Does the steel plate rolling machine need to be cleaned?

Steel plate rolling machines require not only cleaning, but regular and proper cleaning is crucial for maintaining equipment accuracy, maintaining equipment life, and ensuring production safety. It's more than just sweeping; it's a critical maintenance task.

1. Why Clean a Plate Rolling Machine?

Maintaining Equipment Accuracy:
Core Component Protection: The plate rolling machine's rollers (work rolls) are core precision components that directly contact the steel plate and complete the rolling process. Hard particles such as iron filings, scale, and dust that adhere to the rollers or steel plate can damage the roller surface during the rolling process, causing pits or scratches. These damages can directly transfer to the surface of the high-value plate during subsequent processing, resulting in product defects.

Drive System Stability: Dust and debris entering transmission components such as gears and bearings can increase wear, leading to unstable equipment operation and affecting rolling accuracy.

Ensuring operational safety:
Preventing entanglement hazards: Long metal chips (especially those from laser or plasma cutting) can be caught between the rollers and the sheet if not cleaned. Under immense pressure, they can be squeezed and flung outward, creating a dangerous situation like a flying knife, potentially causing serious injury to the operator.
Electrical safety: Metal dust accumulation on the electrical control box, motor, or sensor can cause short circuits, false signals, or even fire.

Maintaining equipment life:
Debris and dust accelerate wear and corrosion of moving parts such as guide rails, lead screws, and bearings.
Contamination in the hydraulic system can damage cylinder seals, clog valves, and cause oil leaks and malfunctions.

Ensuring product quality:
Clean rollers and equipment ensure the purity of the contact surfaces during the steel plate rolling process, preventing impurities from causing scratches, indentations, or uneven forming on the sheet surface.

2. How to clean a plate rolling machine? (Cleaning steps and methods)

(1). Daily cleaning (after each shift)

Power off and shutdown: Be sure to turn off the main power supply and hang a warning sign that says "Maintenance in progress, do not close the switch".

Clean up major debris: Use a brush or broom to remove large iron filings and scraps from the surface of the equipment and the surrounding ground.

Wipe the roller: This is a key step. Use cotton cloth or a lint-free soft cloth to carefully wipe along the circumference of the roller to remove all dust, oil stains and tiny iron filings. If necessary, use a small amount of diesel or a special industrial cleaning agent to assist in cleaning.

Clean the work surface: Clean up debris on auxiliary surfaces such as the support rack and base.

(2). Regular deep cleaning (weekly or monthly, depending on the frequency of use)

Comprehensive dust removal: On the basis of daily cleaning, use a vacuum cleaner (preferably with explosion-proof function, because it may inhale metal dust) to carefully clean the dust in the ventilation holes of the electric control cabinet, motor housing, gearbox housing and other parts.

Cleaning hidden parts:
Clean the bearing seats at both ends of the roller to prevent iron filings from accumulating.
Clean the debris on the guide rails and lead screws and refill the grease.

Inspection and lubrication: During the cleaning process, check whether each lubrication point is normal and replenish or replace the lubricating oil/grease in time.

(3). Cleaning precautions

It is strictly forbidden to use compressed air for direct blowing: Although it is convenient, it is a very dangerous and wrong practice. High-pressure airflow will blow fine metal dust and iron filings to every corner of the equipment, including the inside of transmission parts and electrical components that are difficult to clean, causing more hidden wear and short circuit risks.
Use the right tools: Use brushes, brooms, vacuum cleaners and soft cloths first. Personal protection: Please wear protective gloves when cleaning to prevent being scratched by sharp iron filings.