with all SS piping and SS solenoid valves instead of brass.
Every machine will have its inherent weakness, but overall this is a decent rig for the price. If we were to buy the x2 model to double production, we might get with Cask on some particulars we have noted on this line for custom fit or modification. An example would be better rise capability to get all beer off the cans before they leave the line. The Palmer 12-4 Rotary is a very interesting looking higher capacity unit.

[HopMonkey]

We have an Angelus CB50 inline and source almost all of our gaskets and o-rings from McMaster Car. Lots of options for material (Buna, EPDM, Viton, etc.) I used to run a Prospero rotary bottling line we did the same thing for. We are getting a pack of 100 for what they are charging us for 1. I use a micrometer to measure inner diameter and thickness (CS) and found a chart from O-Rings West to get the size. (https://oringswest.com/wp-content/up...Size-Chart.pdf) Almost all of of our gaskets and o-rings have been standard sizes, or close enough that they work just fine. For about 25 bucks you can get an oring measuring tool that will tell you the exact size to order.

[TGTimm]

Thanks. I'll have to talk with ABE about the costs.

Unfortunately, the seals are not simple o-rings. I've tried to source the seal kits after peeling off the labels ABE put over the manufacturer's label with no luck.

I also ran a GAI 3003 for over a decade. Like you, I found I could buy the o-rings for a tiny fraction of the cost from the distro, Prospero. I sourced mine from Chinook O-ring here in Oregon, and have also used O-rings West. Both are excellent and much cheaper!