Before You Shut Down: A Christmas Maintenance Checklist

For many plants, the Christmas break is the one time of year the whole line stops for more than a weekend. It’s also a short window, and it goes quickly. A little planning in early December turns that quiet time into a proper maintenance opportunity, and makes the January restart far smoother.

Here’s a simple checklist to work through: before you close, while the line is quiet, and when you start up again.

Before you close: listen while it’s running

The best time to find problems is while the equipment is still working. In the last couple of weeks before the break, walk the line during production and take notes.

• Listen for gearboxes, motors or bearings that sound different from usual: grinding, knocking or whining.
• Feel for heat (safely, with a thermal gun if you have one). A motor or gearbox running hotter than its neighbours is telling you something.
• Look for oil leaks around gearbox seals, and for chains or belts that are slapping or slipping.
• Ask operators which spots have been giving them trouble this year.

Anything you find goes on the shutdown job list, and any parts you’ll need get ordered now.

Order parts early

Suppliers, freight companies and overseas manufacturers take a break too. Parts ordered in late December can sit in transit until well into January, and the first weeks of the new year are busy for everyone.

If a job needs a replacement gearbox, motor, bearing or conveyor part, confirm availability and lead times in early December so the part is on site before the shutdown starts. If you built a critical spares list this year, now is a good time to check it against what’s actually on the shelf. How to build a critical spares list.

While the line is quiet

With equipment safely isolated and locked out, work through the jobs you can’t do during production:

• Clean conveyors, drives and guards properly, including the areas that are hard to reach during the year.
• Check gearbox oil levels and condition, and look at seals and breathers.
• Clear motor fan covers and cooling fins, which clog with dust and product over a busy year.
• Check chain and belt tension and wear, and inspect sprockets and pulleys.
• Look at conveyor rollers, bearings and guides for wear, flat spots or damage.
• Replace anything on your job list, and record what was done.

For plants running through summer

Not everyone stops for Christmas. If your line keeps going through the holidays, the risk is a breakdown when fewer people are around and suppliers are closed.

Make sure your critical spares are on site, your team knows where they are, and you have your suppliers’ holiday hours and after-hours contacts written down somewhere easy to find.

Starting up in January

A clean restart is worth a few extra minutes:

• Check every guard is back in place before power is restored.
• Run conveyors empty first, and listen and look before product goes on.
• Check motors and gearboxes for unusual noise or heat in the first hours of production.
• Keep an eye on anything you replaced or adjusted during the shutdown.

We can help you get ready

If your shutdown list includes gearboxes, motors, bearings or conveyor parts, send us the details early in December and we’ll help identify what you need and check availability. Use our Gearbox Enquiry Form or email [email protected].

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