The life expectancy or service life of your conveyor pulley lagging depends on the operating environment, maintenance quality and frequency and how the equipment is used. Here are our top Dos and Don’ts for protecting lagging.
Correct operation of the conveyor for protecting lagging
DOs
- Make sure that the conveyor take-up unit applies the correct load to the belt to prevent belt slip on startup.
- Install and maintain a belt plough on the return belt, immediately ahead of the tail pulley. This reduces the risk of lumpy material to be trapped between the belt and pulley, which damages the lagging and belt.
- Correctly align pulleys so that the wear pattern is uniform across the pulley.
- Install and maintain belt scrapers to minimise material carry-over on to bend and snub pulleys.
- If a drive pulley continues to slip on startup for no apparent reason, consult the designer to confirm the conveyor design parameters and start-up philosophy.
- Correctly adjust screw take-up units to provide adequate belt tension under all operating conditions.
- Keep belts as clean as possible by preventing or addressing material spillage
DON’Ts
- Don’t attempt to reduce belt slip by throwing sand or similar material into the pulley feed/nip point. This accelerates wear of the lagging.
- Don’t over-fill the conveyor as this may result in belt slip.
Correct design and component selection for protecting lagging
DOs
- Make sure you have the correct pulley diameters to prevent over-stressing of the belt and lagging.
- Choose the right type and hardness of lagging depending on whether the pulley is a drive, tail or take-up pulley.
- Use grooved lagging on drive pulleys as it can assist with traction, expel moisture and is less likely to slip when dirt has become trapped on the return belt.
- Follow recognised conveyor design procedures and equipment sizing guidelines when designing a conveyor.
Maintenance measures for protecting lagging
DOs
- Inspect and monitor pulley lagging regularly.
- Repair local damage to lagging before the damage moves to other areas.
- Use experienced personnel when relagging – (Brain Industries’ team are highly skilled at relagging!)
- Have a spare pulley available so you can remove a damaged pulley or damaged lagging from service for proper refurbishment. (Brain Industries makes quality conveyor pulleys! Watch our video here.)
More information on protecting lagging
Brain Industries manufactures and repairs conveyor pulleys and pulley lagging. For expert advice and high quality products to meet your needs or issues, talk to the genius team at Brain today.
