Preventive Measures

Preventive maintenance plays a vital role in the proper functioning of baling equipment. While the primary areas of concern are consistent for balers working in various applications, the dusty environment of many document destruction operations necessitates additional vigilance in the area of housekeeping. Otherwise companies may find they’re frequently dealing with issues involving their balers’ hydraulic cylinders and oil.

KEEP IT CLEAN

If not addressed daily, dust can quickly build up on baling equipment, making it more difficult to perform visual inspections to ensure proper functioning of parts and to detect oil leaks. Additionally, accumulated dust can actually insulate the hydraulic oil tank or clog the oil cooler, potentially leading to contamination of the oil and a loss of viscosity, says Roger Williams of American Baler Corp., Bellevue, Ohio.

Williams puts this simple housekeeping issue at the top of the list of factors that are most often to blame for catastrophic baler failures.

Jim Kuhns, operations manager at BE Equipment, Quakertown, Pa., also says a lack of housekeeping can lead to baler problems in document destruction operations. “If shredded material migrates behind the ram, it can back up to proximity and limit switches, leading to problems,” he says.

Greg Leon, director of sales and marketing for PTR Baler & Compactor Co., Philadelphia, says the hydraulic cylinder is the most expensive component of a baler and the No. 1 factor that contributes to cylinder failure is contamination of the hydraulic oil.

Ken Korney of IPS Balers, which is based in Baxley, Ga., also points out the dangers of letting dust accumulate on baling equipment, noting that it can build up on the baler’s limit switches, causing clogging that will lead to the machine missing a function.

Korney recommends taking 10 to 15 minutes at the end of each shift to remove paper jams and to blow down the baler using an air hose. “You need to make sure the oil cooler is blown down every day,” he adds.

Dust accumulation also can negatively affect the functioning of a baler’s auto tier. According to American Baler’s “Preventive Maintenance Schedule for American Balers,” available on the company’s website at www.americanbaler.com, “Cleanliness is a must of the tier unit to enable the tier to work at its full capability. [The] tier should be blown out with compressed air at least once each shift or more if needed to prolong the life of the components.” Kuhns also warns against neglecting wire tiers, saying they can be temperamental. He suggests cleaning out the channels that lead to the platen and removing debris that can build up in the twister assembly of the tier.

Kuhns adds that the wire tier may often suffer from neglect, particularly when it comes to properly hanging the spool of wire. He says operators should consult their owners’ manuals to ensure they are feeding the wire properly. If the wire is meant to come out of the top of the spool and it’s hung so that it is coming out of the bottom, the wire will bind and mis-ties will result.

Balers often use infrared sensors, or photo eyes, to measure the amount of material in the charge box, ensuring the proper amount can be compressed to produce a finished bale. Dust can impair the functioning of these sensors if allowed to accumulate, warns Leon.

American Baler suggests applying Static Guard or another commercial anti-static spray to keep dust from settling on these sensors as well as checking the sensors every four hours of operation for dust accumulation.

The owners’ manual is a good place to start when determining the proper preventive maintenance for balers.

THE BASICS

Manufacturers recommend daily visual inspections of baling equipment. In addition, Leon recommends a daily safety inspection, which includes verifying that all signage, including all cautions and warning messaging, is intact. The safety check also involves ensuring that all control functions—the on/off key switch, manual/auto selector switch and the emergency stop button, to name a few—are operating properly and that the baler overall is operating as it should. The company provides a “Baler Safety Checklist” as well as a preventive maintenance report on its website at www.ptrco.com/info_literature.html.

Daily maintenance tasks generally involve ensuring the machine is properly lubricated, checking the oil level and oil filter and looking for leaks. American Baler also suggests cleaning the floor behind the plunger daily, as a buildup of material here could lead to damage to the baler’s structure or main cylinder. These tasks should take no more than five hours total per week, Williams says, while Korney recommends setting aside 15 minutes at the end of each shift.

Monthly, Leon suggests checking electrical connections and hydraulic hoses for wear or damage.

In addition, Williams suggests, “Look more closely at hydraulic cylinders and makes sure the fittings are tight and that o-rings don’t need replaced.”

In the case of balers that feature twin motors, he suggests running each motor independently once a month to reveal pressure inaccuracies.

“Take pressure readings to make sure that the system is still performing to specification,” Williams suggests.

Leon cautions that the baler’s hydraulic pressure settings should never be set higher than the manufacturer recommends, as this could lead to numerous problems or even structural failure. “Turning up the bale weights causes stress on the platens,” he says. Eventually, the shear bars could break, or the ram could float, and if this happens, Leon says, a company is in for a bad day.

Williams adds that if an operation turns up the pressure on the main cylinder because the machine is unable to push the bale out, the performance of the hydraulic pump will degrade more quickly than normal. Kuhns says this practice could eventually lead to bending of the baler’s side walls and cracked welds. However, he adds, “Structural failure, more times than not, is because someone didn’t take the downtime for maintenance.”

On a quarterly basis, Williams recommends replacing filters and thoroughly examining the wire tier, replacing any chains, cutter blades or bushings that may be worn.

Every six months, Korney recommends sending the baler’s oil out for analysis using manufacturer provided oil analysis kits.

Williams adds, “anyone who purchases a baler should take an oil analysis in the first month of operation to have a baseline.”

For document destruction operations that may not have the maintenance staff to handle preventive maintenance tasks, baler manufacturers generally offer preventive maintenance programs.

A LITTLE HELP

Preventive maintenance programs generally comprise a series of scheduled inspections, checks and adjustments that are intended to keep the baling equipment operating optimally.

The IPS preventive maintenance program includes a yearly 40-point inspection of the baler, Korney says. For destruction operations that do not have dedicated maintenance personnel, he says such programs can reduce maintenance costs in the long run and result in less downtime.

Williams also suggests working with a third party or with the baler manufacturer’s service staff if a document destruction company lacks dedicated maintenance personnel, advising quarterly or bi-yearly inspections and service. Kuhns says many document destruction operations opt for service programs in his experience.

BE Equipment’s recommendations for service intervals are based on throughput, he says. However, it is ultimately up to the destruction firm. Three companies may be processing the same volume, Kuhns says, and one will insist on monthly servicing, while the second may opt for quarterly and the third for bi-annual serving. “What they do in house is also a factor.”

“Document destruction firms tend to have us come down more than we recommend,” Kuhns says, adding that these companies hope to avoid unscheduled downtime related to equipment problems. “A lot of them have government contracts, and if they have material building up, they can lose those contracts.”

Operations may be tempted to cut such preventive maintenance programs when times are tough, Leon says. However, he adds that most destruction firms can generally handle the everyday maintenance tasks with ease. For tasks beyond theses basics, however, particularly relines or the resetting of programmable controllers, companies may find it more convenient and a better value to contact the baler distributor, manufacturer or a service company, he says.

For operators who decide to handle baler maintenance in house, most baler manufacturers offer the option of installing a data interface and modem with the machine’s programmable commander controls. This allows the manufacturer to perform remote diagnostics on the baler if something should go wrong. The manufacturer can then walk the destruction firm’s maintenance staff through the issue. If it’s an issue that requires the attention of the manufacturer or distributor, downtime often can be reduced because the service technician already has the advantage of knowing the problem and securing the necessary parts.

Whether destruction firms opt to perform maintenance in house or use the services of the manufacturer, distributor or service company, preventive maintenance is critical in getting the most out of a baling equipment investment.

The author is managing editor of Recycling Today magazine and can be contacted at dtoto@gie.net. This feature first ran in Storage & Destruction Business, Recycling Today’s sister publication.