Cable to Chain-Vey Retrofit

How much money do you spend on replacing broken cable each year? Our Chain-Vey engineering team figured out a simple retrofit solution for owners who want to spend less time and money on cable conveyor parts, downtime, and maintenance.

Because the leading cable conveyors and Chain-Vey tube conveyors both share nearly identical pipe dimensions and designs, it’s actually quite easy to replace the insides of an existing installation. The turnarounds and drive units typically need to be swapped out too; but the total savings are large when comparing the two options.

Give our Chain-Vey sales engineers a call to discuss pricing and kit specs. The time to manufacture a kit can be as little as a few weeks. Installation takes less than one day, maybe even half a day. Chain-Vey guarantees that the chain will never break or snap. You will also have fewer maintenance intervals and lower spare part costs per year compared to your existing cable.

“A lot of bang for the buck on the retrofit. A good solution to the issues we were having.”

―Joel Bean, Farmingham Foods

Conversion Benefits

Chain to cable retrofit conversion kit

Simple Design

The Cable-to-Chain-Vey Retrofit is a simple three part kit, comprising a replacement Drive, Turnaround, and Chain. The existing pipe/tube and inlets and discharges remain in place. The downtime to make the conversion is minimal, and most of the benefits of Chain-Vey are gained at a cost-effective price.

chain stronger than cable chart for conveyors lab test results

Higher Tensile Strength

Laboratory tests show how chain offers nearly four times the tensile strength compared to a leading cable conveyor cable sample. This is consistent with previous owners of cable conveyor systems who now own Chain-Vey systems that chain is more reliable and doesn’t break.

chain vs cable sanitary chart conveyor

Better Critical Food-Safety Standards

Chain has no harborage points for food particles. Cable, however, offers many points for food particles to remain attached to the cable. The solution of cable manufacturers is to wrap cable with nylon jacketing. This is only effective as long as the jacketing is intact. Over time, though, numerous owners of nylon-jacketed cable can see cracks and degradation in nylon, revealing harborage points for food particles. Chain, even over years of use, does not degrade, does not crack, and impervious to food particles.

chain vs cable comparison of costs and maintenance

Lower Total Cost of Ownership

Many previous customers of cable conveyor systems who now own Chain-Vey, attest to the lower maintenance downtime and lower replacement parts cost in the lifetime of owning each system.


Frequently Asked Questions

Will the chains last forever?

The chains are so strong that they will last a very long time. Chains may stretch a little over the lifetime of ownership, but the tensioner will absorb any stretching.

Do chains ever twist inside a system?

Twisting in a chain only happens when the chain is not installed properly, which takes at most a few extra minutes of care when installing. Once the chain is installed correctly, it never twists.

If you do accidentally introduce a twist, it’s not going to ruin your conveyor or the chain. Just stop the conveyor, locate the twist, loosen tension, unscrew the connection link and rotate till the twist is out. Re-tighten tension. Problem solved.

Is chain hard to install?

Absolutely not. Chain is really is easy to install no matter how many turns or changes in direction. You just pull it through the same as you would with cable making sure the links are orientated the same direction.

Do you sell other cable conveyor replacement parts?

Chain-Vey is a product made by MPE and we are not affiliated with any cable tube conveyor manufacturer in any way.

Many individual components are wholly different. For retrofit customers though, all MPE provided components can be repaired or replaced by us. But for any remaining parts from the original manufacturer, replacement parts should be sourced from them.