V-belts are cheap, right? That’s what most people in industry think, but a dumpster full of worn-out belts represents a good amount of money. Not only that, but the time required to change belts, along with any downtime, can be significant. Make Belt Drives Efficient Belt drives need four things to make them efficient: Proper…
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An often-overlooked precision maintenance tool is the V-belt tension gauge. Many maintenance technicians believe they can just go by “feeling” for what proper belt tension should be. In our Reliable Precision Maintenance (RPM) course, we often let mechanics tension the belts to what they “feel” is correct. Then we check the tension with a V-belt…
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A customer recently called saying his Belt Hog Sheave Alignment Tool was out of calibration. He stated that when he placed the Belt Hog lasers in the sheave grooves, they showed a slight amount of misalignment. However, when he rotated the lasers 180 degrees to check, there was a variance of 3mm (0.118”). While this…
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All over the world belts provide power transmission in transportation, industrial and commercial machines. Belt drives for power transmission are classified as frictional drives. The belt transmits power by contacting the sides of the drive and driven sheaves. Belts are available in several styles: Flat belts, v-belts, Synchronous (timing) belts and Multi-ribbed belts. While belts…
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Proper belt installation and tensioning and sheave alignment are essential in order for a facility to function at optimum efficiency. A key thing to understand when it comes to belts is proper sizing. Whether you are using a correctly-sized belt for your machine will have a significant impact on the machine’s ability to function at…
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Proactive Maintenance includes a number of maintenance strategies, such as Precision Maintenance, Reliability Based Maintenance, Reliability Centered Maintenance, and Root Cause Failure Analysis. The idea is to anticipate and solve problems before they become problems. Reliability Centered maintenance would begin with a study done on a piece of equipment to gain understanding of all its…
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A creative application for the VibrAlign Belt Hog sheave alignment tool has paid off for New Flyer of America and one of its customers, King County (Seattle, WA) Metro Transit Division Fleet Engineering and Vehicle Maintenance. New Flyer is a major manufacturer of heavy-duty buses in the U.S. and Canada. The Belt Hog is…
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VibrAlign recently released an excellent “how-to” video on its You Tube channel. This video explains not only how to use the VibrAlign Belt Hog laser sheave/pulley alignment tool, but also introduces the 3 concepts of sheave misalignment and how to correct them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmtMGikWApw However proper sheave alignment is only one step in making belts last. …
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Variable pitch sheaves are used frequently in air handlers. They allow the design engineer to increase or decrease the speed of the driven machine. In doing so, they allow for: Changes in amp draw of the motor, to maximize efficiency, Increase or decrease static pressure and air flow. Normally, the design engineer will specify the…
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In our quest to realign America, we’re always on the lookout for intriguing applications. Sometimes they pop up in odd places. My buddy Steve Matthews with PdM Solutions spotted this situation while in the field (literally!). This has to be a maintenance headache–there were plenty of belts laying around. How would you tackle this? We…
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If you’re working to maintain machines, Acoem USA wants to help.
We’re committed to providing tools, training, and services that will transform your approach to maintenance and reliability.
