AVW/MCE Belt Conveyor System - Glide Plates

[DPX22]

Currently using an AVW Dual 30'' Belt Conveyor System for our wash, the original stainless steel glide plates under the belts have worn down in the middle causing severe damage to my belt (middle flights have all been shaved down and snapped off). I now have ordered a new belt for our conveyor due to the negligence on my part for maintenance which has cost quite a bit.

AVW has sent me replacement plates which are now 3/16'' thick and in two pieces 15'' side by side. My question is, anyone else have any tips on how and how often to do maintenance on these belts?

 

[Axxlrod]

Curious how many cars you got out of the original belt?

 

[DPX22]

We probably had about 200,000 cars more or less...

 

[br549ms]

What is expected life with "proper maintenance"?

 

[chadrpalmer]

STI has a system that constantly flushes the belt. It will extend the life of your belt and wear plates tremendously.

 

[DPX22]

What is expected life with "proper maintenance"?

Give or take 400-500k cars I would say from what the manufacturers are advertising

 

[DPX22]

STI has a system that constantly flushes the belt. It will extend the life of your belt and wear plates tremendously.

Thanks for the info, looks like it may be compatible with any belt system but their office is closed, I'll call them tomorrow!

 

[rstephenson]

Without a dirt extraction system I would recommend to inspect & measure wear on belt, sprockets and glide plates every 25k cars. With a good dirt extraction system, you can push that to about every 100k cars.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Give or take 400-500k cars I would say from what the manufacturers are advertising

I would ask operators their experience after taking what mfgrs advertise with a huge grain of salt.

 

[br549ms]

Agree, I like the belt concept but doubt you would get 400k vehicles. Also unless you are doing around 100k cars per year is not worth the huge investment.

 

[rstephenson]

Agree, I like the belt concept but doubt you would get 400k vehicles. Also unless you are doing around 100k cars per year is not worth the huge investment.

STI’s warranty covers the belt, sprockets and glide plates up to 500k cars so you can be sure they are expecting the actual life to be higher.

A belt site will drive more volume at a higher average ticket price as compared to a chain. It can also process more cars per hour during peak periods. Most tunnels will pay back the higher capital investment for the belt after the first year.

 

[Earl Weiss]

A belt site will drive more volume at a higher average ticket price as compared to a chain. It can also process more cars per hour during peak periods. Most tunnels will pay back the higher capital investment for the belt after the first year.

Great in theory, like bumble bees being unable to fly and the Titanic being unsinkable. Few belts around but I know of 3 local places, 2 rebuilds and one ground up with belts. Where it is highly doubtful they enjoyed enough additional volume or higher average ticket to pay for a belt over several years. The higher CPH abilities only come into play for those days / hours when demand exceeds the 180 CPH (I know some do more) of typical conveyor are surpassed and you would need to judge how often that might be.

 

[br549ms]

I agree Earl. If I were loosing customers due to waiting or long lines, it would most certainly be a wise investment. Taking in to account how many are you loosing, and extra maintenance cost. We can do “real numbers” a max of 550 to 650 cars per day with the chain.
I can’t see higher ticket prices?
Doesn’t clean wheels without special equipment.
Do you have to place tire shine application after conveyor?
I do think the added safety is great.
If a wash is turning the high volumes I have heard about, the belt is definitely the way to go.

 

[chadrpalmer]

I helped in stall a couple STI belts. I would honestly be surprised if they did not get a million cars, if they are well maintained. And they have the belt flush system.

 

[br549ms]

Can you plan ahead when building and go with a trench that will work for a belt. But install a chain at first. Similar to pre planing for a reclaim system in the event you decide to use.

 

[chadrpalmer]

Can you plan ahead when building and go with a trench that will work for a belt. But install a chain at first. Similar to pre planing for a reclaim system in the event you decide to use.

hmmm, thats a great question....anything is possible, but that may get expensive.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Can you plan ahead when building and go with a trench that will work for a belt. But install a chain at first. Similar to pre planing for a reclaim system in the event you decide to use.

Just make the trench the size needed for the belt system and construct a steel support system for the passenger side wheels to ride on. Then compare those costs to doing the belt.

 

[JetWashExpress]

We probably had about 200,000 cars more or less...

Here's some suggestions we learned after our first belt. We are approaching 350k cars on our current belt and I'm confident we'll get 100k more.

• install a belt flush system. A few companies sell them. They are pricey. We designed and installed our own for less than 1/2 the price. It is programmed to flush whenever the belt is moving. Tommys sells a great manifold. We installed 2 on both the PS and DS near the entrance.
• Keep an eye on your sprockets. Replace them before they start wearing the pockets in the belt and the belt begins to slip. We usually get about 90-100k cars per set.
• Check for belt stretch weekly. A loose belt will cause a variety of issues. Shortening it does not take a long time to do. Keep both PS and DS at similar tensions.
• Flip the belt direction roughly every 200k cars.
• Keep a spare set of sprockets on hand at all times. If the belt begins slipping due to worn sprockets, it can be a nightmare waiting for new ones to be shipped.
• Check guide plates every couple of months. Replace any that are becoming worn. Flip all glide plates from DS to PS and rotate 180 degrees every 100k cars.
• On all of our glide plates, we welded a larger lip on both sides (2"). This has alleviated plates moving, slipping, etc.

I hope this helps.
Cheers!

 

[daverdnob]

I would also recommend you to add to your conveyor system a thing called toggle clamp. It’s a tool used to securely locate components or parts in position. It is quick and easy to use, whilst enabling the amount of force needed. The most important factor is to understand what type of action you need. This depends upon whether it’s a process where you’re trying to hold or secure a component, or need to pull two components together. I also ordered several of them for my sweets products. If you are interested, I bought it here sandfieldengineering.com.

 

[DPX22]

Just looked up the toggle clamps you mentioned daverdnob and was wondering how the clamp is used and where your attaching it to? I'm assuming your using it to bring the belts together/holding it in place to remove connecting rods?

Usually we park a car at the opposite end of the drive and manually rotate the fins of the motor to increase slack in order to get enough play for rod removal..

On a side note, we ordered some stronger sprockets from Tommy Car Wash that differ from the original black sprockets. Doing sprocket maintenance was a pain since they wore out and slipped occasionally. The new ones were white and have lasted well over few years without any sprocket fins "sharkfinning" at all. Just a note that they may be slightly larger and may require removing shims from your bearings or cutting a bit of the stainless steel plate supports.