A regular service and maintenance contract is essential if you need to be confident that your pallet wrapping machinery always remains fully optimised, and to guard against the inconvenience of breakdowns or outages.  However there are things that the operatives can do (or not do!) to assist in the maintenance of the machinery:

DO establish a cleaning regime for the equipment. We recommend the following tasks are performed weekly:

• Clean around the turntable or floor area of the machine, using a soft sweeping brush or vacuum cleaner (whichever is most appropriate and effective) to remove any dust/broken pallet bits/small pieces of stretch film etc from the area. This sort of debris can build up under your machinery and cause issues, not  to mention expensive repair bills, down the line if it is not regularly cleaned out.
• Clean the rollers in the machine head using a large industrial wipe or damp cloth. These rollers have a tendency to get dirty, which impedes the performance of the machine.  This simple task can make a significant difference to the stretch that the machine produces, making for better load stability and a lower cost per pallet wrapped. It’s worth noting that the Atlanta range of pallet wrappers uses a patented, low maintenance, roller design that does not require this step.
• Wipe down all surfaces on the machine.

DO make regular visual checks to see how the pallet wrapper is working as, if the pallet wrapper is not working correctly, it can often be visually apparent to an operative who knows what they are looking for.

• Check the film as it is applied to the pallet. Does it look clear, or has it got tell-tale tiger stripes across the width of the film – indicating that the pre stretch rollers are slipping?
• Check that the roll of film is turning on its spool more slowly than the film is being applied to the pallet – indicating that the pre stretch head is working correctly.
• Try stretching the film after it has been applied to the pallet, as a correctly optimised film should not have any further stretch left in the film. Can you stretch the film further by hand when on the pallet – indicating that it is not correctly optimised? This not  only causes load stability issues, but also uses more plastic than it  should to wrap the pallet.

DO ensure that the pallet wrap film is loaded correctly onto the machine. Some models of pallet wrapper can be quite complex to load and it is important that operatives are fully trained in film loading techniques. An incorrect passage of the film through the stretch head will significantly affect its stretch performance, and may cause damage or blockages to the machine which are difficult and expensive to rectify.

DON’T use anything except a wipe/cloth or your bare hands on the rollers. Sometimes, if the wrap gets tangled in the rollers, it is tempting to use a knife to help remove it – but  pallet wrapper rollers are often very fragile and easily damaged. Once they have been slit by a knife their efficiency is significantly reduced and more often than not they will need to be replaced. One of the reasons that Hazel 4D recommends the Atlanta range of pallet wrapping machines is that they feature a patented roller and pre stretch system design, which virtually eradicates film tangling and facilitates the easy removal of any film debris. For more information on the Atlanta machines range and to see the many other benefits they offer, check them out on our website here:

DON’T change the film that you use on your pallet wrapper unless you have had the machine checked and adjusted by a pallet wrap machinery engineer to ensure that the new film is fully optimised.  Films perform in very different ways, and at very different stretch levels, and changing film without undertaking all the necessary adjustments will cause issues – either an under optimised film, which will undermine load stability, or an overstretched film, which will cause problems with snapping on the machine.

There can be no doubt that regular maintenance of your pallet wrapping machinery should be regarded as an essential part of your operational process, and this guide should support you in developing an appropriate maintenance programme for your pallet wrappers.  As with most maintenance programmes, most of the steps are simple and common sense – but without them the performance and reliability of you pallet wrapping machines will plummet. Like most other machines with moving parts, pallet wrappers get maximum benefit from a regular maintenance and service contract from a specialist company – and here at Hazel 4D we can help and provide advice on this.