Where exactly should a primary belt cleaner be installed on the head pulley?

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:
🛠️ Use the minimum controlled pressure that produces stable cleaning, and set it according to the cleaner manufacturer’s tensioning specification.

More pressure does not automatically mean a cleaner belt. Excessive tension increases friction, blade temperature and wear and can accelerate belt-cover damage. Too little tension is also harmful: material can pass or wedge between the blade and belt, creating streaks and uneven wear.

As a general engineering reference, low-pressure elastomer pre-cleaners may operate around 14 kPa (about 2 lbf/in²) blade-to-belt pressure, but many commercial tensioners are adjusted by spring length, torque, indicator marks or a specified dimension rather than by directly measuring pressure.

After installation, look for:

• uniform contact across the cleaning width
• no chatter or bouncing
• no excessive blade deflection
• no hot spots or burning smell
• minimal carryback downstream
• even wear across blade segments

If you constantly need to re-tension the cleaner, investigate the mounting geometry, spring/torsion unit, belt vibration and blade compound.

A correctly designed spring, torsion or pneumatic tensioner should accommodate normal blade wear while maintaining useful contact.

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.