Instructions for effective care and maintenance of Pallet packaging machines
18-08-2025 156
Like any other machinery, pallet wrapping machines benefit from regular servicing and maintenance schedules designed to ensure they continue to perform as expected.
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Since it is often crucial to the smooth running of these machines, it is worth considering using the services of a specialist company to carry out regular maintenance. But there are also a number of routine activities that can be carried out by your own operators or engineers to help ensure that your machines are always in top condition.
Best machine maintenance practices
Regular maintenance and service contracts are essential if you want to ensure that your palletiser is always fully optimised and to protect against the inconvenience of breakdowns or power outages. However, there are things that operators can do (or not do!) to help maintain the machines:
DO establish a cleaning regime for the equipment. We recommend the following tasks on a weekly basis:
- Clean around the turntable or floor area of the machine, using a soft brush or vacuum cleaner (whichever is most suitable and effective) to remove any dust/broken pallet pieces/small pieces of stretch film, etc. from that area. This type of debris can build up underneath your machine and cause problems, not to mention expensive repair bills, if not cleaned regularly.
- Clean the rollers in the machine head with a large industrial mop or damp cloth. These rollers tend to get dirty, which hinders the machine's performance. This simple task can make a significant difference to the stretch the machine produces, resulting in more consistent loading and a lower cost per pallet wrapped. It should be noted that the Atlanta pallet wrapper uses a patented, low-maintenance roller design that does not require this step.
- Clean the entire surface of the machine.
SHOULD do regular visual checks to see if the pallet wrapper is working properly, if it is not working properly the operator can easily spot it if they know what they are looking for.
- Check the film as it is applied to the pallet. Is it clear, or does it have tiger stripes across the width of the film – indicating that the pre-stretch rollers are slipping?
- Check that the film roll is rotating on its axis slower than the film is applied to the pallet – this indicates that the pre-stretch head is working properly.
- Try stretching the film after it has been applied to the pallet, as a properly optimised film should have no stretch left. Can you stretch the film further by hand as it is applied to the pallet – this indicates that the film is not properly optimised? This not only causes load stability issues but also uses more resin than is necessary to wrap the pallet.
MAKE SURE that the pallet wrapper is loaded correctly into the machine. Some pallet wrappers can be quite tricky to load and it is important that the operator is fully trained in film loading techniques. Incorrectly feeding the film through the puller will significantly affect the film’s pull performance and can cause damage or blockages to the machine which are difficult and expensive to rectify.
DO NOT use anything other than a towel/cloth or your bare hands on the rollers. Sometimes if the film gets tangled in the rollers you may be tempted to use a knife to remove it – but pallet wrapper rollers are often very fragile and prone to damage. Once they are cut by the knife their efficiency is greatly reduced and they will need to be replaced regularly.
DO NOT change the shrink film you use on your pallet wrapper unless you have had the machine checked and adjusted by a pallet wrapper engineer to ensure the new shrink film is fully optimised. Shrink film types work in very different ways and at very different levels of stretch, and changing shrink film without making all the necessary adjustments will cause problems – either the shrink film is not optimized, reducing load stability, or the shrink film is overstretched, causing problems when the machine breaks.
The most common cause of pallet wrapper failures
- Inadequate cleaning, causing debris to build up, is the most common reason for pallet wrappers to break or operate poorly – see our section above for recommended cleaning regimens for pallet wrappers
- Using the wrong shrink film on your pallet wrapper will cause it to be under or over optimized. You can read more about choosing the best shrink film for your machine in our article What type of pallet wrapper should I use?
Mechanical failure is a common risk as pallet wrappers have many moving parts and can cause costly downtime and delays.
4 Quick ways to improve Pallet wrapper performance
1 - Encourage and monitor the thoroughness of your cleaning regime
Ensure that it is carried out regularly. Make sure that special attention is paid to the thorough cleaning of the pre-stretch rollers.
2 - Make sure your machine is using the most suitable film for your machine and situation.
Film technology has advanced significantly over the past few years and it is no longer the case that thicker film will provide the best holding power or load stability. You may be missing out if you haven’t recently considered what can be achieved with high-tech thin films, as they almost always use less resin per pallet wrapped, at a lower cost per pallet wrapped, while still providing better load stability and holding power.
3 - Make sure your operators are fully trained, competent and confident in using the pallet wrapper
A trained and experienced operator can ensure that the machine is running efficiently and will quickly spot if something is amiss.
4 - Consider bringing in a professional
To run a film test, designed to assess the performance of the machine. This can produce some very quick and big wins.
Conclusion
Regular maintenance of your pallet wrapper should be considered an essential part of your operating procedures and this guide will assist you in developing a suitable maintenance program for your pallet wrapper. As with most maintenance programs, most of the steps are simple and straightforward – but without them, the performance and reliability of your pallet wrapper will be greatly reduced.
