want to install web control on the unwind roll with electrical brake, should I use the dancer control or the loadcell control? How much does it cost roughly? What's the difference between the dead and the live idler roll?

 

Live shaft rollers are rolls mounted in external bearings where the roll shafts (or journals) rotate with the roll.

Dead Shaft Idler Rolls are rollers with internal bearings, designed to rotate around a stationary, dead shaft.

Deciding between a load cell and a dancer system requires the consideration of several interrelated factors.

Including:

Space limitations
Material thickness
Retrofitting existing equipment

Load cell systems generally take less space and work well with heavier material that cannot wrap around a dancer roll.

 

We have several unwind systems in place for tissue, plastic and paper labels, but the only machines we have that use the load cell method is the stretch wrappers. All others use dancers with various methods. It depends on the products tension characteristics and how good the control system is. My feelings would be to go with dancers as a safe bet, it gives a bit of tolerance and is easier to maintain tension.

Cheers,
Trevor