Troubleshooting and Solving VFFS Film Feed Belt Slippage

Your VFFS machine's film feed belts, while a relatively simple spare part, not only can be plagued by a substantial list of issues but can subsequently cause significant production issues. Often, the most common issues caused by film feed belt slippage are short bags, inconsistent bag lengths, or difficulty holding print registration (registration mark sensor error), just to name a few.

While the above symptoms can have other contributing factors, more times than not, these issues are being caused by film feed belts slipping.

So let's break down 7 causes of VFFS film feed belt slippage as well as solutions. 

7 Causes and Solutions to Film Feed Belt Slippage

1. Belts are dirty. How do I clean my VFFS belts?
1. Clean the belts by wiping them with a damp cloth
2. Belts are worn. Visually inspect the belts for wear. 
1. Typically this can be seen by the belt being worn in the profile of the shape of the tube. If there is wear, then replace with new belts.
3. Belts are misaligned.
   1. Check that the belts are parallel to the tube and to each other.
   2. Check that the belts are on the same center line of the tube from front to back
4. Increase in film drag.
   1. Check that the film is properly threaded through the rollers.
   2. Check that a part of a film splice did not get caught between the collar and the tube and causing increased drag.
5. Not enough pressure on the film feed belts.
   1. Increase the pressure via the method designed with your model machine,( i.e. air pressure or spring pressure)
6. Film feed vacuum not adequate. How to keep my vacuum belt from slipping?
   1. Check that the vacuum setting is turned on as described in the operations manual.
   2. Check that the vacuum system is working correctly by ensuring that both the filter and tubes are not clogged in any way.
7. Servo coupling is loose or broken causing inconsistent belt motion.
   1. Inside the housing of the vertical bagger, inspect the coupling and make sure it is intact and that is not broken or loose.

Example of a worn draw down belt:

"Preventative" Maintenance

There's a reason folks call it "preventative maintenance". Machinery downtime is inevitable, but your first defense against unplanned downtime and part failure is a consistent and adequate PM process. It's crucial to the success of your packaging operation and to preventing many of the issues broken down above. 

If you or your team feel like your VFFS preventative maintenance processes have room for improvement, we have free resources for mapping out your PM schedule and capturing the most important tasks by shift, week, and quarter.

Still Experiencing Issues? 

If these steps don't improve your situation, please contact us to schedule a service visit with our Service Manager, by calling 404-640-5322, or you can chat with an expert live in the chat box on the right 👉👉.