Common Vibrating Feeder Failures and Solutions

date icon September.30,2025

1. No vibration or intermittent operation after startup
Causes:

The vibration motor fuse is blown or the coil is short-circuited;

The protective cover is damaged and rubbing against the eccentric weight.
Solution:

Replace the fuse promptly, inspect the interlayer or interturn areas of the vibration motor coil to eliminate any short circuits, and properly connect the lead wires;

Repair or replace the protective cover, and adjust the angle of the eccentric weight.

2. No feeding or insufficient feeding
Causes:

The silo load squeezes the feeder chute, causing fatigue damage or breakage of the spring plate and connecting fork;

Overfeeding causes material to accumulate in the feeder base, increasing screw conveyor resistance and causing hopper operation problems;

The feeder’s vibration amplitude is low, preventing the vibrator from properly adjusting the amplitude.

The vibrator’s thyristor is broken down by excessive voltage or current, or the gaps between equipment components are clogged with excess material;

The air gap between the core and the armature is outside the range of 2.0 ± 0.1 mm, either too large or too small, affecting feeding capacity.

Solution:

The feed and discharge ports of the trough should not be rigidly connected to other equipment. Allow the trough to move freely so as not to affect the normal vibration amplitude of the vibrating feeder.

Immediately reduce the feed rate and maintain a uniform feed rate.

Clear any clogged material promptly and replace the vibrator’s thyristor.

Appropriately adjust the air gap.

3. Abnormal noise or loud banging during operation.

Cause:

Loose or broken anchor bolts or bolts connecting the vibrator to the trough.

Broken vibration spring of the vibrating feeder.

Unstable voltage in the vibration motor.

Solution:

Inspect all bolts and replace or tighten them.

Replace the vibration spring.

Adjust the motor control to maintain the rated operating voltage to prevent collisions between machine components and voltage instability during vibration.

4. Feeder Won’t Start
A feeder won’t work if it doesn’t start. If this occurs, check the following three aspects:

Check whether the three-phase power supply is broken and the voltage meets the requirements;

Check whether the motor is stuck;

Check whether the feeder is starting under load. If so, clear the load before starting.

5. Feeder Oscillation: Small Amplitude and Lateral Vibration
The feeder oscillates with small amplitude and lateral vibration, indicating that the material is moving in an unbalanced direction.

Cause:

The two vibration motors may be running in the same direction, or one may be malfunctioning.

Solution:

Check the vibration motor wiring to ensure that the two motors are running in opposite directions. If any components or motors are damaged, replace them immediately.