Weighbridges for industries and enterprises have a very simple purpose: weighing things. Now, the obligation to weigh items varies by business, with each employing it to weigh cars transporting commodities into and out of the facility. For particular sectors, such as mining, actual weight measuring of vehicles transporting cargo is vital to their operations.
Inaccurate weight measurement can have serious repercussions, including revenue loss, shipping returns, and audit concerns, among others. Businesses in such sectors must ensure that the system they put in place for weighing products entering or departing the facility is as accurate as feasible.
Maintaining Your Weighbridge
Weighbridge upkeep and maintenance are critical and require a collaborative effort. Cooperation is required among vehicle drivers, weighing scale owners, operators, and service companies. Perform some simple maintenance inspections to guarantee your weighing scale will continue to work efficiently and dependably.
Driver responsibility
- Excessive speed on the weighing scale might cause shock loading on the load cells. Reduce entry and departure speeds and maintain a steady pace.
- Sudden or abrupt braking on the weighbridge might induce stress loading of the cells and mounts.
Owner’s responsibility
Keep the weighbridge clean.
Trading standards necessitate a clean weighing scale at all times. A buildup of material on and beneath the weighing scale deck can trap water and other material. This will shorten the lifespan of your weighing equipment and its components, as well as impact weighing performance.
Keep Drainage Clear
Ensure pit-mounted weighbridges have clear drainage to prevent flooding.
Clean Deck and Ramps
Maintain tidy approaches to the deck. They must also be fixed when needed. Clean any spilled oil or gasoline from the ramps and deck.
Regular Servicing of your Weighbridge
Regularly examine load cells and assemblies for any damage or material buildup. Regular calibration checks are also recommended for weighing scales.
Use a Quality Power Source
For a particular device like a weighbridge, a reliable and consistent power supply is essential. Avoid utilizing a generator that shares a line with starting motors or other current-destabilizing equipment.
Checklist for Weighbridge Maintenance
According to weighbridge manufacturers, here’s a basic checklist for weighing scale maintenance, which is separated into four sections: daily, weekly, monthly, and annual. To maintain accurate weighing by weighing scales, operators or enterprises must regularly provide timely maintenance in all four areas.
Daily Maintenance
Weighing scales must be properly cleaned to ensure that no dust or other debris is trapped on or beneath the scale, which can interfere with the correct operation of the load cells. Dust and debris settling in the weighbridge system is a regular issue with weighing scales used by mining firms. Thus, daily inspections are required, and weighing scales should be thoroughly cleaned using any methods necessary.
Weekly Maintenance
In addition to daily maintenance, which may be done on a surface level, weekly maintenance must be more comprehensive to check for concerns with the mechanisms. Operators can use the end-middle-end test, which is a typical method for identifying any mechanical fault or obstruction in the weighing scale.
To execute this test, the operator must position the truckload at the weighbridge’s beginning, middle, and finish points and collect measurements at each. The measurements received at all three sites must be compared and preferably yield the same results with minimum variation. If the disparity between readings is large, there is a good possibility that there is a problem with the weighing equipment’s mechanisms that has to be addressed immediately.
Monthly Maintenance
Monthly maintenance might be a more comprehensive variation of the daily and weekly maintenance schedules. Get a weighbridge calibration for your weighing system. Inspect the whole weighing scale for any evident damage to the load cells or other components. Then, depending on the weighing scale’s appropriateness, use a jet spray or air spray to remove any dirt or debris that may interfere with accuracy.
However, one must exercise caution while using the jet spray or air spray to avoid damaging any load cells or flooding the junction box beneath the scale. Finally, zero the weighbridge, do a final end-middle-end test, and compare the values to previously measured readings to identify any significant differences.
Conclusion
The checklist presented in this post is generic and may be utilized by firms from many industries. Following our checklist for weighing scale maintenance will guarantee that businesses adhere to a regular plan for timely weighing equipment maintenance, hence increasing the lifetime and accuracy of their weighbridge system.
Swisser Instruments Pvt. Ltd.
Swisser Instruments was established in 1998, with a vision of serving our clients with quality products. We are recognized as one of the reputed Weighing Scale Manufacturers and Suppliers In India.