How to Track or Center Conveyor Belts
A conveyor belt is a loop of material wrapped around two pulleys. One of these is powered and moves the belt around in a cycle. Items placed on one end of the belt will be automatically transported to the other end. If the belt runs slightly to the left of right of center, there is a problem with the alignment or leveling. This can easily be put right.
Things You'll Need
- two open end wrenches and or a socket ratchet wrench of the appropreate size for your conveyor tracking roller adjustments.
Instructions
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1
Decide if your belt is too tight or too slack. It should ideally not have any slippage between the belt and the pulley. Also, the belt should also conform to the crown on the pulleys. Any more tension than this should be avoided as it could tear the belt seam.
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2
Pull the right bearing outward to make the head roller move in a direction that will tighten the belt.
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3
Push the left bearing in to move the head roller in the direction that will slacken the belt.
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4
Make a sight adjustment, then check the belt. Make another adjustment and check again. Small alterations are recommended so that you do not overly loosen or tighten the belt and cause problems.
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5
Repeat this process until the belt looks centered to you.
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6
Clean the belt. Anything on the belt that shouldn't be there can alter the tracking.
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7
Check that the snub rollers, carry idlers, return idlers and pulleys are all parallel to each other.
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8
Make sure they are also perpendicular to the belt center line and square with the frame. If the belt passes these tests, it seems to be centered, but four final tests will confirm this.
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9
Start the conveyer belt in a return run, toward the tail pulley. The belt should be empty. Watch this for three belt revolutions.
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10
Run the machine in the standard direction for another three belt revolutions.
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11
Add a full-load to the belt and run it in reverse order for three belt revolutions. Conveyor belts track differently when weight is added.
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12
Watch the machine move in the standard direction with a full load. Turn it off after three belt revolutions.
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13
Move back an idler if the belt has over adjusted. You can do this as the belt is running.
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Tips & Warnings
Tips on belt tracking:
1) A thinner belt will track better than a thicker belt. This is because the thinner belt will conform to the "crown" of a pulley better.
2)If you actually find you have to adjust a roller in the opposite way as I have described to you ,in other words if you tighten on the right side and the belt moves to the right side that is a sure sign that your belt is too thick for your pulley diameter. A belt that is too thick will"balance"on the center of a crown. This situation will make a belt all but imposable to track.
3)If a belt is almost as long as it is wide it can be hard to track. The more "square" a belt is the harder it is to get it to move to one side or another. If you have a belt that is almost square your best bet is to use as thin a belt as possible.
4)A drive roller that is "out of square" with the conveyor will be hard to track. Additionally if a drive roller is out of square with a tension roller it can cause problems with tracking.
5)the splice or seam on a belt needs to be as straight as possible. belt are normally cut on a jig or table that ensures a straight cut.
6)loss of lagging material off a drive pulley will cause a belt to wander all over the place. It can move from left to right an d back again.
7)build up on a drive or tensioning pulley will of course affect tracking. This causes varying tension and there for a wandering belt
8)A loose belt can cause wandering . If the belt runs straight with out anything on it but then un-tracks when a weight is added then tighten the belt.
9)a heavy load coming onto a belt at an angle acts just like you pushing on the belt. The load must go onto the belt straight and reasonably centered.
As mentioned above Don't wear anything that can get caught in the belt seam. Go slow and easy when pushing the belt to where it needs to be.
