December 6, 2023
Posted by Rod McCoremick
As manufacturers of drilling equipment, we are always looking for ways to not only improve the performance of our products, but to make them safer to use. That’s why excited about the latest innovations in overshots. The Excore II safety overshot has some great safety features that I want to share here.
The Excore II has a patented safety mechanism that is automatically engaged, without any manual intervention. With other standard overshots, the locking mechanism needs to be manually engaged, and this places drillers hands and fingers in a danger zone where moving parts can trap and injure fingers and soft tissue. This can occur when a driller or helper is rushing or under pressure.
Manual intervention means you need to stop what you are doing and twist the mechanism to lock it. Having to stop to lock it means operations temporarily stop and you lose time, but it’s even worse if you forget to stop and lock it and the inner tube assembly is accidentally released.
An assembly that suddenly falls near a driller can cause him to try and catch it, leading to a wrenched shoulder or back. Even with protective footwear, if it lands on a foot, it will cause an injury. Aside from pain and injury, the assembly itself can become damaged if the overshot disengages because the lifting dogs are pushed in. The Excore II cannot be disengaged until the weight of the head assembly is removed.
The Excore II has a secondary independent locking pin, to reduce risk even further. This is another way to lock the inner tube using the core barrel assembly spearhead, in case the spearhead or the lifting dogs are worn out or need to be replaced. The Excore II is also shorter than other overshots so it weighs less making it easier for drillers to lift and carry around.
Another advantage to an automatic locking mechanism is if you are working in very cold weather, a regular overshot can freeze causing problems engaging its locking mechanism. The same thing also happens if your drilling operation is using acidic water that would rust the components. If you are drilling in a frequent water loss situation, a dry a dry-hole adapter can be used. This allows drillers to lower the inner tube assembly on wireline and release it in a much safer and easier way.
The Excore II’s safety features were developed to give drillers peace of mind and one less thing to worry about. This overshot also simplifies the process and maximizes the speed of each over cycle resulting in increased productivity levels. If you want to learn more about this product, don’t hesitate to reach out to our technical support team. They have a wealth of experience and can guide you when choosing products. Our goal is to not only improve drilling performance, but to make drilling safer and easier for drillers.
