Technical Recommendations for Maximizing PRECISIONMESH™ Open Mesh Belting Performance

PRECISIONMESH™ is a tough polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-based fluoropolymer resin-impregnated, open-mesh fiberglass fabric. The product design is renowned its air-flow potential and rapid drying rates. Applications involving superior air and heat transfer can greatly benefit from the use of this product. Because the material has a 1/16” or 1/4” open weave, air flows through effortlessly—making it ideal for use in heat tunnels, screen printing, process freezing and drying operations. All these beneficial features are great, but you have to take proper care of your material to ensure its performance levels don’t falter after periods of heavy use. Read along below to learn our top tips and procedures that will maximize the life and performance of your open mesh belt(s).

Regular Cleaning

Consistent cleaning is the first step towards taking care of your PRECISIONMESH™ belts. It may come as a bit of a surprise, but because of the technical nature of this product very specific cleaning guidelines have followed to ensure the product’s structure isn’t altered unintentionally. The following procedures are best to keep top of mind when cleaning your mesh belts:

• Wipe down the belt with a damp, non-abrasive cloth. Using a non-abrasive material will safeguard your cleaning efforts, ensuring no mechanical damage or scratches are sustained to the belt or the PTFE (Teflon®) surface.
• You can apply detergents to clean the belt; however, it is not advisable to use detergents that have a high pH base (8.0 maximum at operating temperatures). To be safe, choose a detergent with a more neutral pH range. 
• As crazy as this may sound, water is the enemy here! Do not, under any circumstances, use water to clean your PRECISIONMESH™ Using water in the cleaning process may cause a reduction in the mechanical strength of the mesh fabric.

Belt Tension and Machine Set-Up

The major tip we offer in regard to belt tension is to simply operate the belt at the minimum tension necessary to drive it. There’s no need to increase the tension above its minimum driving rate, and doing so will only result in reduced longevity of your equipment. Simply put, the lower the operating tension, the longer the belt life.

Ensuring proper machine set-up involves confirming that all rollers are straight and correctly aligned. This isn’t as easy as it sounds; you won’t be able to “eyeball” it. Instead, we highly recommend that you use an automatic guiding system to calibrate this process.

Operating Temperature

You won’t have any troubles with your mesh belts involving temperature-related deformation, assuming you keep them operating within our specified range. PRECISIONFAB™ and PRECISIONMESH™ products are rated to withstand continuous operating temperatures, from    -100°F (-73°C) to 500°F (260°C). Operating this product outside of this range can result in serious structural damage to the material—so please, stick to the regulations on this one.  

Based on years of experience, and sampling many products, we can offer market recommendations for what suits your needs for any specified application. Contact us to obtain samples for your evaluation today!