BELT CLEANER MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR

By: Scott Bahr

Far too often in the mining world, maintaining and servicing capital assets take a backseat to simply carrying on with the status quo. While this might seem cost-saving at the moment, avoiding maintenance expenses now is a recipe for disaster later. Eventually, an issue will inevitably arise and there will be repairs needed. And 9 times out of 10, routine maintenance and repair would have either avoided the crisis altogether—or at least minimized the scope of the problem.

What it really comes down to for us here at Bit Service is doing our due diligence in offering you the best advice and service when it comes to your business operations. While your equipment may be operating “just fine” today, we don’t want you to be blindsided and have to deal with a stressful situation down the road with costly repairs—and subsequent operational downtime—that you simply can´t afford.

MAINTAINING CONVEYOR BELTS

One particular area of improvement that’s important to emphasize is the maintenance and protection of your conveyor belt system. When optimized, conveyor belts are the standard for moving bulk material around and out of a mine, through the processing plants, and out the loadout. However, when they’re not in tip-top shape, they’re vulnerable to sticky material adhesion issues, material spillage at transfer points, and even tracking misalignment.

INTRODUCING STARCLEAN®

Now, while the regular maintenance of conveyor belts is vital, that upkeep is only part of the battle. Why? Because not just any maintenance will do. You need the very best the industry has to offer, and we have found innovative, top-of-the-line products that will ensure your belts keep humming along.

Bit Service is actually a key supplier of the unique STARCLEAN® line of belt cleaners and scrapers, which are known worldwide as the leader in conveyor belt cleaning and protection. These products are renowned and respected not only for their high quality but also because they have wide use in all mining and material handling industries.

Now that you know which products are the way to go, we have a few key areas to look for on your conveyor belt cleaners during periodic inspections which will maximize their service life and repairability:

1. Overall condition and operation: It may seem obvious, but if the scraper, tensioning system, or mounting hardware are damaged or in poor repair, the scraper will not effectively clean the belt—and even worse, could even risk damaging the belt surface. If this is the case, it should be scheduled for maintenance immediately.

2. Scraper blade condition and service angle: The blunt truth is that the belt scraper is only as good as its scraper elements, and if these blades are left to wear down over time, their effectiveness is eventually reduced.

3. Tensioning system: The proper tensioning is critical through both the mechanical tensioning device, and in the case of the STARCLEAN® scrapers, the tension provided by the polyurethane scraper elements. Without these working properly and applying the proper tension of the scraper to the belt’s surface, the cleaning effectiveness can be reduced, or in the case of excess tension, it risks damaging the belt.

These are just a few proactive ways that you can ensure that your conveyor belts are operating at peak performance, now and in the future. As always, we are dedicated to bringing you our perspective and guidance regarding the latest news and trends in the mining industry and are always available to help you in any way we can. Reach out to us at Bit Service today to discuss your many options.