Look to see if the feeder needs a check-up

You've seen a loss of productivity on the shop floor - how is your vibratory parts feeder performing?
You've seen a loss of productivity on the shop floor. She's just not performing like she used to. Oh, she's still there like clockwork, producing something, just not like when she first hit the assembly line.

'She' is your vibratory part feeding system and has probably been very productive for you over the years.

Now it's time for a check up, to get her back up to peak performance.

Visual Inspection The logical place to start is with a visual inspection.

Look for obvious problems like missing nuts and bolts, clanking noises (or other odd sounds she never used to make), cracked springs or support bands near toe clamps, excessive wear or oil and dirt buildup on the tooling.

Always check to make sure that your support table has a solid connection to the floor.

Check each leveling pad and lock them down.

Now get the hex wrenches out and make sure every bolt is good and tight! Especially on the spring banks is it vital that every bolt is tight.

They should also be long enough to be threaded into the cross-arm support.

Check that nothing is between the bottom of the springs and the heavy base plate.

This could muffle the flex of the spring and reduce drive efficiency.

Check the coil gap (space between electro-magnetic coil front and striker plate).

This should never be touching.

If this has been the case or it is so close that it the two surfaces are banging, back the coil off.

The typical distance is 0.040in-0.080in (1-2mm).

Make sure that the separate components of the system are not touching.

For example the vibratory inline should have an air gap between it and the feeder bowl.

If your feeding problems are a now and then type of thing, check the part tolerances and correct any variances outside that tolerance.

Remember, your feeding equipment ran well at one point in time.

It's possible that over the years the equipment producing your parts is worn or the QC standards have not been monitored closely.

If you've tried these suggestions and problems persist, make a call and get a technician's advice on how to proceed with keeping one of your best 'employees' in tip-top shape.