FlexLink Spiral Elevator - Manual (Page 50)

Technical maintenance
Page 44 of 68 5478EN-3
6.1.2 Checking chain tension and chain stretch
The conveyor chain of the Spiral Elevator must have the correct tension.
If the tension is not correct, the following may occur:
• Chain runs off the sprocket (jumps a cog).
• Conveyor plates grab into the return track causing them to break
or become loose from the chain.
• Excessive wear of the end sprocket caused by too high tension.
In order to prevent these problems, it is necessary to regularly check the
chain tension. This can be done by following the procedure below.
Procedure to check chain tension
• Make sure that the main switch has been switched off, and safely
isolated.
• Measure/mark a 500mm section of the conveyor chain near to the
lower end. Then compress and stretch this 500mm section of the
conveyor chain and measure the variation in the length.
• If this variation is more than 38.5 mm (1.52") this indicates that at
least one conveyor link can be removed from the chain. On the
side of the conveyor there may be a graduated scale with up to
38mm indicated in green and above 38mm indicated in red and
this scale can be used to gauge the variation in length.
.
Note! If you are not sure whether the conveyor chain is to be
shortened or not, please contact the supplier of the Spiral
Elevator.
Figure 10 Distance check