By Horizontal GTU I am assuming you have a horizontal travelling TU carriage with a cable going around sheaves to a vertical counterweight in probably a tower.

You need to bring the tension force from the CWT to a zero energy state by fully supporting the counterweight after lifting it to release the tension from the CWT. The CWT must be independently supported and not just hung from a crane or a lifting device. Before you raise the CWT you may also need to clamp the belt to prevent it from rolling back if there is enough vertical change in elevation along the conveyor for that to possibly occur. The clamps can then be removed as you start to remove the belting. ■

Originally Posted by joshcarrodus

Hi All,

Apologies if this is the incorrect platform, or thread, for the subject matter.

I am simply looking for safe work methods in terms of releasing the tension in a Horizontal GTU in order to replace the belt.

What considerations need to be made?

Thanks in advance,

Excellent advice from Mr.Gary. If you post the general arrangement drawing, we can visualize / understand better.

Regards, ■

Gary is correct in describing everything that needs to be done and "done only one way" to do it safely especially if

the conveyor is mounted on a tower or incline.

If you or your crew have never done this job it would be much more sensible to have the local conveyor belt

supplier/belt splicer do the work.

You need to be well aware that anything that can go wrong will go wrong as one miss step can create a huge mess that has

to be cleaned up with a lot of labor and possibly repairing a broken emergency stop system that was snagged

by a mechanical splice that did not stay centered. ■

Gary has given good direction. Take care however in the presence of holdback (backstop). This can result in retained tension that is not released by lowering the counterweight ■