How to Beat the Asphalt Cleaning Hassle
Say goodbye to overheating issues.
How to Beat the Asphalt Cleaning Hassle
Say goodbye to overheating issues.
Dominate your jobsite with a clean asphalt crusher
High-volume asphalt crushing is all about managing wear and cleaning the machine from asphalt build-up. While asphalt is a soft material, it is highly abrasive in nature and sticks easily to surfaces. The airborne asphalt dust settles and builds up everywhere. You will experience build-up on radiators, rollers, and on the apron.
A clean machine performs better.
A clean machine results in less wear and more profits.
Proactive cleaning avoids ugly situations.
Without a Cleaning Process, You Face Higher Wear and Lose Production
- Clogged radiators kills engine-power.
- Build up on rollers cause belt misalignments.
- Build up inside the crusher causes premature hammer wear.
- Build up inside the crusher reduces crusher effectiveness.
- Petromat clogs your screen resulting in less production.
6 Simple Steps to Dominate Your Asphalt Crushing Jobsite
1. Keep Your Radiator Clean to Avoid Power Loss
The material build-up at the radiator is your most common asphalt crushing problem. Airborne asphalt dust gets sucked into the radiator and sticks to the hot surface. This process continues until the entire radiator is shut, resulting in engine overheating and power loss.Once the radiator is shut you must clean the radiator and remove the build-up. This requires you to remove the radiator and use chemicals or soak it in diesel fuel overnight and pressure wash it with hot water to get the asphalt off. If you want to get the radiator cleaned professionally you face costs upwards of $700.
A citric acid cleaner works well. In any case, you need to use a cleaner that doesn’t damage the radiator alloy. It is also key that the radiator is dry before you start crushing again. Moisture traps the asphalt dust more easily and is counterproductive. While diesel fuel is increadibly cheap ($4 per gallon), a citrus cleaner is more expensive ($35-60 per gallon). Other manufacturers produce a chemical solvent that is less harmful and works equially well. Chemtek's PavePro solvent is 100% bio degradable and could be a great solution for sensitive environments. In any case, it is recommended to check with your manual what works on your crusher.
It is also not unheard of for high-volume asphalt producers to keep a spare radiator on the shelf so that they can keep crushing it while the spare radiator gets cleaned. Some contractors mount Miner’s Moss before the radiator to trap asphalt particles. The moss can be removed and cleaned as needed, which reduces the build-up inside the radiator itself.
RUBBLE MASTER Impact Crushers Keep You Crushing Longer
RUBBLE MASTER impact crushers feature a wide-core radiator with improved airflow through oversized push radiators to keep you crushing longer. While many impact crushers require narrow radiator fins to maximize cooling hydraulic fluids, RUBBLE MASTER’s diesel-electric impact crushers do not face the same issues.
The advantage of RUBBLE MASTER impact crushers is that the radiator is furthest away from the dust source – the crusher outlet. Many traditional-style crushers struggle with crushing asphalt continuously because the radiator is mounted above the crusher outlet, feeding the dust directly into the radiator.
RUBBLE MASTER’s push radiator sucks in cleaner air from the engine compartment and pushes the air out to the side. This also results in an airflow that goes across and doesn’t suck dusty air from the front.
2. Remove Build Up on Rollers to Proper Belt Alignment
Once asphalt builds up on rollers, your conveyor belt can shift. Cleaning your rollers avoids belt movements and premature belt damage. To clean the roller, scrape the build-up off and use hot-pressure water. Some contractors spray the rollers with diesel fuel first, break it off with a hammer, or use a battery-powered angle grinder to remove the buildup.
3. Keep Your Screen Attachment Clean by Removing Petromat Frequently
Petromat is a paving fabric used in many roads – especially in the Midwest – to prevent cracking, absorb stress, and extend the road’s service life. The asphalt-crushing process liberates the Petromat, which clogs your screen media easily and keeps running in circles in your closed loop system until removed manually.
RUBBLE MASTER impact crusher features 3 solutions that make the Petromat removal easier:
- Optional Wind-Sifter to Blow Out Fabrics
A wind-sifter is a device to separate lightweight material from heavy material by the use of an airstream. The aim is to segregate inert materials such as fabrics, plastic, wood, and leaves from heavy oversize rocks to increase aggregate quality.
- Reversible Cross Conveyor to Discharge Petromat to the Side
The oversize collection/cross conveyor is electrically driven, and the switch of a button can change the direction. This is especially, helpful at the end of the day or prior to mobilizing your mobile impact crusher to clean out the entire closed loop system.
- Main Conveyor Folds Back to Give Generous Access to the Screen Deck
The perfect manual cleaning solution in between. While many crushers feature screen decks that are hard to access and require a separate household ladder to climb onto, RUBBLE MASTER impact crushers can fold back the main conveyor, exposing the screen deck. This makes it easy to remove any trash that has built up.
4. Avoid Blinding by Using the Right Screen Media
Using the impact crusher's onboard screen may cause some challenges with small fractions. The smaller you go on the screen media, the more you risk screen blinding. Using stainless wire will help avoid build-up. Also, self-oscillating Flexmat screens keep the screen open to maintain production.
5. Prevent Asphalt Dust Getting Airborne
Use your on-board dust-suppression system to prevent the asphalt from getting airborne. Although asphalt plants don’t like moisture in their material if you can get away with water, use water.
As a rule of thumb, use as little water as possible but as much as necessary.
6. Keep Your Engine Compartment Clean
Overall, engine compartment cleanliness is key to minimizing downtime. Use compressed air to clean out your engine compartment frequently.
RUBBLE MASTER owners enjoy easy ground-based access to make the cleaning process easy and safe. The faster you are cleaning the crusher, the sooner you get to the work that actually makes you money. If your crusher access is too restricted and closed off, you struggle to scrape the dust out of the engine compartment bit by bit. By removing 2 panels, the RUBBLE MASTER engine compartment can be flushed out easily with a pressure washer.
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