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Thanks for the share. Great read!

Originally Posted by IronArcher

Exactly. Most of my belts are running 4-7 years+...save for a few timing belts that I think they specked out too small)

I'll concede to that!

Originally Posted by IronArcher

In general, I'll replace sheaves maybe every 5th belt change....sometimes not even then. I'll put a guage on it and make the call, well, I'll put a guage on it if I feel wear with a finger, and use the guage to see how much wear there is.
Better than OK alignment (normally use a Laser/reflector), and belt tension makes them last a lot longer

PLEASE do not post in 2 year old threads.

Thank you.

Originally Posted by jayguy

i have seen sheaves ruined after 1 belt change. but if you are aligning and tensioning properly, then after 5 belt changes, that may be about right. of course, that is assuming that you aren't changing the belt every year...only when the belt is worn out. which could be 5 years or more between belt changes.

Exactly. Most of my belts are running 4-7 years+...save for a few timing belts that I think they specked out too small)

Originally Posted by TechmanTerry

I find that awful hard to believe that a pulley gets that damaged that it "needs" to be replaced after just 5 belt changes.

i have seen sheaves ruined after 1 belt change. but if you are aligning and tensioning properly, then after 5 belt changes, that may be about right. of course, that is assuming that you aren't changing the belt every year...only when the belt is worn out. which could be 5 years or more between belt changes.

Originally Posted by IronArcher

In general, I'll replace sheaves maybe every 5th belt change....sometimes not even then. I'll put a guage on it and make the call, well, I'll put a guage on it if I feel wear with a finger, and use the guage to see how much wear there is.
Better than OK alignment (normally use a Laser/reflector), and belt tension makes them last a lot longer

I find that awful hard to believe that a pulley gets that damaged that it "needs" to be replaced after just 5 belt changes.

You want to double or triple belt life and years on pullies. VFD and if the manufacturer of equipment would design the drive system not at the motor hp but 25% bigger. And all drive designs look at pulley diameters, center to center and belt speed. If you leave a paper tag with a wire tied to the motor with when the belts were changed wouldn't make someones life easier.

At a Browning belt/pulley/sheave class we were told that 1 turn of the drive pulley changes the CFM by 5%.

Norm Christopherson has 2 articles on belts that I know of.
1- Belt Length Changes, along w/ formulas.
2-Arc of Contact & Avoiding Slippage.

Both a Good Read!

In general, I'll replace sheaves maybe every 5th belt change....sometimes not even then. I'll put a guage on it and make the call, well, I'll put a guage on it if I feel wear with a finger, and use the guage to see how much wear there is.
Better than OK alignment (normally use a Laser/reflector), and belt tension makes them last a lot longer

Originally Posted by timebuilder

The truth is, it depends on the client.

I have one site where I made an initial PM inspection and wrote up all 15 belts and pulleys.

A year later, they approved half of them.

So, if I know that the customer will act, I act. If the customer will ignore, I go on to the next unit.

I have run into this on most of our regular customers over the past couple years. I can talk about it until I'm blue in the face, but nothing gets done until something breaks. There has been a shift for whatever reason in the maintenance spending with a lot of companies. I now mention it at the beginning of each fiscal year, and that's about it unless something breaks.

Aligning and dialing out the sheaves is a must in my PM's.

Originally Posted by Capt Wolf

Good read on the Browning site.

"Can you explain why worn sheaves (v-belt pulleys) contribute to energy efficiency loss?"

I think all of us need to read this, short read. I'm replacing a few VP pulleys now and finding out that I should have started earlier on some of them!!

.

American or China...
I need to look into who makes the ones I use.

Pulley quality matters also, it seems the make up of cast iron varies alot between brands.

Originally Posted by timmy2734

Just curious, what makes you say that?

Years of experience with every brand of belt.

Optibelts are far superior to Browning.

We switched to Browning from Optibelts a few years ago when Johnstone gave us an amazing deal. Our boss fell for the sales pitch from the browning sales rep. They really weren't even close to the quality of Optibelts.

Yep. Just curious what issues he's had with Browning belts.

timmy2734 are you talking about what Brian8383 posted?

Originally Posted by Brian8383

First bit of advice:

Don't use browning belts.

Use Optibelts as a first choice and Gates as a second. Everyone else is a distant third.

Just curious, what makes you say that?

I did not know Browning made belts!

Gates are the only ones I use here. It's the pulleys I was posting about. And Browning's website has a good post we all should read. Browning's must read... "Can you explain why worn sheaves (v-belt pulleys) contribute to energy efficiency loss?".

Got to let them know it's cheap and will save them money in the short time and long term. We all need to let customers know, this little post on Browning site, "Can you explain why worn sheaves (v-belt pulleys) contribute to energy efficiency loss?" is a must read!!

I'm in-house, at one location, so I don't have customers to deal with, but all the same, I do take care of hundreds of workers in one day x 5!!