A RELIABLE CONVEYOR
MAINTENANCE SPECIALIST
MAINTENANCE SPECIALIST
Regardless of what you use a conveyor belt for – whether it’s sorting rubbish at a recycling plant or transporting material on a construction site – your conveyor belt will need regular maintenance to keep it at its best and to avoid any unnecessary downtime.
It’s essential that you incorporate regular checks on your conveyor belt’s condition into your workflows so that you can identify potential problems early and rectify them before they worsen.
Although conveyor belts are designed to withstand heavy use, they can still get damaged and they will suffer from wear and tear. This is particularly true in environments where the conveyor belt is transporting heavy or sharp items, or where it’s exposed to the elements.
There are two aspects to conveyor belt maintenance – the belt itself and the machinery that drives it. For the purposes of this blog, we’re going to focus on the conveyor belt itself. But it is still essential that you regularly check every part of your conveyor system to ensure it is operating at its optimum level.
When you regularly inspect your belt, you will spot early signs of damage, like cuts or cracks. If these are spotted soon enough and dealt with, you can have the belt repaired rather than needing to pay for a replacement, which can be costly.
You can also use this as an opportunity to ensure that the belt cleaning machinery is working as it should and preventing any buildup of material that could affect the operation of your conveyor belt system. Remember that regular cleaning is just as important as holding regular inspections.
Any damage on a conveyor belt will weaken it, which makes it more prone to breakage. As with any material, once there is a small crack or cut, there is the potential for this to become larger, so it’s better to have it repaired sooner rather than later.
In this instance, you need to contact someone who provides conveyor belt repair services so that they can inspect your conveyor belt and carry out the necessary work to have it up and running at full strength again.
The longer you wait, the more likely that your belt will become damaged beyond repair, so it is worth getting an expert in to fix any issues you notice during your routine inspections as this will prevent a more lengthy shutdown of your conveyor system, not to mention extend the life of your conveyor belt.
In many cases, one of the best options is to replace the damaged section of the conveyor belt. This will mean cutting out the area that is no longer fit for purpose and replacing it with a new section, which will be spliced onto the existing belt.
Before you begin the actual repair, it’s important to clean the existing belt to ensure there is no debris or residue on the surface before you move onto vulcanisation.
Once you’ve got the new part of your belt ready to insert, you’re ready for the conveyor belt vulcanising process. This means that a vulcanising agent is applied to the section of the belt that’s being repaired. Once that is ready, heat is applied to the belt, usually using a specialist machine.
The heat is the crucial element in this process, as this is what causes the chemical bonding between the vulcanising agent and the layers of rubber that form the conveyor belt. Without the vulcanisation process, the rubber will not be as strong and is much more likely to become sticky – certainly not what you want in a conveyor system!
Once the heating is done, the belt will need to be left to cool gradually. This is also important as it ensures that the repair is strong enough to withstand the rigors of the working environment.
But vulcanising isn’t only used in conveyor belt repairs. It is an essential part of the process when manufacturing conveyor belts in the first place. This process is what makes conveyor belts strong enough to be used in industries like agriculture, mining and manufacturing.
These days, there’s no need to carry out regular manual inspections. There are complete conveyor belt monitoring systems available that use sensors throughout a conveyor belt system to check everything from the belt’s condition to its alignment and plenty more.
The sensors that form these monitoring systems transmit data about the part they’re monitoring to a central system, usually one that’s run using wireless technology and the Internet of Things. This means that you can check on the health of any part of your conveyor belt system from one central hub, allowing you to keep tabs on how it’s performing.
Established in 1989 TVVS is a professional and friendly company. We offer an outstanding conveyor maintenance and repair service throughout the UK, as well as contracts in France, Iceland, Austria and Qatar.