Horse Clippers - care and maintenace

Horse Clippers - care and maintenance

It is best to service your horse clippers and give them a good clean at the end of each clipping season.  However, back in the real world, not everyone has the time or budget to do so!  Here are a few simple tips to keeping your clippers in good condition:

• If you are using an electrical horse clipper, make sure that the cable is in good condition. It should have no wire exposed and no obvious marks.  Check that the plug is in good working order and check that you have a good circuit breaker in place.  This is important when running a clipper from the mains!  Anybody using a clipper without a circuit breaker is putting themselves and their horse at risk of a nasty and potentially dangerous shock. 
• Store your horse clippers in a dry room with a consistent temperature.  The most common problem with clippers is damp getting into the motor after they have been stored in damp tack rooms.  The damp causes the capacitor to blow often along with several other components.
• If you have a battery operated horse clipper, try to avoid temperature changes or any extreme temperatures which can damage batteries.
• Once you have finished clipping, blades should be removed, brushed off and kept in a protective box of bag.  
• Check that your blades do not have any sharp broken teeth.  If one tooth is missing, it doesn't matter too much (although you won't get quite such a good finish) but you do need to make sure that it is not sharp.  A sharp broken tooth could nick your horse.
• Make sure your blades are sharp.  Most people get them re-sharpened every 2 - 4 clips.  Blunt blades will pull your horses hair and make clipping an unpleasant experience.
• Oil blades throughout your clip, roughly every 5 minutes, and again once you have finished. Run the oil along each set of teeth and in any holes and wipe off excess.  Clipper oil is better than spray.  The oil will keep the blades cool and will protect the motor.
• Do not put blades away wet as this may cause them to rust.  Do oil them before you put them away.  Do not use any other kind of lubricant or cleaning agent on your blades.
• If your blades are heating up too much, check the tensioning of your machine.  If the tension is too tight, the blades cause a lot of friction and heat.  If the tension is too loose, it will be like a plastic pair of kids' scissors and your horse clippers will not cut.
• If the tension still seems wrong, or the clipper is leaving patches of hair, you may need to get a new tension set for your clipper.  The tension set is made up of a nut, spring and bolt.  If any of these parts are not in good working order, the tension on your horse clippers will not be at it's best.  It is always worth having a spare tension set.
• Sealed units (usually the Cordless Clippers, as there is no need for trailing wires) require the least maintenance as it is hard for hair or dirt to enter and clog the unit  Cordless units are also the safest horse clippers.
• If your horse clipper has an air filter, be sure to remove it and clean it often (ideally after every clip).  Once it looks worn or clogged, it is important to get a new filter.  This will protect your clipper.  Most mains clippers have some sort of filter.
• It is always best to have a spare set of blades!  A few grains of grit or sand can easily blunt a set of horse clipper blades - and a half clipped horse is not a good look!
• Make sure you register your horse clippers warranty with the manufacturer! Most horse clippers come with a 1 or 2 year warranty.  Check your horse clippers a couple of weeks before you want to do your first clip - just in case.