Keep Your Asphalt Paver's Conveyer Belt In Good Condition With These Tips
If you work in asphalt paving for a living, you likely own more than one asphalt pavers and other equipment designed to get your asphalt materials to the right temperature and out onto the driveway or parking lot with an even, professional look and feel. You likely already perform at least some maintenance on your pavers on a regular basis, but any asphalt paving expert knows that one area in particular you should pay attention to is the paver's conveyer belt. Here are some tips to help keep this essential part of your asphalt pavers running smoothly for as long as possible.
Get Every Last Bit Out
When asphalt is hot, it will run along the conveyer belt and out on the pavement quite smoothly. But as soon as you turn the machine off, the asphalt will begin to cool and chunks will begin to form. You obviously can't start cleaning the asphalt until it's cooled enough to touch safely, but it's also important not to grow impatient and decide to wait till the morning to get the chunks out. If there should come a day when you accidentally forget to fully clean the conveyer belt and send more hot asphalt down on top of the chunks, you are going to get a reaction you won't like.
Cold chunks of asphalt could cause your conveyer belt to slip or otherwise get off track once the new asphalt tries to make its way through. This will require you to shut the entire system down, remove the belt completely, clean it all off, and start over. You can avoid this situation by taking the time necessary to completely clean out every last chunk of cold asphalt in the evening before you put it into storage for the next day. That way, there will be no accidents the next morning.
Keep the Belt Level and Straight
Besides the asphalt, you should also be paying attention to wear and tear on the conveyer belt itself and make sure that it is always running as level and straight as possible. A crooked belt could lead to crooked lines when you go to put the asphalt down, but this is also a great way to cause additional wear and tear on the conveyer belt itself. You don't want any part of the belt grinding or bumping up against any other moving parts. Take the time each morning to run the belt without any asphalt in the machine in order to make sure things are running as they should be.
For more information, reach out to an asphalt machine parts supplier.