Thermal Spray Powder Feeders: Repairs Required to Keep Your Equipment Running
Here’s what you need to know to ensure your powder feeder is properly maintained:
Your Powder Feeder Needs Regular Maintenance
There are two types of powder feeders, rotary disc powder feeders and fluidized bed powder feeders. Because of the design of each feeder, the repairs and common issues differ between them. However, failure to provide maintenance, regular repairs, on either style will cause the components to endure extended wear, causing them to break. Continuous usage allows build up of powder residue, causing operations to be less efficient. If these problems persist without being inspected and repaired, major equipment repairs at higher costs are more likely to be needed.
Your technicians should inspect these areas in a Fluidized Bed Style:
- Plugged filters in the fluidized bed feeder hopper base
- Electronic pressure regulator failure
- 20 to 28 psi of supply to this regulator
- Filter bowl leaks
- Fitting leaks
- The correct pickup shaft
- Replace all seals
- Leaking circle seal pop off valves
- CPU failure
- Failed 3 volt battery in the upper back cabinet
- Motherboard failure
Your technicians should inspect these areas in a Rotary Feeder style: after 40 – 60 hours of usage.
- Remove the upper canister and blow clean
- Remove the rotary disk. If the technician can catch a fingernail on the bottom of this disk, it indicates a worn disk
- Replace the felt rings and o-rings
- Inspect the surface ring with the bottom of the powder wheel
- Replace the dump valve diaphragm
Send in Your Feeders to UTS
With over 30 years of experience in our industry, the skilled team at Universal Thermal Services (UTS) is equipped to provide maintenance on your equipment, diagnose problems, and provide full repair service for your thermal spray powder feeder.
Our team is experienced in finding and repairing common or unique issues with your equipment:
- Rotary feeders and fluidizing style feeders both require a gas-tight canister unit(s) to allow the carrier gas to move the powder suspended in the stream to the gun. Our technicians will check and repair any leaks in this system.
- The UTS team will ensure that rotary disks are in good condition and that the felts underneath them are replaced after 40 – 60 hours of usage.
- On fluidized feeders, our technicians will ensure that the fluidizing filter stones are changed. We recommend regular changing as needed, but at least once per year.
- The UTS team will verify that the correct pickup shaft is being used for the type of powder application and will change it out. We recommend regular pickup shaft changes.
- The UTS team will verify all solenoid valves in the lower area are not becoming loud with buzzing.
- The electronic pressure regulator needs to function correctly and smoothly between 0-15 psi. Our team utilizes a pressure transducer for this test to ensure it’s within range.
Thermal Spray Powder Feeder Equipment Repair Solutions
At UTS, our experienced and knowledgeable team of technicians specializes in both rotary disc powder feeders and fluidized bed powder feeders. We also have the capability to fix both normal pressure and high pressure powder feeders. We are a premier thermal spray powder feeder equipment repair provider that can diagnose, repair, and deliver your equipment promptly so you can reduce operation downtime and get back to work for your customers.
We recommend routine inspection and maintenance of thermal spray powder feeders every 40 – 80 hours of operation. We know you may not have the resources at your facility to perform in-depth repairs on your equipment. That’s why UTS has a team of technicians trained to troubleshoot and repair powder feeders from a variety of different manufacturers. Our technicians prioritize quality with every inspection and repair, ensuring service and equipment reassembly are meticulous. Our team is dedicated to providing high quality service and once we troubleshoot your specific equipment’s problem, we only replace those required components.
We adhere to a simple powder feeder maintenance and repair process with the following steps:
- We receive your equipment
- Our technicians perform an initial inspection
- We send an estimated repair quote, along with a complete findings report
- Our technicians complete a rigorous quality testing process on your equipment
- A final quote is provided where we require approval before service work is performed
- With approval, our technicians perform your equipment’s required maintenance and repair services, and then conduct final inspection and collaboration tests
- We ship your repaired powder feeder back to you
Thermal spray powder feeders require regular maintenance and repair work to keep them operating at full capacity and allow you to continue meeting your production goals. For more in-depth repairs, you can trust the experts at UTS to provider high quality powder feeder troubleshooting and service work.