Regularly scheduled maintenance of any feeder is essential in maintaining weighing materials accurately. Most feeder accuracy problems can be attributed to dirt or material accumulation, inaccurate calibration, inadequate maintenance or changes in your bulk material flow properties, operating conditions, or process requirements.
To keep your feeder accurate and operating properly, below are few suggestions from AAG Engineering Technologies to aid the long-lasting and robust performance of your feeder.
Recommendations to maintain the accuracy of feeder
Cleanliness of Feeder:
Cleanliness can affect weighing accuracy. Dirt or material accumulation can limit the scale movement. It can even result in excessive wear and tear of moving parts. Thus, cleaning your feeder on a regular schedule is very crucial.
Outside scale influence:
It will also cause weighing inaccuracies. Such influences include portable fans or plant air conditioning blowing on the feeder. Some individuals even make the feeder as a storage shelf, workbench, or sometimes the material buildup on the feeder can eventually decrease a feeder’s freedom of movement. Keeping a check on your feeder for any outside influences and eliminating them is necessary.
Calibration:
Calibration of the feeder is key in maintaining weighing accuracy. Inconsistent and inaccurate calibration settings will cause the feeder to begin at an incorrect starting point. To avoid this, tear the feeder’s scale weight to zero; check the feeder’s weight and the correction factor, and keep knowledge of each material’s specific feed rate.
Maintain moving parts:
Check the operation and maintenance manual that accompanies a new feeder. All feeders are mechanically operated devices, and since they all have moving parts, it’s essential that an operator maintains those moving parts. Obviously, the fewer the number of moving parts, the greater the advantage to the operator from a performance, longevity, and maintenance point of view.
Greasing:
The drive train (the gear reducer, couplings, and motor), the screw itself, and the bearings that support the screw are essential parts of a screw feeder and need the most maintenance. As it would be mentioned in the maintenance manual grease the drive train’s parts on grease ports as advised on the greasing frequency. Normally it is applied in every 6 months. Greasing regularly will ensure the motor and reducer will operate properly, resulting in maintained and repetitive speeds.
The discharge rate:
If the feeder’s discharge rate is a problem, first check for loose wiring and electrical connections. If the connections are sound, you may need to clean or replace the screw speed feedback sensor. You can easily evaluate the sensor’s performance if the motor speed is stable. If the screw speed feedback sensor isn’t the problem, check for material buildup in the screw or discharge tube, or a blockage in the hopper that may prevent consistent material flow to the screw.
Voltage:
Fluctuations in voltage may cause changes in the power generated by the magnetic coil, which, in turn, will affect the feed rate. There are two ways to control this variable. The first option is to hold the voltage constant before inputting it to the feeder’s controller. The second option is to incorporate a voltage regulator to eliminate or minimize voltage irregularities.
Tuning relation in feeder drive and trough:
The tuning relationship between the feeder drive and the trough is critical. When a feeder trough is modified, not only is the tuning relationship altered, but the balance between the drive unit and the trough is also altered. Always consult us before making any modifications to the feeder trough.
Above-mentioned guidelines from AAG Engineering are just a few measures you can take at your end. Other than this if you encounter any issue it is better to consult our team of expert engineers immediately to avoid any major issue later.
Routine attention to above-mentioned areas is a key.
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