Essential factors for weighbridge maintenance

Essential Factors for Weighbridge Maintenance

Weighbridges are essential for many industrial processes, but if they breakdown, it can lead to expensive downtime. It’s important to keep weighbridges clean and well maintained to reduce downtime and ensure accurate weighing every day. By performing a few simple checks and engaging in regular maintenance, you can keep weighbridges running effectively, and prevent any costly issues from arising.

Every day - inspect weighbridges A simple visual inspection each day can help identify any potential problems before they turn into serious issues. When weighbridges accumulate mud and debris over time, it can have a negative effect on the performance of the weighbridge. If your site has a pit mounted weighbridge, check the pit for any build-up of dirt or mud.

Make sure clearances are clean and that there is a sufficient gap between the pit wall and the deck. For surface mounted weighbridges, check that there is no debris under the weighbridge or obstructing the load cells. If you find a build-up of dirt or debris, carefully clear away the materials.

Weekly - conduct weighing checks Doing a weighing test every week will ensure that your weighbridge’s mechanics are working correctly. You can check the weighbridge’s accuracy by weighing a vehicle at one end of the bridge, and then weighing the same vehicle at the opposite end, and finally in the middle. Collect the three weight readings and analyse them to see whether there are any differences. Small discrepancies may be fine, but a larger difference may indicate a mechanical problem that requires professional repair work.

Monthly – clean weighbridges On a monthly basis, weighbridges should be thoroughly cleaned using a jet washer.

As this can be a complicated task, it’s advisable to engage a team of professional cleaners to do the job for you. Using specialist equipment, weighbridge cleaners will remove all the dirt that has accumulated on or underneath the weighbridge.

Highly skilled cleaners will also be able to clean the weighbridge in a way that ensures none of the critical weighing points or load cells are damaged by the water jets.

As needed – calibration If your weighbridge isn’t performing accurately, you may be losing profits through over supply and wastage. Calibrating your weighing equipment will mean it continues to operate with a high level of accuracy. Every 12 months or so, hire an engineer to calibrate your weighbridge, conduct a thorough maintenance test, and provide you with a calibration report. Calibrated scales will perform better, last longer, and provide more accurate weight readings, so it’s a worthwhile investment.

Ultrahawke is Australia’s leading provider of weighbridges, supplying high quality, Australian-made weighbridges with both analogue and digital load cells, and digital weight indicators. If you’re looking for a high-quality, reliable weighbridge, the Ultrahawke team can provide an expert recommendation based on years of industry experience. To find out more about weighbridges for the mining industry, call Ultrahawke on 03 9357 7470 or visit www.ultrahawke.com.au.