Wheel Blaster Elevator: the Media Lift.
- Silvio Ruiu
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
It is a critical component of blasting equipment, if it fails the entire machine will stop and no way to back on track until is fixed. A quick overview of how the machine woks is here [link alla pagina generale how is made].
Beside where blastwheel propels the media, law of gravity rules on abrasive flowing inside the blaster (or peener), so there is point where it reaches its bottom and needs to be lifted back to the top for a new run - this duty is what the elevator is about. If elevator doesn't accomplish its task media stays on the bottom and process stops; a decent blaster has installed sensor(s) to stop and advice if it happens, reporting to HMI.
External Appearance.
It looks like a small column, always placed somewhere attached to the cabin, on the bottom there is a "filtering" station to make sure only media without debris or any part will reach the inside of the column; on the top of it is easy to see an electric motor to provide the lifting movement.
Internal Functionalities.
Inside the column there are two shafts, each with its own pulley, installed on ballbearings to rotate easily top shaft is usually master and bottom is the slave; the belt with installed buckets is providing the lifting, getting the motion from the top shaft. Tension of the belt is critical, all elevators have a way to adjust it if decently built.
Common elevator issues and how to fix them.
👉RISK OF INJURIES.👈
Following operations must be performed by skilled maintenance people.
1) Elevator buckets wear and bumping.
The belt has lost its tension due to the wear and/or due to the aging, on the side of the column there is an access panel to check how it's operating and the tension; first sign of lack of tensioning are the buckets bumping onto the column. Blaster needs an immediate stop, find out how to increase the belt tension then start again. Once there appearance of the belt should be checked too, specially the area of the junction; in case of wear plan a rplacement ASAP. ALWAYD REFER TO THE BLASTER MANUAL.
2) Media accumulating on the bottom of the Elevator column.
It may happen due to a lack of tensioning, because there is no enough grip between the pulleys and the belt itself and it may flip under load; as per point #1 here above tension the belt.
3) Elevator Ball bearings.
It is another part subjected to wear and aging, the inside of the column is an high dust environment, which is worse than water for the bearings, please refer to your blaster manual to replace AND SEAL them appropriately otherwise they wont last.
4 Elevator Filtering station.
If you experience a problem of media evacuating the blasting cabin, check if the filter station is free and properly working, debris and parts may occlude the way; it is mandatory that only the media access the elevator to avoid further issues on the belt first and on the wheel blaster later.
DISCLAIMER: always refer to the blaster (or peener) manual, informations here above are intended to be used by skilled maintenace people only.
Hopefully you are all set, if you need extra support you can email at: silvioruiu@gmail.com.
Learn more about maintenance approach here.
General blaster components summary:
Wheel blaster, how is made. general overview
Closed blaster cabinets. layouts of most common equipment running on cycle time.
Open blaster cabinets. layouts of most common equipment running on cycle time.
Wheel Blaster Elevator. how it works and how to fix common issues - this post.
Media Washer. How it works and how to set it up.
Blaster Filter house. How it works and common issues.
Blaster Control panel. How to keep it efficient and long lasting.
Blaster accessories and ancillaries. How simple items can improve quality.
Media, the fuel of the blaster. General overview and features of media types.
