From seized roller to slipped belts, there are different problems that can happen to a conveyor system once in a while or often if not maintained well. Any of the issues that your accumulation conveyor experiences should be dealt with so that disruptions to your operation will be minimised. And one of the most common conveyor problems is misalignment or also called as mistracking. It can cause many other issues with your conveyor so it has to be addressed by a professional promptly.
Misalignment happens when the conveyor belt starts to track to one side more than the other, making it become loose and slack. It usually has begun to move too far right or too far left of the track. Mistracking is often caused by many reasons. One being is that the idlers or the support system of your accumulation conveyor are having problems due to improper installation or damaged. They can affect the rollers of the conveyor and cause the belt to mistrack. If the idlers are indeed the culprit of misalignment, they have to be fixed first before the entire belt can be placed back to its proper alignment.
Another cause for mistracking is the products that are not properly loaded onto the top of the moving conveyor. If they’re not loaded onto the center, their weight, especially if they are heavy, will put pressure on the rollers which can lead to the belt veering off its track. The solution to this problem is redesigning the loading in a way that the load of the products being moved is evenly distributed. Whatever may be the reason for misalignment, it must be resolved immediately as any small hiccup in one production line can cause big delays in your entire operation. So, never wait too long and dealt with the issue that has been identified right away.