How to Maintain & Care for Your Centrifugal Blower
If you own a manufacturing plant and you have recently installed a dust control, industrial drying, or cooling system, then your new equipment likely contains either one or several centrifugal blowers. These devices can quickly blow or suck large volumes of air towards or away from your machinery to regulate temperature.
To help the blowers last, you will need to make sure that you maintain them properly. Consider the following maintenance tips once your centrifugal blowers are installed.
Use Your Blowers Consistently
Consider the Drive Belt
If you do not constantly create products in your manufacturing plant, or if you only need to control dust for a certain period of time throughout the year, then you may not need to use your centrifugal blowers all the time. If this is the case though, then certain parts within the blowers can break or corrode. This is especially true of the drive belt that sits in the motor part of the housing. This belt is a rubber V-belt that is used in a wide variety of different engines or motors to attach drive shafts together so the engine can create power or force.
While v-belts are considered versatile and slip-resistant, they can still succumb to the cracking and warping that can cause a wide variety of mechanical rubber belts to fail. To help avoid this problem, make sure to run your blowers at least 10 minutes once every week or two. This helps to keep the rubber elastic.
If your blower blades do not seem to be moving as quickly, if you hear something scratching or dragging in the motor, or if you hear the shafts and gears wobbling, then the V-belt may need to be replaced. Contact your supplier or machinery technician to help install a new belt for you.
Move the Blower Head
If the drive belt and the motor seem to be working well, then make sure the blower head is also functioning properly. This head is a moveable or rotating device that allows you to control the angle of the blower outlet. The blower housing or head will rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction depending on whether the blower faces towards the right or the left. This housing will move 45 degrees from its central point, and this means that it can be moved to eight different positions around a 360 degree circle.
As you run the blower, turn the engine on and off and make sure the blower releases air at each of the different angles. Typically, a button will need to be pushed or a lever will need to be engaged to turn the housing, so make sure the blower clicks to indicate it is engaged every time you turn it.
If the blower housing does not move for some reason, then consider spraying a penetrating oil or an industrial lubrication along the bearing or bolt in the middle of the blower housing that allows the head to move. Try to rotate it again. If it does not move, then the bolt may need to be replaced.
Cover Your Blower Units
Centrifugal blowers contain a great deal of metal, plastic, and rubber parts that all must move consistently to make sure the fan blades can move air at a consistent speed and volume. Not only do these parts help with movement, but so do bearings that need to remain lubricated with oil.
Unfortunately, moisture and dust can cause bearings and other moving parts to corrode, oxidize, or simply clog up with debris. This may not seem logical, since the blower may be used as part of a dust control system. However, the fan forces the dust away before it comes into contact with it.
If you want to make sure that your centrifugal blower runs smoothly for years, then make sure it is stored in a dry and clean environment when not in use. If the blower is part of a bigger system, then cover the blower head and the engine with a cotton cloth instead.
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