Common conveyor problems and best-practice maintenance Tru-Trac’s Douglas van der Westhuizen and Guy Fitt outline best-practice maintenance approaches to keep conveyors running at peak performance in demanding conditions. ⎪ Maintenance and asset management ⎪ Q uarries and mines lose thousands of productive hours each year due to common conveyor system issues such as misalignment, ma-
terial carryback, and rip events – all of which directly impact throughput, operational costs, and safety. Drawing on decades of field experience, Tru-Trac’s Douglas van der Westhuizen and Guy Fitt outline some best-practice mainte- nance approaches to keep conveyors at peak performance. One of the most common causes of unsched- uled downtime on conveyor systems is belt misalignment, which often results in spillage, belt edge damage, structural damage, increased power consumption and increased labour costs. According to Guy Fitt, National Sales Manager at Tru-Trac, a specialist provider of conveyor components for the global mining and bulk ma- terial handling industries, misaligned belts will ultimately result in lost production, increased operating costs and safety hazards. Douglas van der Westhuizen, Technical Sales Representative at Tru-Trac, says misaligned belts can also cause environmental issues by increasing material spillage and dust genera- tion, which can contaminate nearby ecosystems and water sources, lead to regulatory non- compliance, and negatively affect the health of workers and nearby communities. Apart from belt misalignment, carryback is another common enemy in conveyor systems. Carryback directly reduces conveyor produc- tivity by creating unscheduled downtime for cleanup, degrading components such as rollers and pulleys, and causing material loss, leading to belt-tracking issues that necessitate further maintenance. Carryback represents loss of product, which, over time, can result in high financial costs, especially in systems handling large volumes,” says Fitt. Commenting on some of the best-practice maintenance approaches to keeping conveyors at peak performance, Fitt says that continuous inspection is one of the principal ways to ensure that conveyor systems function optimally. With this approach, minor issues are identified early on before they escalate into major problems that lead to unexpected breakdowns. This minimises unplanned interruptions, ensuring that material transport is uninterrupted and production schedules are maintained. “Continuous condition monitoring of con-
Left: Guy Fitt, National Sales Manager at Tru-Trac. Right: Douglas van der Westhuizen, Technical Sales Representative at Tru-Trac.
veyor components is one of the best practices in ensuring correct belt tracking. It is essential to be fully aware of the basic characteristics of the different belt tracking components and for these to be employed correctly,” Van der Westhuizen says, adding that all the structural conveyor components, such as pulleys, idlers, take-ups and the supporting structure, should
always be properly aligned at all times. “In fact, these should be the principal areas of concern whenever trying to identify belt track- ing problems. All pulleys, snub rollers, troughing andreturnidlersmustbesquarewiththeframes parallel to each other, and also be level,” Van der Westhuizen concludes. https://tru-trac.com/
With Tru-Trac solutions, conveyors stay centred, reducing downtime and protecting surrounding structures from unnecessary wear and damage.
Tru-Trac trackers correct belt misalignment, preventing costly spillage and edge damage while keeping conveyor systems running smoothly.
March-April 2026 • MechChem Africa ¦ 37
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