Maintaining Your Industrial Magnetic Equipment

Industrial magnets are engineered to withstand the stresses of modern industrial environments, but their lifespans can be shortened by several factors:

High Temperatures

Heat can cause magnets to fail, temporarily or even permanently. Typically, as operating temperature rises, magnetism decreases, and if a magnet is heated to its Curie temperature, it will lose its magnetism.

Corrosion

In humid or wet conditions, some industrial magnets can corrode, and this corrosion will impact the strength of the affected magnet.

Magnetic Interaction

If a magnet is operated or stored in close proximity to other magnetic fields, it likely to lose magnetism prematurely.

Damage

For some magnets, a shock, impact or flexing can decrease magnetism.

Maintenance is Important

Regularly inspecting and maintaining your industrial magnetic separation equipment helps you maximize tramp metal removal, promotes longer magnet life and helps keep your workplace safe. Let’s take a closer look at an effective maintenance process:

Inspect Magnetic Separation Equipment

Magnetic separation equipment, for example, magnetic conveyors, cross-belt separators and drum separators, should be inspected annually. Also, as a best practice, you should maintain a record of the inspection results. Our expert inspection team can help with this process, providing documented feedback, making recommendations for replacements, upgrades and reconfigurations.

Address Tramp Metal Recovery Issues

There are multiple factors that can affect tramp metal recovery, and if they are not addressed, these factors can affect the efficiency of tramp metal recovery and shorten the life of magnetic conveyors. We’ll help you identify and address tramp metal recovery issues in your industrial processes.

Test Magnetic Field Strength

The field strength (or Gauss strength) of an industrial magnet defines its effectiveness for your industrial process, and even small changes in a magnet’s field strength will directly affect the amount of tramp metal that it can remove. That’s why it’s important to test field strength frequently with a Gauss meter. There are a number of factors, like high operating temperatures and interactions with other magnets, that can affect field strength tests, so it’s best to get expert help with this type of testing.

Review and Optimize Equipment Configuration

As you install new equipment or move existing machinery, remember that there is the potential for these changes to affect the operation of your magnetic separation equipment. In addition, employee safety could be affected and productivity devices such as computers could be impacted. If you’re planning a configuration change, we recommend that you consult a magnetics expert to help anticipate possible pain points involved with the change.

Refurbish Wet Drum Separators

Over time, wet drum separator components can wear out and you should maintain them regularly. During the maintenance procedure, you should inspect the drum shell and the bearings. Also, remember to test the magnetic core’s field strength with a Gauss meter. Once again, if there are factors that could affect your testing accuracy, don’t hesitate to consult an expert.

We’re Here to Help!

Innovative Magnetic Technologies is one of the leading industrial magnet manufacturers in Canada. Along with custom-designed equipment, our magnetics professionals offer a sophisticated maintenance program for your magnetic separation equipment. For more information or to book a consultation, contact us.