Asset type
Conveyor monitoring
SAM4 monitors belt conveyors, screw conveyors, and chain conveyors from the motor control cabinet — detecting bearing degradation, misalignment, blockage, and overload conditions without sensors on the conveyor itself.
At a glance
- Monitoring method
- Electrical Signature Analysis (ESA)
- Sensor location
- Motor control cabinet (MCC)
- Voltage range
- Low and medium voltage
- Drive type
- DOL, soft starter, VFD
- Conveyor types
- Belt, screw, chain, bucket elevator
- Faults detected
- 5 fault types
- Typical lead time
- 2–8 weeks before failure
Why monitor conveyors
When the conveyor stops, the entire process stops
Conveyors are the arteries of bulk material handling. They connect crushers to screens, mills to stockpiles, and production lines to dispatch. A single conveyor failure can halt an entire processing chain — and most conveyors have no condition monitoring beyond visual inspection.
typical cost of an unplanned conveyor failure — including production loss, emergency repair, and material spillage cleanup.
of conveyor drive failures are bearing-related and detectable weeks in advance through electrical signature analysis.
average downtime for an unplanned conveyor belt or drive failure in a mining operation.
What SAM4 detects on conveyors
Five fault types from one sensor location
| Fault type | What's happening | How SAM4 detects it | Typical lead time | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bearing degradation | Drive roller, idler, or gearbox bearing wear and lubrication breakdown | Characteristic bearing fault frequencies in the motor current spectrum | 3–8 weeks | Full |
| Misalignment | Drive shaft or coupling misalignment between motor, gearbox, and drive roller | 2× running speed component in current spectrum, progressive trend | 2–6 weeks | Full |
| Blockage | Material buildup, chute blockage, or belt tracking issues increasing load | Load signature shift — sustained increase in torque demand above baseline | Hours–days | Full |
| Overload | Excessive material feed rate or belt/chain tension issues | Current draw exceeding baseline thresholds at equivalent speed | Hours–days | Full |
| Electrical faults | Motor winding degradation, supply quality issues, drive faults | Phase imbalance, harmonic changes, and winding signature anomalies | 4–12 weeks | Full |
Detection capability depends on drive topology, sampling rate, load variation, and operating conditions. See ESA detection constraints.
Installation on conveyors
30 minutes. No access to the conveyor structure required.
Open the motor control cabinet
SAM4 installs at the MCC — the same panel your electricians already access. No confined space entry, no scaffolding, no process shutdown.
Clip sensor onto motor supply cables
Current and voltage sensors clip directly onto the existing cabling. No wiring changes. No interruption to the asset's operation.
Connect and commission
The SAM4 gateway connects via cellular (4G/LTE) — no dependency on your IT network. Monitoring starts immediately. First diagnostic results within 48 hours.
Where conveyors are monitored
Industries using SAM4 on conveyors
See SAM4 monitoring conveyors
A 30-minute demo shows SAM4 running on conveyors like yours — with real fault data and real diagnostics.