Introduction Material Feed

Description

The Material feed system is the conveyors that move the material through the saw. They have the custom 120 chains which support the material. They are synchronized by software so that there is not a mechanical connection between one side and the other of the machine.
From time to time the material feed conveyors need to be homed in order to correct the alignment.

Material feed speeds

The Material feed conveyor has automatic 3 speeds.

1. Feeding speed which occurs while the operator is feeding lumber into the saw.
   • The feeding speed is either controlled by the manual conveyor speed or the automatic speed controls.
2. Cutting speed which is the speed in which the lumber can be cut. This is normally faster than the feeding speed and is calculated by the length of cut and the quantity of cuts which directly relates to the recovery time of the blade.
   • Can be overridden when in manual mode by adjusting the conveyor speed. In automatic mode it can’t be overridden.
3. Empty saw speed which is always 100% and is the speed in which the lumber goes after the lumber has cleared the blades and has been cut.
   • Empty saw speed can be disabled by the disable auto speed up after the cut.

Troubleshooting

The most common two issues on this are one side stalls or a loss of synchronization.

Conveyor Stalls

1. Check the Check screen that everything is green and there are no issues. If there are issues fix those first.
2. Check chain tightness if the chain is loose or tight it can cause it to stall. The correct tension is the chain should lift ~ 1/4″ on the incline of the conveyor off of the roller guide.
3. Move the movement independent of each other. Verify that the encoder is counting on each and make sure that the load is not over 100%. If the load is over 100% then there is most likely something mechanical obstructing the conveyor.
4. If the load is below 100% and both sides are counting. We need to run the conveyor as normal and look for “Lost Synchronization” error.
5. If lost synchronization error then we need to check both of the encoders to make sure that the set screws are secure.
6. If lost synchronization error continues to occur replace the encoder on the side that keeps throwing the error.
7. Normally one of the above steps will fix the issues. Call for more information if this doesn’t fix the issue.