Three common conveyor idler failures and their causes

The conveyor idler is one of the key components of the conveyor system. It provides support and protection for the entire conveyor belt and the conveyed materials. There are a large number of them and they are distributed throughout the entire conveyor line. Therefore, once the conveyor idler fails, it will affect the entire conveyor belt. The system causes serious losses, so it is very important to detect and diagnose the running status of the idlers

The main failure mode of the conveyor idler

The theoretical life of the conveyor idler usually refers to the standard life of the bearing. The calculated life of the idler is based on the theoretical life. Considering the actual use conditions, the failure of the conveyor idler will also be affected by many factors, such as shell thickness, sealing system, conveyor belt speed, material size, maintenance, environment, temperature and humidity, etc. Different failure modes may also influence each other, where one failure mode can promote the rapid progress of another failure mode, for example, a minor bearing failure may cause the center line to be asymmetrical, thereby promoting the wear of the shell.

The following are the four main failure phenomena and causes of conveyor idlers that often occur in daily operation:

1. Tube wear

The wear of the tube skin of the conveyor idler appears as the wear and tear of the middle part of the conveyor idler and the contact with the conveyor belt. The main reasons include:

a. The rotation resistance of the conveyor idler increases, so the frictional resistance between the conveyor idler and the conveyor belt increases, causing friction, and long-term friction causes the middle part of the conveyor idler to wear until the tube skin breaks.

b. The error during installation makes the rotation direction of the conveyor idler and the running direction of the conveyor belt deviate, resulting in deflection friction resistance, which leads to the wear of the tube skin.

c. In addition, factors such as harsh environmental conditions in actual operating conditions, materials and conveyor belts that have not been cleaned will cause wear on the tube skin.

2. Bearing failure

The internal bearing of the conveyor idler is not flexible to rotate, and there is some wear, or the bearing is seriously rusted, which leads to the jamming of the conveyor idler. The main reasons include:

a. When manufacturing conveyor idlers, the selection of bearing type is unreasonable, which causes the bearings to be damaged during the use of conveyor idlers.

b. The sealing effect of the conveyor idler bearing is poor, and the external environment pollutes the lubricating grease, so that the bearing cannot be effectively lubricated and damaged.

c. Unreasonable conveyor idler assembly and poor conveyor belt machine design lead to resonance of the conveyor idler during operation, thus causing damage to the bearing.

3. The bending deformation of the conveyor idler

After the conveyor idler is bent and deformed, the deflection angle changes, which causes friction between the shaft and the bearing seat, resulting in damage to the conveyor idler. The main reasons are:

a. The unreasonable design of the whole machine of the conveyor makes the conveyor idlers stressed unevenly, resulting in deformation and damage due to overload.

b. The selection of conveyor idlers is unreasonable, such as diameter, thickness, etc., so that the strength and rigidity of idlers cannot meet the conveying capacity of the conveyor.

In addition to the above failure forms, it also includes the de-welding of the conveyor idler and the bearing housing, the cracking of the conveyor idler, and the detachment of the bearing. The main reason is that the manufacturing quality of the idler is poor, the bearing house is out of round, the installation of the conveyor idler and the bearing house is unreasonable, and so on.