To Our AMT Neck Ring Air Conveyor:
During recent service visits, AMT has observed some situations where bottle mobility is reduced due to dirt build-up on the Louver Ramps.
How to Find Out If Your Louver Ramps Need Maintenance
Symptoms of Ramp Build-up Are:
- High Single Bottle Speeds
- Vibrating Bottles when trying to accelerate
- Slow speeds and pulsing around turns
- Gapping and Tilting in Accumulated Flow
- Increased jamming from the lack of control
- hyper-sensitivity to temperature and humidity changes
AMT Conveyors are designed for easy inspection of the Louvers. They are clearly visible and easily accessible from directly below the conveyor. If they are black, then they need to be cleaned.
How to Clean Louver Ramps
The recommended cleaning method is a dry-ice blasting machine. Louvers are easily cleaned from below by walking at a slow pace with the dry-ice blasting machine. Using a flashlight, it's simple to inspect the louvers to verify they are bright, shiny, and clean. AMT is happy to provide references for dry-ice blasting machine rentals and services upon request.
Regular wiping down of the Conveyor will keep it looking clean, however, it is nearly impossible to clean the ramp of the Louver due to its indention into the Plenum. Once wiped down, the Louvers can look a little like they are just in the shadow of the indentation. It can be difficult to see the discoloration, especially when there is a ceiling light right above the Conveyor.
Why Louver Ramps Maintenance Is Important
The open-space in the Stainless-Steel Sheet Metal Deck, resulting from piercing during the punching process, forms a rectangular air-jet. The “Ramp” guides the jet in the proper direction for maximum impact force. If the ramp has significant build-up then the air flowing against the ramp has too much friction and slows, causing the jet to swirl and lose its impact. Even if the opening is completely clear, the force of the jet is greatly reduced.
The build-up varies from area to area. The areas with more remaining power need to push the bottles through areas with less. Neck Ring Air Conveyors cannot effectively work this way. The best performing air conveyors rely on uniform drive from all louvers to pull away at all points, no push.
Have questions about your Neck Ring Air Conveyor maintenance? Contact us!