DC Velocity - February 2016

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Longer lasting Belts, New Split Spools -- no regrind:Layout 1 8/26/2009 4: 37 AM Page 1

and temperatures, while others are better suited to slower-speed operations.

KEEP HOUSE

A big part of good maintenance is cleaning.

This may sound obvious, but it’s a precept that’s often neglected, according to the experts. “Especially if you get into the handling of food, beverage, wine, spirits, things of that nature, cleanliness is, a lot of times, not dealt with properly,” Bonham says. “People ignore it.” But spilled product can cause serious downtime and costly repairs, particularly with sorters. If something spills, “stop the sorter and tend to it immediately,” says Bonham. It will probably take five or 10 minutes to clean it up, but if left untreated, that sticky substance could cause an outage that takes 30 minutes or an hour to repair. “The cost of cleaning is really very low,” Bonham points out.

Then there’s the matter of labels and packing tape. These get stuck to conveyor rollers and sorters. Shoe sorters in particular are vulnerable to malfunction from this quarter; they may become unable to slide. As with spills, it’s best to stop the equipment and scrape off any labels or bits of tape that get stuck to the equipment. “If you leave it on there until it gets tangled up in something, then suddenly you’ve got 30 minutes of downtime with the possibility that components will have to be replaced, (and) that could cost you something,” notes Bonham. In addition, pieces of label or cardboard that get stuck in a conveyor can cause belts to go off track. If the belt gets torn up as a result, that’s an expensive item to replace.

DON’T ABUSE THE EQUIPMENT!

A big no-no: not using the system as
intended. One common mistake is over-
loading the system with items that had
been defined as nonconveyable in the sale
contract, in what’s called an “item master.”
Often, people know that certain items
are supposed to be handled manually,
but manual handling is so much trouble
that they put them on the conveyor any-
way. “They go ahead and push the limit,”
Bonham says. “That’s abusive to a sys-
tem.” For example, a too-large item may
fit on the conveyor when it’s traveling in
a straight line, but once it hits a curve or a
nents, like gearboxes and control
cabinets. If the temperature starts
to rise, it could be a sign that the
component is working harder than
it should be and is at risk of failure.
Heat imaging is a task that would
likely be done monthly or annually.

MAINTAIN THE SYSTEM

An effective but often overlooked way to prevent downtime and make sure the work flows smoothly is to simply follow the preventive maintenance schedules recommended by the manufacturer or systems integrator. “Those are all designed around eliminating the chance for unexpected downtime,” says Kraus.

That means adhering to schedules
for upkeep such as lubrication of
bearings and other moving parts—
and making sure to use the correct
type of lubrication as well. When
bearings fail, 80 percent of the time
it has something to do with either
lubrication or dirt or dust in the
bearings, says Jim Madsen, product
manager, Dodge Spherical Roller
Bearings, at Baldor Electric Co. So
it’s not only important to follow the
manufacturer’s lubrication recom-
mendations, but to avoid contami-
nation as well.

That means keeping the working area as clean as possible when replacing bearings. Better yet, choose bearings that are pregreased and sealed at the factory. These don’t need any assembly in the field. “They slide right on the shaft, without (exposing) the rolling elements to a dusty, dirty environment,” Madsen explains. When opting for a prelubricated product, he cautions, make sure it’s the correct type of seal for your application. That way, you’ll get the longest service life from your bearings. Some seals are specifically designed for use in systems that operate at high speeds