Efficient operations require the right preventative maintenance. Otherwise, all of your production gets lost with breakdowns and sluggish machinery performance. Following these simple practices can mean the difference between production success and failure.
Cleanliness and Part Lubrication
When cleaning nail tracks and pans, use brake cleaner. Do not use oil-based products. Oil attracts dirt and sawdust, which just causes more problems.
Components and bearings require greasing periodically, but usually they are greased too often and with too much grease. Check with your bearing suppliers on proper greasing schedule. Some new bearings can go a couple of months before they need to be greased. Take note of how fast the bearing is spinning and how often. Bearings rotating at a high rate of speed all day long need to be greased more often than bearings that move slowly or only occasionally.
When applying grease, two pumps of the grease gun are enough. Grease should not be visible around the bearing. If grease is visible, you have blown the seal, and debris can get inside and ruin the bearing.
Part Inspection and Tightening
As the machine is running, keep an eye on bolts and components. When something is coming loose, stop and tighten it. If a bolt breaks, it takes a minimum of a half-hour of down time to try to remove the broken part. Compare that to two minutes to stop the machine and tighten the bolt.
Bearings should be inspected regularly. Make sure the area around a bearing is clean. Bearings buried in sawdust will fail faster and can get hot, creating a fire hazard.
Proper chain tension on drive chains is important. If your conveyor position is controlled by encoders and sensors, the actual position can be off. When the conveyor rotates and then stops at the right location, it can drift back if the drive chain is loose, causing the count to move and misaligning components.
Check the teeth on drive sprockets monthly. They can wear down quickly if things come loose or chains are loose. This also gives you a chance to check set screws and key ways. A loose sprocket can chew up a shaft, which is never a fun job to replace.
Chains stretch over time. Most machines have tensioners to tighten the chain. If the chain is still loose after tensioners are maxed out, you can always take out a link to tension it up. However, if you take out a link, you may alter the timing of the machine. If the chain is stretched far enough to remove a link, it is time to replace it.
Look at your chain and the links. Are there flat spots on the dog bone part of the link? Are there flat spots on the rollers of the chain? If the answer is yes, the chain needs to be replaced.
When replacing the chain, check with the original equipment manufacturer to make sure you use the right length and that you put reset blocks and flight bars back in the right places. They should be able to supply you with a setup sheet.
General Tips
Cleaning out under machines can be difficult. If possible, put storage totes under machines in areas where sawdust tends to build up. At the end of the shift, pull them out, empty them, and replace them for the next day.
When welding on machines, make sure you have a good ground and power is turned off to the machine. When welding on machines, there is always the chance of ‘frying’ electrical equipment. If the part can be removed from the machine first, it may be worth the time and effort to prevent damage to electrical equipment. Follow your company’s welding safety practices.
Have a designated spot for parts that have been replaced. In a perfect world you would have tags and a pen in the area and jot down a description of what is wrong and who replaced it. This spot needs to be checked every day, and parts need to be reordered the same day to ensure it will be there when you need it again.
Your automated nailing machine will tell you when things need to be replaced — just like it will tell you what is wrong when you look at the pallet it is building. You just need to look at it and listen to it.
You rely on your vehicle every day to get you to and from important places with important cargo inside, and you take care of it. Your pallet nailing machine is the heart and soul of your company. Show it some love, and it will love you back.
Editor’s Note: Dustin Johnson operates his own business, Johnson’s Automated Machinery Repair. He also performs machinery maintenance for Viking Pallet in Maple Grove, Minnesota, and he provides sales and service for Corali-U.S.A. He was an employee of Viking Engineering from 1994-2006, building and later servicing Viking automated nailing systems. For questions or to contact Dustin, send him an email at jamrsvc@gmail.com.
