There are a few things to consider when deciding on the right pulley lagging for your system. There are three main options to choose from – rubber, polyurethane and ceramic lagging – all of which have various properties to contemplate when making a choice.
Rubber Pulley Lagging
Rubber lagging is the cheapest option. It can be applied to any pulley and provides significantly better grip and tracking than an unlagged pulley. It can also assist with belt cleaning to a point. Whilst the cost benefits are evident, the wear resistance is lower than other lagging options and it will often wear out more quickly too. Premature wearing can cause tracking issues if not addressed and if it’s incorrectly applied, tracking issues can arise right from the start.
Polyurethane
Whilst slightly more expensive than rubber lagging, polyurethane is much harder wearing, has a longer life between lags and can withstand impact and corrosion from heavy loads/products a lot better too. On the downside, polyurethane lagging isn’t as readily available as rubber – you usually have to order it which can take a bit longer and you can’t use it on drive pulleys because it doesn’t have the same grip/coefficient of friction as rubber lagging.
Ceramic Pulley Lagging
There are two types of ceramic lagging – smooth and dimple – and whilst it’s the most expensive type of lagging, it also has the best wearing capabilities which means it will last the longest. In fact, it will often outlast the pulley when in optimum conditions. Ceramic lagging can be used on any pulley (as long as dimple is used on the drive pulley and smooth is used on non-drive pulleys). Dimple ceramic lagging greatly increases the grip on the drive pulley and it helps avoid tracking issues because it holds the belt centrally.
Other than the higher price tag, there are no real downsides to ceramic lagging. In extreme circumstances, the ceramic tiles can dislodge from the rubber backing, but this is rare and otherwise, it’s an excellent form of hardwearing lagging which is readily available in our warehouses.
Hot Versus Cold Bonding
Another thing to consider is how the lagging is applied – hot or cold bonded. We have autoclaves in both our Western Australian and Queensland branches so can cater for both types in our facilities. Autoclaves allow for seamless rubber lining and better rubber-to-steel bonding, which is especially useful in chemical applications. Whilst hot bonding has better adhesion properties, it also costs more.