How much tension should I put on a primary conveyor belt cleaner?

Answer:
⚠️ Only if the specific cleaner and carbide tip are explicitly designed to tolerate that splice. Otherwise, it can be a high-risk combination.

Rigid carbide tips can catch raised mechanical fasteners. The impact may chip the carbide, bend the cleaner, damage the fastener or tear the belt.

Before using carbide, inspect:

• fastener type and profile
• splice condition
• whether fasteners are properly recessed/skived
• belt-cover damage
• cleaner blade relief capability
• tensioner response
• belt speed
• direction of travel

Some segmented cleaner designs use independently moving blades or specially engineered tips that are compatible with certain mechanical fasteners.

Compatibility therefore belongs to the complete cleaner system, not merely the material “tungsten carbide.”

If the splice is raised, damaged or inconsistent, a resilient PU primary cleaner is generally more forgiving.

Never solve carryback by increasing carbide pressure against a questionable splice. Repairing the belt/splice and selecting the correct cleaner geometry is usually safer and more economical.

Answer:
⏱️ There is no reliable universal “months of life” figure for a mining belt cleaner. Service life can vary significantly depending on tonnage, abrasion, belt speed, pressure, blade volume, operating hours and material chemistry.

A better KPI is:

Blade life = operating hours / conveyed tonnes / usable wear consumed.

For example, compare two blade sets by recording:

• installation date
• operating hours/day
• tonnes/hour
• total tonnes conveyed
• initial usable blade height
• remaining wear height
• cleaning efficiency
• number of re-tensioning events

If a new blade gives 30% more calendar life but the conveyor tonnage doubled, the blade may actually be performing significantly better than the calendar suggests.

For OEM selection, ask the supplier for the usable wear length, compound, hardness, temperature rating and recommended belt speed—not just “expected months.”

This approach is especially important for iron ore, granite and other abrasive materials because production tonnage can vary dramatically between sites.

Answer:
📐 For a conventional elastomer primary cleaner, a commonly used engineering reference is a positive-rake attack angle of approximately 30–45° relative to the tangent of the belt at the blade contact point. However, this should never replace the installation dimensions specified for your exact cleaner.

Different cleaners use different blade profiles, pivot locations and tensioning systems. Some curved blades are designed to maintain a consistent cleaning angle automatically as they wear. Other models use manufacturer-defined pole-center dimensions rather than asking installers to measure an attack angle directly.

The cleaner is normally mounted against the head-pulley face below the material discharge trajectory, allowing scraped carryback to fall into the discharge stream.

During installation:

1. Lock out and isolate the conveyor.
2. Confirm head-pulley diameter and belt thickness.
3. Mark the manufacturer’s mainframe/pole centerline.
4. Set both mounting brackets symmetrically.
5. Confirm blade contact across the material path.
6. Apply the specified tension.
7. Rotate/jog only under the site’s approved commissioning procedure.
8. Inspect the contact pattern after initial operation.

Do not increase angle or pressure simply because some material remains. A primary cleaner removes the bulk carryback; fine residual film is normally handled by a secondary cleaner.

Answer:
⚙️ A primary or pre-cleaner is normally installed on the face of the head pulley, just below the material trajectory after discharge.

This position matters because the belt is supported by the pulley while the scraper contacts it. The scraped material can also fall back into the main discharge stream instead of accumulating along the return conveyor.

Do not choose the mounting point only because there is convenient steelwork nearby. The correct location depends on:

• head-pulley diameter
• belt thickness
• cleaner blade geometry
• discharge trajectory
• chute clearance
• pole/mainframe position
• tensioner travel
• access for future blade replacement

A common installation mistake is mounting the cleaner too far from its designed pivot location. The blade may look correct when new, but the contact angle changes badly as it wears. Cleaning efficiency then drops and maintenance personnel compensate by adding excessive tension.

Before fabrication, obtain the cleaner’s dimensional installation drawing and verify it against the actual head pulley.

A photo, belt width and pulley diameter are helpful, but site dimensions around the chute and mainframe remain essential.