What to Do if the Conveyor Belt of a Belt Conveyor Slippages? 7 Reasons and Solutions to Help You Resume Normal Production Quickly!

Slipping is one of the common faults of belt conveyors. Once slipping occurs, it can cause material scattering, blockage of feed pipes, wear and tear of the conveyor belt, belt breakage, etc., leading to the inability of the belt conveyor to operate normally. This article analyzes the 7 main reasons for slipping and their solutions.

1.Insufficient tension of the conveyor belt
When the conveyor belt lacks sufficient tension, there will not be enough friction driving force between the drive pulley and the conveyor belt to traction the belt and the load. Insufficient stroke or improper adjustment of the screw or hydraulic tensioning device, insufficient weight of the heavy hammer tensioning and car type tensioning device, and mechanism sticking can all cause insufficient tension of the belt conveyor, leading to slipping.

Solution:
(1) For belt conveyors with screw or hydraulic tensioning structures, adjusting the tensioning stroke can increase the tension.
(2) For belt conveyors with heavy hammer tensioning and car type tensioning structures, increasing the weight of the counterweight or eliminating mechanism sticking can solve the issue. When adding tensioning devices, only add enough to prevent slipping of the conveyor belt, avoid adding too much pressure, which may reduce the service life of the conveyor belt.

2.Severe wear of the drive drum coating
After long-term operation of the belt conveyor, the drive drum surface and its grooves may experience severe wear, causing the surface friction coefficient of the drive drum to decrease, reducing the frictional force and leading to slipping.

Solution:
Recovering the coating or replacing the drum should be done to solve this issue. Regularly check the drive drum coating.

3.Adhering substances on the non-working surface of the conveyor belt
Due to natural environmental changes, site floor washing, equipment maintenance, etc., lubricating substances may accumulate on the non-working surface of the conveyor belt, causing a significant decrease in the frictional force between the drive drum surface and the belt, resulting in slipping.

Solution:
Identify the source of the adhering substance and cut it off. If the source cannot be cut off, sprinkle some rosin powder (blown in with a blower) on the drum.

4.Overloading of the belt conveyor
Improper operation or overloaded stops can cause the belt conveyor to bear too much load during operation, leading to slipping.

Solution:
(1) Observe the current of the belt conveyor and the electronic belt scale, control the material quantity, and avoid overloaded operation.
(2) Avoid overloading during shutdown to prevent excessive loads.

5.Head discharge pipe blockage
When the discharge pipe is blocked, a large amount of material will accumulate on the head and non-working surface, crushing the conveyor belt and causing slipping.

Solution:
Observe the change of material on the conveyor belt, increase the inspection frequency of the head discharge pipe when the material becomes viscous, and clean the sticky material in the discharge pipe in time to prevent blockage.

6.Local scraping of the conveyor belt
When a strong obstacle hinders a part of the conveyor belt, slipping may occur. For example, foreign objects are stuck in the head and tail discharge pipe of the belt conveyor, or the tail redirection drum does not rotate.

Solution:
Strengthen the observation of the belt conveyor current, and stop immediately for inspection when abnormal current changes occur.

7.The included angle or friction coefficient between the drive pulley and the conveyor belt is too small
Generally, the included angle between the drive pulley and the conveyor belt should not be less than 120°, as too small an angle can cause slipping. A too small friction coefficient between the drive pulley and the conveyor belt can also lead to slipping.

Solution:
If the included angle between the drive pulley and the conveyor belt is too low and adjusting the position of the tensioning pulley does not effectively increase it, a design modification is needed. If the friction coefficient is too small, carefully observe if the surface of the drive pulley is too smooth. In that case, use a grooved structure or embed a layer of rubber before retesting.

Slipping is a common fault of belt conveyors, and it is important to follow proper operation procedures, conduct thorough inspections and maintenance, and prevent slipping to ensure the safe and stable operation of the conveyor belt system.