A smart solution is eradicating trips, reducing maintenance needs, and helping ensure operations are safe in unpredictable environmental conditions.
Australia’s mining sector runs on the reliability of its conveyor systems. When a shutdown on a critical belt costs millions in lost production, even the smallest component can have an outsized impact.
Pacific Automation’s years of experience working and consulting with maintenance teams across the country found one particular pain point that was costing the mining sector millions.
“Nuisance trips were a major concern for engineers,” Pacific Automation product manager – conveyor control and mining Johan Blignaut told ABHR. “Especially on longer belts in remote areas. If they’re down for an hour, they could be losing up to a million dollars, and that money is unrecoverable.”
Blignaut said recurring issues stemmed from three key areas: loose wire connections, exposed switch contacts prone to corrosion, and slack wire tripping caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the lanyard wire.
This was particularly evident in environments like the Pilbara, where temperatures swing drastically between days, nights and seasons.
Designed for harsh conditions
To combat these issues, Pacific Automation, alongside Inelco International, developed the Smart Series Pull Wire Switch. It features Weidmüller A-Series push-in terminals, which use spring-tension technology that grips tighter with movement, making them impervious to vibration and thermal cycling.
“The more you pull, the harder it grips,” Blignaut said. “This completely eliminates loose wire issues, even in high-vibration environments.”
Contacts inside the switch are IP67-rated and fully epoxied, preventing corrosion even in extreme moisture or dust. Each contact connects directly to a fly lead, which is then fed into the spring terminals, adding a second layer of protection. Internal springs inside the switch body have also been eliminated, solving the problem of slack wire tripping.
“Our design tensions the lanyard only at the anchor points,” Blignaut said. “That means the left and right side always maintain the same tension, even when the wire expands in 50-degree Celsius heat.”
This design helps ensure that thermal expansion does not shift the switch into a false trip condition.
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“That issue alone has caused so many unnecessary callouts and downtime. Now, it’s eliminated,” Blignaut said.
Pacific Automation built a product offering a spacious enclosure to accommodate most third-party monitoring systems, including IMAC and Ringway.
“We can fit any monitoring module into the switch before delivery, complete with wiring diagrams and testing,” Blignaut said.
“That removes the need for expensive junction boxes and simplifies installation dramatically.”
The switch supports cable-in, cable-out connectivity, removing the need for additional cabling or external modules and reducing the risk of poor terminations.
“Fewer connection points mean fewer potential faults,” Blignaut said.
This flexibility makes it ideal for both greenfield projects and brownfield conveyor upgrades, especially in operations looking to standardise on specific monitoring platforms.
Easy tensioning
Another area Pacific Automation identified for improvement was the installation process. Older systems were criticised for being difficult and time-consuming to tension correctly.
“We developed a new ratchet system for tensioning, plus clip-on carabiner hooks at both the switch and anchor point for quick removal during maintenance,” Blignaut said. “That makes replacing idlers or adjusting the system incredibly fast.”
Pacific Automation also introduced a tension indicator that aligns with the AS/NZS 4024.3610:2015 safety standard, giving operators a visual confirmation that tension is within compliant range.
“Now, during shutdown statutory trip checks, they can just do a drive-by, visually confirm the tension, confirm a trip and move on,” Blignaut said. “That saves both time and labour cost during statutory maintenance.”
The enhanced Smart Series system has already proven itself in the field. A major mine in Western Australia recently installed a full conveyor safety package, including Smart Pull Wire Switches, rip and spillage detectors and belt drift sensors.
“They previously had so many problems with their old system,” Blignaut said. “Since installing ours, they’ve had zero nuisance trips.”
Any trips that did occur were genuine, preventing potential hazards or damage. The client was so impressed that all future upgrades and new projects will be standardised across operations with Pacific Automation’s system.
“This has always been about finding a solution for the client,” Blignaut said. “Engineering is my passion, and we’ve finally built something that solves those long-standing issues.
“And I don’t think there’s a better product on the market today.”