Web Exclusive: Conveyor belt repair

By |  January 24, 2012

A large longitudinal rip and grooving was noticed in the center section of a long overland steel cable conveyor belt at a cement and aggregates operation. This was caused by a faulty bearing on a belt turnover pulley that allowed the top cover to be grooved by the conveyor structure and other mechanical components.

The severity of the rip and damage was alarming to the plant personnel as this conveyor belt has an extremely high replacement cost. ASGCO Fourthane was used to repair the rip. It is a synthetic rubber/urethane composite that is designed to provide strong adhesion to the original conveyor belt cover. The manufacturer says the product also has high tensile strength, elasticity and impact resistance, and is formulated to be applied on conveyors that work under high impact and abrasion conditions.

The product allows rubber conveyor belt covers to be repaired in the field with few tools and maintenance personnel required. An additional benefit is that the product dries within 15 minutes after being applied and only needs one hour of cure time before the conveyor belt can be run in normal production applications.

Once cured, it achieves the physical properties similar to that of the conveyor belt’s original rubber cover, allowing production to resume on the conveyor system. Fourthane is a liquid material designed to be applied with a spatula or similar tool. Typical applications include:

  • Restore belt covers worn from skirtboard contact.
  • Restore belt covers on feeder belts.
  • Patch impact-damaged areas of feeder belt covers.
  • Repair longitudinal cuts in steel cord and fabric belts
  • Refurbish damaged belt-splice areas.
  • Renovate rip-detection antenna installation areas.

About the Author:

Darren Constantino is an editor of Pit & Quarry magazine. He can be reached at dconstantino@northcoastmedia.net.

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