How to correct common belt maintenance errors

Today’s aggregate producers rely heavily on cooperation between their plant production and maintenance departments.

For an organization to meet production quotas, its maintenance department must diligently maintain equipment around the plant. With this concept in mind, consider these three common errors in belting maintenance and how to identify, analyze and correct them.

Error No. 1

The most common error in belting maintenance is installing drum pulleys instead of wing pulleys in the conveyor system’s tail pulley location.

This practice is advised against in most applications due to drum pulleys commonly being lagged with rubber that wears unevenly, potentially causing conveyor belts to mistrack and become damaged. Additionally, product and materials may fall off the conveyor belt’s edge and travel back to the tail pulley, becoming stuck between the pulley and the belt while risking punctures or tears in the belt.

In most cases, installing winged tail pulleys in place of drum pulleys can prevent these issues and present a self-cleaning capability. Wing pulleys will typically decrease how often maintenance personnel must change or repair tail pulleys due to the design that allows constant belt contact with open voids to expel and dislodge stuck or built-up material.

Error No. 2

A second common error in belting maintenance involves sites using old or used conveyor belts as skirting.

This is highly inadvisable because the conveyor belt can cut through steel beams when mistracking on a system. Also, belting installed as skirting can easily cut or damage a new conveyor belt.

As a solution, install skirt rubber in the load zone. This skirting is designed to reduce material spills and airborne dust. Skirt rubber comes in a range of hardness options based on the application.

Error No. 3

A third common error in belting maintenance is tightening the screw take-ups or adding weight to the counterweight to stop belt slippage on the drive pulley on a conveyor system.

This practice can be a quick fix but should never be used as a permanent repair. When more tension is added to a conveyor belt than is recommended, premature belt failure will potentially be encountered. Additionally, when a belt is overtensioned, it will not sit properly in the trough idlers. This can lead to belt mistracking, critical damage and product spillage.

Take the time to shut the system down and re-lag – or completely replace the drive pulley. This will provide the grip needed to drive the belt without causing undue damage to the belt.

Corey Jackson is a branch manager for Motion’s Mi Conveyance Solutions business unit, specializing in conveyor belting and services for the past five years.