There are many reasons as to why the carriage of a pallet wrapper might no be travelling up.
In the guide below we’ve outlined the most common reasons we’ve experienced as to why your pallet wrapper wont go up. They will hopefully help you determine the problem that your pallet wrapper may have.
Do make sure you read the whole way through before you start testing any of our suggestions – you don’t want to be pulling the machine apart if you don’t have to.
Now disclaimer, you’re not a technician or do not have any mechanical staff to help, we suggest calling a technician straight away.
The colour of the goods may affect the height sensor
Most common pallet wrappers are equipped with an infrared sensor for height detection. If the goods on the pallet are black or dark in colour, the eye of the sensor may then think it’s at the top of the pallet already and will not travel any further upwards. This could happen anywhere on the pallet. It could happen with dark ink or especially with black drums.
Also, the pallet wrapper could be in a poor lighting in an environment that is too light or the sensor has too much direct sunlight hitting it.
To test this, put different coloured goods on the wrapper or hold a lighter coloured product over the sensor to eliminate this as a problem.
- When your goods are dark in colour and the sensor is infrared, follow these steps: Switch to black sensor > switch to manual mode > switch to preset wrapping height.
- If your sensor is getting too much light, follow these steps: Close window or roller door to reduce light > move or change angle or position of machine.
The pallet wrapper maybe in the wrong operation mode
Many pallet wrappers have different modes of operation and yours could simply be in a “manual mode”. Make sure you check your manual for this, just to be sure.
If you have an Atlanta Stretch pallet wrapper and its in F (Function 1), with a value of 3 or “MAN” this will be why. Otherwise try it in the default unchangeable program “00”
The pallet wrapper maybe set to a preset height.
If your carriage moves up just slightly and then stops before the top of the goods. It could be set to a preset wrapping height.
If you have an Atlanta stretch pallet wrapper, check that Function 12 is value 50 or “OFF” – any other setting will cause it to stop at the value or height displayed.
Other causes of this problem maybe discontinuity in the cable loom in which case you will need an electrician to fix.
There may be a mechanical issue with your wrapper
If you don’t hear the motor turning when the pallet wrapper is on or you hear grinding or loose sounding metal parts, the motor maybe broken, the belts may have come off, or the belts could be broken (if your machine uses belts).
In rare cases, a chain may have broken on your machine. If this is the case, you may have to call a technician for this sort of issue.
Height sensor issue on your wrapping machine
You could have a height sensor issue which you can test by doing the following:
- Ensure there are no goods on the pallet
- Wave your hand in front of the sensor
- If the sensor doesn’t respond (where the lights change colour) the sensor could be faulty or there may be an issue with the cable or board of the machine.
- You will likely need to call a technician if this is the case to run more diagnostic tests.
- Image of Atlanta height detection sensor on the FM carriage.
Turntable homing sensor issue
If your pallet wrapper can’t count the number of turns, it will continue to just rotate the turntable and never send the carriage up as it thinks it still on its first rotation.
If this is the problem, your machine won’t be able to use its homing function or reset properly. To test this, do the following:
- Make sure that you stop the strapping cycle and press turntable home button or reset button to send the turntable to its “home” position - most machines have this function.
- If it just keeps rotating here or it rotates then gives you an error, the turntable home sensor maybe misaligned, fault, broken or there maybe discontinuity in the cable.
Another cause maybe debris such as stretchwrap wrapped around or under the machine, removing this may fix the issue.
Hopefully, you’ve been able to find the solution to your pallet wrapper issues in this guide. If not, get in touch with us or your technician.
We hope you have found this guide helpful, if you need a new pallet wrapping be sure to checkout our pallet wrapper homepage.