Your analogy is correct.......to a point. If you are trying to obtain more throughput.......using a smaller diameter wire with the same clear opening in the wirecloth WILL increase open area. This must be balanced with the "life" of the screen or strength of the screen. We must balance wire diameter with life to obtain the throughput desired and the lowest operating cost per ton. You could put a mega heavy wire and the screen section would last forever......but, you would not screen must through it.

There is an actual pick or standard wire size diameter for certain size clear openings or mesh. The smaller you get in the opening the more tight the picks are or limited. The smaller or finer the diameter also typically dictates the type of wire used.....for example...abrasive resistant steel, vs Type 304 Stainless steel or T316 stainless steel or monel or other wear resistant materials.

If you tell me the spec, type of material being handled - I can give you a "standard wire cloth manufacturer's pick"

Thankyou for your question..... George Baker ■

Dear Arun: Thankyou for your reply. Here is the deal: At 3mm opening you must be using very fine wire diameter. What I require to improve your situtation is this:

1. The full wirecloth specifications: size of section, end tensioned or side hooked? square mesh or slotted, type of wire being ordered, cambered deck on the vibrating screen or not, supplier of cloth......(this only for the need to ensure good quality woven wirecloth vs a "sleazy weave")

2. Please provide full description of the actual vibrating machine:

TYPE, MAKE, MODEL including bearing size, angle of installation, wet or dry screening, feed to screen sieve analysis, SPEED, STROKE, SLOPE ANGLE of the vibrating screen.

3. FEED to the screen: Is is evenly distributed across full width of the vibrating screen? A digital would be super to analyse.

If feed is not fully spread across the width of the screen, especially at 3mm opg........you create a MINI SURGE to the fine opening and it abuses the fine mesh, make the bed depth too deep on the wirecloth, stretches the cloth and tears the cloth vs wearing it out. But, mainly it causes fines in the overs or INEFFICIENCY. Not usually a good thing.

4. Backing cloth may be indicated to "support your fine 3 mm cloth" Are you ripping or wearing the screen cloth out? KEY QUESTION. ripping = ABUSE wearing out thin = ACCEPTABLE

5. Screen TENSION and maintaining screen tension or what we call DRUM HEAD TIGHT TENSION is very critical to increasing wirecloth life. IF loose.......it breaks like a hair pin which is bent back and forth two or three times and snaps.

6. Is the WIRECLOTH mesh staying in the METAL REINFORCED HOOKED EDGE or is it pulling out.....

7. WHAT TONS PER HOURS TO WHAT SIZE OF SCREEN and what is the weight per cubic foot of the material please. CRITICAL

8. A change to a 3mm urethane if properly specified would probably increase your life span by 4-5 times if not more. But, we must get the BASE DATA first and see if there is not something inherently wrong with the normal setup.

Sorry for the long answer..........but, we must TROUBLESHOOT the operation to properly recommend an acceptable answer.

Sincerely, GEORGE BAKER CANADA ■

I need :

- the size, width and length of the MOGENSEN SIZER

- the actual tached speed RPM of the MOGENSEN screener body

- I need the actual SLOPE of the decks - very critical

If the decks are too steep.......the material FPM foot per minute travel rate is too quick and good separation does not happen

If the speed or RPM of the screener body is too fast......same thing happens

- Are the separate decks on the MOGENSEN SIZER at different angles also?

George Baker........ Please be patient, we need the information before we put some different media on the screen. ■

Arun: Thankyou for the screen machine specs. Perfect,

I am getting closer to an answer.

1. Please advise:

a) Wirecloth specs on each deck. Opening or mesh size,

wire diameter and type of steel. A/R or Stainless

b) Which deck is the 3mm opening on - I assume bottom

c) 1000 rpm seems too slow for this opening. Should

be more like 1200 - 1400 on that size of opening.

Thankyou for your patience. ■

Dear Mr. Arun,

Spring Steel wove wire deck in a sizer for fine clinker has always resulted in early failure.

You can talk to the manufacturer (IC) to give you a hardened (Imported) woven wire deck which can give you a better life.

The cost landed after suffering taxes will be higher (Much) and you can increase the time between deck changes.

No manufacturer can assure you the life of screen deck vis-a-vis the cost.

So you will have to buy it and try it the hard way.

Thanks ■

test test test ■

Hello: many reason can cause premature failure :

1. Loose wirecloth vs drum head tight will flex and break

2. Steel to steel contact (no rubbers on the support rails) will break wirecloth prematurely - replace rubbers

3. FLAT CAMBER on supports will cause wirecloth to move up and down and break early

4. Too light wire diameter although offering lots of OPEN AREA can break early - go to next wire diameter up

5. Tension rails to engage the hooked edge, if beaten up can cause early breakage. Replace with new.

6. Homemade tension rails with wrong angle at the bend where rail engages the metal edge of the screencloth section can cause early breakage. REPLACE with proper rail.

7. oversize WIDTH can not be tightened properly......will flex and break wirecloth prematurely

8. Broken support member below wirecloth will cause it to break early

9. High carbon steel sometimes is too brittle causing cloth to break early..........try going to OIL TEMPERED.

10. Poor DIES (worn) from wirecloth MFR factory cause actually SHOCK the wire at the PRECRIMPING STAGE.....not noticeable by eye......but, evident after VIBRATING FOR A WHILE. Have replaced under warranty by factory. Factory rep if honest will gladly address this. DIES GET WORN AT THE FACTORY ALL THE TIME.

11. Sleezy weave.......or loose wires at the intersections can cause early breakage of wirecloth.

12. ABUSE BY MATERIAL CAN cause early failure.

Many things to be considered, including alloy, but honestly alloy is usually the last thing to check.

***IF WIRECLOTH IS NOT DRUM HEAD TIGHT........YOU WILL DEFINITELY HAVE A BREAKAGE PROBLEM

Thanks for listening........George Baker MODERATOR ■

Your thinking is not completely wrong but, there are some basic general rules of thumbs

1. All wirecloth openings have a RANGE of wire diameters to choose from

2. Maybe 15 choices per opening size. What to choose and why...Oh my!

3. For aggregate screening generally: one should choose the mid range wire diameter size

4. why? It is not too heavy and not too light, and yields a good percentage of OPEN AREA which equals TONS PER HOUR

5. And yields a nice LIFESPAN for that wirecloth, so not changing too often

..........

6. If choose too light = breaks very quickly and changes required too often = higher operating costs to replace constantly....BUT, higher OPEN AREA of course.

7. If choose too heavy - wirecloth WILL LAST FOREVER, just will NOT be able to get any BIG TPH through it with a heavy heavy wire...of course NOT desirable.

8. So, MID RANGE of the wire diameters thicknesses works most IDEALLY

Hoping this helps and thankyou for the question.....a good one.

QUOTE=Krusher;4503]I have always tried to use the smallest diameter wire on screen cloth as I felt was practical. One would think, however, that there is a limit. Has any research been done, or must I just go on my experience in a particular application? Needless to say my concern is tons/$.[/QUOTE] ■

If any of you need some more information on the diamete of the wire in your wire cloth, please do not hesitate to contact Belleville Wire Cloth.

http://www.bwire.com/measurewirecloth.htm

That site can help you with some basic principles and ideas, but if you need more information, call and use them as a resource for whatever you might need information about. ■

This is the information you are looking for.

http://www.bwire.com/

Tells you how to measure wire diameter as well as mesh count. Hope this helped. ■