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raovasuki17
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Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 16

Belt tension

04/08/2010 4:13 AM

what is the right way of checking the tension of the flat belts or V belts in drive mechanisms
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PWSlack
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#1

Re: Belt tension

04/08/2010 4:20 AM

The Haynes Manual for the 1990 Volkswagen Passat recommends a play of +/- 10mm at the centre of the alternator drive belt. The tension is adjustable with a lockable screw that alters the position of the alternator to take-up any slack in the belt until the play figure is achieved.

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Kaisan
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#2

Re: Belt tension

04/08/2010 4:33 AM

Buy yourself a simple and cheap deflection tool such as shown below, and then follow the belt manufacturer's specifications such as shown in the example.

Stop the equipment after 24 hours and re-tension. Monitor speed and of driver and driven and re-tension when slip is too high. By the time you hear them squealing they are slipping by as much as 25% and you stand a good chance that both pulley and belts are stu**ed.

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Tobugrynbak
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#3

Re: Belt tension

04/08/2010 4:50 AM

On what equipment, how many belts? What type of cross section on the belts. What devices are being driven and what load do they demand?

PWSlack (GA to you) has given you the best rule of thumb answer to a quite vague question.

Kaisan has provided the best professional advice, based on the little information provided.

To throw an extra curve ball in, some equipment manufacturers have their own requirements on belt tension based on the ability of the bearings to sustain the loads present.

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Bill
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#4

Re: Belt tension

04/08/2010 6:27 AM

Belt tension tester

Gates 91107 Belt Tension Tester

Gates 91132 Belt Tension Tester

Universal Belt Tension Gauge

HOW TO USE A V-BELT TENSION GAUGE

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lyn
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#5
In reply to #4

Re: Belt tension

04/08/2010 11:07 AM

Sonic Air Systems (if it were allowed, I'd give them a big endorsement) thinks belt tension is so important that they provide one of these Gates 91107 Belt Tension Tester with every blower they sell.
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NitinPK
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Engineering Fields - Mechanical Engineering - New Member

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#6

Re: Belt tension

04/12/2010 9:57 AM

There are two methods determining the V-Belt tension. "Formula method" and "General Method" . Being an engineer I would suggest to go for "Formula method". But this method is sometime impratical, so at that point of time "General method" can be followed.

GENERAL METHOD

Follow these simple steps to check the belt tension:

1. For installation, reduce the center distance so the belts may be placed in the sheave grooves without force. Arrange the belts so that both the top and bottom spans have about the same amount of sag. Apply tension to the belts by increasing the center distance until the belts are snug and have a live, springy action when struck with the hand.

2. Operate the drive a few minutes to seat the belts in the sheave grooves. Observe the operation of the drive under its highest load condition (usually starting). A slight bowing of the slack side of the drive indicates adequate tension. If the slack side remains taut during the peak load, the drive is too tight.

3. Check the tension on a new drive several times during the first 24 hours of operation, by observing the slack side span.

4. Keep the drive free of foreign material which might cause slippage or damage to the belt and sheave surfaces.

5. If a V-belt slips, it is too loose. Increase the tension by increasing the center distance. Never apply belt dressing, as this will damage the belt and cause early failure.

FORMULA METHOD:

See below to determine the Belt Tension analytically:

Apart from the above, Kaisan's sugesstion is also cool..

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dhayanandhan.s
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#7

Re: Belt tension

05/05/2020 7:54 AM

Hi raovasuki17

The thumb rule is that the deflection for the belt should be 1/64th of an inch per Inch of span (or) 0.0156 Inch/Inch., (OR) 0.156 mm/c.m., and the span is to be measured between the centres of the shaft and parallel to the belt.

Also pl. open the link below and plenty of details available and you can adopt which ever suits you.

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02VmlUsBJFiWQ9Ye1L7OpPilGytIA:1588674917365&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=HOW+TO+CHECK+BELT+TENSION&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4u_Ogw5zpAhWGzTgGHVDdA0oQsAR6BAgBEAE

Further you can search in google see this link https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk02VmlUsBJFiWQ9Ye1L7OpPilGytIA:1588674917365&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=HOW+TO+CHECK+BELT+TENSION&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi4u_Ogw5zpAhWGzTgGHVDdA0oQsAR6BAgBEAE

DHAYANANDHAN.S

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Users who posted comments:

Bill (1); dhayanandhan.s (1); Kaisan (1); lyn (1); NitinPK (1); PWSlack (1); Tobugrynbak (1)

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