The core principles for storage and maintenance of color sorter focus on protecting key optical components, preventing moisture damage to electrical systems, and avoiding jamming of mechanical parts. This prevents significant loss of equipment accuracy and premature component aging after long-term idle storage.
1.Complete Machine Cleaning to Remove Residues
Empty all material residues from the feeding hopper, chutes, vibrators and sorting chamber. Use a soft brush and dry cloth to clean accumulated materials and dust on the inner walls of material channels, so as to prevent residual materials from caking under moisture, pest infestation and blockage of feeding channels.
2.In-depth Cleaning of Core Optical Components
Dampen lint-free soft cloth with anhydrous alcohol of ≥95% concentration, and gently wipe the surfaces of camera lenses, light source glass and background plates to thoroughly remove fine dust and oil contaminants. After air-drying, attach a dust-proof protective film on the lens surface to avoid dust contamination of optical elements during long-term storage.
3.Emptying and Protection of Pneumatic System
Fully shut off the air supply from the air compressor, drain all residual compressed air and condensed water inside the air storage tank, filters and air pipes. Blow all ejector nozzles with low-pressure clean air to ensure no adhered material particles. Fit dust caps over nozzle ports to prevent dust ingress and subsequent ejector valve jamming.
4.Power-off Protection for Electrical System
Turn off the main power supply of the color sorter and unplug the main power connector. Clear floating dust inside the electric control cabinet. After verifying that all wiring terminals are free of looseness and oxidation, place 1–2 packs of industrial desiccants inside the cabinet. Close the cabinet door tightly and apply sealing treatment for dust prevention.
Before restarting the color sorter after long-term storage: remove all dust-proof protective films and re-clean lenses and light sources; inspect all electrical wires for aging and air tubes for cracking. Confirm stable air source pressure at 0.4–0.6 MPa, then run the equipment under no-load condition for 10 minutes to test normal operation of ejector valves, vibrators and fans. Recalibrate sorting accuracy using standard samples. Put the machine into formal production only after the sorting performance meets requirements.