How To Safely Service Conveyor Belts And Rollers

Conveyor belts and rollers make business processes smoother. However, understanding when and how to service and maintain the conveyor rollers is necessary to make sure the system will remain functional and effective over a long time. To ensure smooth function, you need regular maintenance schedules and plans. Periodical maintenance not only saves time, money, and energy but also ensures your conveyor rollers work efficiently.

An efficient and well-functioning conveyor belt and roller system can transfer your products easily without any hassles. It also ensures better safety of the products and people in the workplace.  

Servicing

You must remember that various types of conveyor rollers show different signs of wear and tear. The extent of this and the maintenance needs differ from one conveyor roller to another. Regardless of the type, all rollers including plastic rollers, steel rollers, rubber rollers, and gravity rollers, all should be serviced periodically.

Let’s look at some of the most effective ways to service your conveyor belts and rollers.

Lubricate the pressure/drive screw and nut with oil regularly. After a long period, these parts would be coated with oil.

You should also oil the roller bearings and drive chain after use. Make sure someone is in charge of the lubrication of parts of the roller. That way it is easy to constantly monitor when the system needs maintenance or oiling.

Clean the conveyor rollers regularly by wiping down any debris or residue from the surface to make sure it remains clean and hygienic. It also ensures the system doesn’t have any blockages. Different rollers would need different ways of cleaning. For instance, the stainless-steel rollers are best cleaned by spraying water and washing with a detergent.

Preventive maintenance

Conveyor belts and rollers need periodic maintenance as well as preventive maintenance. The latter will ensure that any small issues will be spotted at the earliest and thus, they will not snowball into bigger problems. Preventive maintenance also ensures that the workplace system performs seamlessly.

Here are few steps to ensure preventive servicing

Examine the conveyor rollers to see if they are running smooth. Check their flexibility, whether the surface is level, and whether the drive chain or belt is worn out.

Observe how the rollers move on the conveyor. If they don’t run smoothly or in the same way, there could be some problems. Watch out for wobbling or strained movements. Examine the roller bearings; see if they can be fixed safely. If not, contact a professional maintenance engineer to tackle the problem safely.

Test out the temperature of the lubricating part of the roller bearings. Ideally, this check should be done after running the system for an extended time. If it turns extremely hot, turn off the system, wait until it cools off and then check for any possible problems.

Conclusion

Regular maintenance is an effective way not only to ensure the smooth running of your machinery but also to extend its lifespan. However, no matter how regularly you maintain and service your conveyor rollers or parts, they would need replacing sooner or later. Furthermore, your business needs might have outgrown the present capacity as well.

If you are looking for reliable, high-quality conveyor rollers and other conveyor components at affordable prices for your business, visit RS Components or other popular retailers.