4 Reasons Why Diamond Drillers Should Choose a Safety Overshot

As we say often in the blog, choosing the right equipment is one of the most important parts of the drilling process. Whether it’s choosing the right core bit, a reaming shell or some other part, there are always many factors to consider before making a choice. When it comes to overshots, there are regular overshots and safety overshots. Let’s look at four good reasons to consider a safety overshot.

Safety, safety, safety

Safety on drilling sites has always been an issue and any product that can increase the level of safety for a driller is a good thing. Let’s face it, when you are hoisting heavy objects full of rock into the air, safety should be on your mind. With many overshots, as they are coming up out of the hole, you may have to manipulate the locks by twisting or engaging other moving parts, in order to manually lock the overshot head. Luckily, some overshots come with automatic safety locks.  The Excore EX ll is an example of a safety overshot that has a safety mechanism that is automatically engaged without a drilling helper having to do anything. This translates into better efficiency as no time is lost doing it manually. The Excore EX ll overshot is patented and is independently tested for its lifting capacity, so you can use it with confidence.

You can reduce risk even more by having a secondary locking pin that is independent. This provides one more way of locking the inner tube. This becomes really important in case the spearhead or the lifting dogs are worn out and need to be replaced. The Excore EX ll has this secondary locking pin.
 

Less human error

When a drill crew is rushing to get core in the box, it is easy to forget to do every step of a process, no matter how often you’ve done them before. Forgetting to lock the safety mechanism on the overshot head can have pretty disastrous results. A safety mechanism that is automatically engaged protects drillers form an accidental release of the inner tube assembly.
 

Fewer parts

Overshots with a twist lock assembly have a lot more parts and those parts need to be maintained. While you are maintaining or cleaning those small parts, they can be dropped or lost. Nobody has time to waste looking for them or for a replacement part. Fewer parts is an advantage all the way around.
 

Easy to use

The Excore EX ll overshot, for example, has a release mechanism on the inner tube assembly that is pretty intuitive. Training your drill crew on how to use and maintain it is quick and easy.  When the inner tube assembly is on the floor, the way you release the inner tube assembly is really similar to that of a standard, non-locking overshot.  You get a special release tool with every overshot. When the inner tube is in the rod string, the tool makes releasing the inner tube assembly safe and easy.
 

Safety features are always being added to drilling equipment as the industry identifies areas where improvement is needed. It’s important to keep up and know which products that have found new, safer ways to do the job. Our technical team is always available to discuss and guide you when choosing equipment, whether it’s safety overshots or drill bits. Reach out to them for advice on choosing equipment or any other technical question. 

Not performing maintenance on equipment

Taking a few minutes to perform regular maintenance on equipment and parts can save you a lot of time and money later on. Having to stop operations entirely due to equipment failure ends up costing so much more than the time it would have taken you to inspect and maintain equipment beforehand. Find the time to do it.

Not maintaining your bore hole

Drilling equipment is not the only thing that needs to be maintained. Your bore hole has an impact on drilling performance so you should make sure you take care of it. That means proper flushing after every run, making sure you gage your diamond tools regularly and keeping a good stable hole using additives as the hole demands. The walls should be stable to prevent collapse and that can be done by using drilling additives like DD-2000 or Sand Drill. 

Over torqueing when you join threads of drill rods to save time

Over torqueing your drill rods or “snapping” the rods together as you run them into the hole can cause damage to the shoulders of the pin and box ends of the threads, as well as causing galling and other damage.  Even though it takes longer, you should take the time to join the threads by hand.

Not using good thread compound

Not all thread compounds are made the same. Grease is not thread compound. You should be using a good thread compound with at least 50% zinc particle content, such as PIPE DOPE Z50. In addition to not choosing a good one, many drillers don’t use it often enough. Good thread compound applied regularly to clean threads will extend the life of your drill rods substantially.

Not listening to the drill

A good driller knows to listen to the drill rig and to the sounds and vibrations coming from the bottom of the hole. It’s one of the only ways to know what is going on down many meters beneath the surface. You should be paying attention to the sounds and feel of the equipment, such as sudden vibrations and the sound of your engine labouring. These are all hints that there is trouble brewing.

Making sure your bit is being flushed

Your diamond bit is one of the most important part of your drilling equipment, and it should always be flushed with drill water. Not enough water means that the cuttings from the rock can damage the drill bit. Take the time to check that the bit is being properly flushed with sufficient fluid before rotation starts.

You’ll probably notice that a lot of these bad habits come from rushing and trying to save time. While being efficient is always a good idea, make sure you don’t avoid tasks that must be done or do them without giving them the proper time and attention. Our technical team is a great resource for tips on maintenance and for suggesting new products and methods. You can contact them for more information. Our goal is to help you improve drilling performance.