Cómo saber si tu barredora está alcanzando el fin de su ciclo de vida

How to know if your cleaning equipment is reaching the end of its life cycle

Your cleaning equipment will last long with adequate maintenance – but not for ever.

Cleaning equipment's are used daily and they sum up hours and hours of work. This way, machines get old and start causing problems: from workers time lost to breakdowns or accidents due to machines in poor condition. How can you know if your machine is reaching the end of its life cycle?

Our team of professional technicians has written down a report with the most frequent signs of cleaning equipment aging.

TIMING BELTS

You can find timing belts in gasoline machines. Their function is to ensure smooth operation by timing the interaction between the engine's crank and camshafts.

Revising timing belts is important, since a broken pulley or timing belt could cause severe damage to the machine's engine.

In order to know if timing belts are damaged, we must look out for evidence of general wear and tear, cracks or slack in the belt.

Timing belt's useful life goes up to 2.000 hours, but they may need to be replaced in a shorter time in intensive use conditions or aggressive environments.

FUEL SYSTEMS

We find fuel systems in diesel and gasoline machines. Their function is to supply the fuel needed for the engine to work.

Oil and grime can build up in the feed lines and wear problems can decrease the flow of fuel to the engine, causing it to warm up too much and tear earlier as a consequence. This is why it is important to revise fuel systems.

In order to know if a fuel system is damaged, we must look for cracks, bulges or wet spots in the fuel hose.

If the fuel line isn't connected, check out inside to see if it is dirty or if oil has built-up inside.

In extreme situations, the engine may get revolutionized while running and then stop as the system tries to supply the fuel needed.

BRUSH MOTORS

We find brush motors in scrubber and sweeper machines. Their function is to action the movement of the brushes which perform the cleaning tasks.

Revising brush motors is important because waste and wear can affect negatively their performance. This way, your machine's scrubbing capacity may be reduced. 

You can see brush condition by looking out for waste in the brush or housing, corroded components or checking for noises which you can hear while brushes are performing. 

If brushes are rotating slowly, vibrate or make too much noise, there is evidence of a problem with them. If you continue working with the machine you may cause additional damage to the brush and its engines.

SQUEEGEE LINKAGE

They link the squeegee to the scrubber and their function is to maximize water recovery during the cleaning tasks.

Revising squeegee linkage is important since if it is damaged, the machine will leave traces of dirty water in the floor and we will need more than one step to clean the floor.

Additionally, this could cause slip-and-fall accidents due to wet floor.

There is evidence of squeegee linkage in bad condition when:

The machine leaves water or traces of dirt in the floor.

The squeegee linkage isn't centered or parallel to the floor.

There are signs of corrosion near the point where the water is recovered. 

VALVES

Valves are found on engine's cylinder head. They precisely control flows of air and fuel to the engine so it works properly.

It is important to revise engine valves because they can cause significant damage to the engine through time, causing breakdowns and expensive repairs.

Valve problems can be very difficult to identify due to the complexity of its interaction with the engine. We must check tear on the valves during daily maintenance on machines with a high number of hours of work.

Additionally, if your machine is consuming more fuel tan it should or it takes a lot of much time to gain power when it works at high revolutions per minute, there could be an issue with the valve.

RUSTED COMPONENTS

Rusted components are found in the metal components of cleaning equipment and they appear due to exposure to water and chemical products.

Rust is always expected to appear in old machines. However, if corrosion appears it can go through metal components and affect the strength of steel frames, scrub heads, joints and other areas of your machine.

We must check regularly in order to see if corrosion is penetrating metallic components, especially in older equipment.

OBSOLETE SPARE PARTS

We find them mostly in equipment which stopped being produced over 10 years ago.

If we replace this components with spare parts which do not fit perfectly, machines can tear even more and their performance will be affected. Additionally, operator security could be compromised if the spare part causes a breakdown while running the machine.

We must check machine's age. If it is not being manufactured anymore, probably spare parts will be obsolete too.
 

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