Conveyor Belts used in Crusher Plants work in a Rugged Environment and Jagged rocks, scrap metal, and other items are likely to catch on the conveyor system. These items can suddenly rip or punch even a heavy duty belt. By the time you realize it and manage to shut the conveyor belt down, or by the time that the motor trips, a large rip can have occurred. It’s almost impossible for people in crusher industry -who put heavy strain on conveyor belts- to prevent this type of sudden damage. However, what you can do is prevent the enormous amount of downtime and money loss that’s associated with putting a conveyor belt back into service after a rip. Most people react to conveyor belt rips by cutting out the damaged section and either connecting the cut ends of the conveyor belt or joining the belt with a new piece. Both of these processes are extremely time consuming, and cost a great deal of money as well. If the conveyor system belts are repaired by vulcanizing – the most expensive method of splicing belts – the losses caused by downtime are added to by several thousand dollars of materials and labor cost per splice. Of course, we could just replace the whole conveyor belt, but that will reduce the availability of the conveyor system, plus it costs even more money.

Fortunately, there is an alternative to either of these methods. Using mechanical rip repair fasteners to repair worn spots and lengthwise rips in belts can be done in less than twenty minutes and uses only simple tools to cut down on downtime. These fasteners are also quite inexpensive and result in no conveyor belt waste, allowing your conveyor system to be functional again quickly and inexpensively. These types of fasteners come in steel, stainless steel, and in nonmagnetic alloys that will not interfere with metal detectors, magnetic separators or pulleys. Rip repair fasteners are a temporary measure, but they keep damaged conveyor systems up and running. They come in styles that bolt on or hammer on, can bridge rips running the length of the conveyor belt, and will keep even fine materials from falling through the torn belt. They can also be used to shore up soft spots before they can turn into rips, and are installed completely from the top side of the conveyor belt. There is no need to remove the belt, and these types of fasteners will keep your conveyor system running until a new belt can be installed. Preferably, this will be done during planned downtime of your conveyor system. While damaged conveyor belts are a standard cause of conveyor system downtime, recovering from damage doesn’t have to be an excessively costly operation. Maintenance costs can be reduced significantly by simply using mechanical rip repair fasteners to fix torn or weak conveyor belts. Of course, in every case, you should carefully review all splices, weak spots and rips in your conveyor system’s belts at times when maintenance is scheduled. This will reduce the chance of an unexpected tear that causes real problems. When a tear can’t be avoided however, repair your conveyor belt the smart way and get your system back to work.