The Stockpile · Pile 03 — The Fix List
If you’re shoveling under a conveyor, the discharge is happening in the wrong place. Here’s where it leaks and how to stop it.
Carryback is the material that doesn’t leave the belt at the discharge. It clings to the carrying surface, rides around the head pulley, and drops off wherever it feels like it — under the return run, into the rollers, onto the walkways, into the pit. A belt cleaner’s whole job is to make that number small. When you’re shoveling under a conveyor, the cleaner is losing.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix first |
|---|---|---|
| Piles forming under the return run, worst near the head | Cleaner worn, missing or under-tensioned | Inspect blade wear line and tension at the head pulley |
| Fine dust settling along the whole return path | Film carryback — primary alone on wet/fine material | Add a secondary cleaner just behind the head pulley |
| Return rolls caked and steering the belt | Carryback compacting on rolls — and now causing mistracking too | Fix the cleaner, fit rubber-disc return rolls |
| Blade wearing on one end only | Cleaner not square, or belt mistracking across it | Square the cleaner; fix tracking first if the belt wanders |
| Blades dying in weeks | Over-tension, heat beyond blade rating, or abrasive fines | Verify tension and temperature; step up the blade grade |
| Cleaner fine, belt still dirty | Belt surface damage or a failing splice the blade can’t follow | Belt inspection — this is a belt problem wearing a cleaner costume |
Zero isn't achievable — every belt carries some film past the cleaner. The practical standard: no piles, no caked return rolls, no daily shoveling. If housekeeping under the conveyor is a scheduled job, your cleaning system has room to improve.
A lot of it, yes. Fine carryback dries on the return run and every roller taps it loose as dust. Plants are often surprised how much 'fugitive dust' is actually carryback in disguise.
Only if your splices are vulcanized. Metal-tipped blades and mechanical splices are a bad marriage — the blade snags the fasteners and one of them loses. With mechanical splices, spec splice-friendly urethane blades.
It varies with material, tonnage and tension — from months to a year-plus. What matters is inspecting on a schedule and replacing at the wear line, not at failure. A worn blade damages nothing but your housekeeping; a dead one costs you rolls, tracking and cleanup labor.
Yes. Our crews re-blade, re-tension and square up most major brands — and we stock retrofit blades for most mainstream frames. Send a photo of the frame and we can usually match it.
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