I have an 8″ Grizzly Jointer (593) that has worked well for 2 years. Lately when I start it up, the belts slip and come off the pulleys. These are the original belts, and I tried retensioning them per the manual setup instructions, but the problem persists. They do not appear to be glazed or cracked to gross inspection.
Is there something obvious that I am missing here, or do I just need new belts? If the latter, should I just go for PowerTwist replacements or is there another (better?) option.
Thanks in advance,
g
Glaucon
If you don’t think too good, then don’t think too much…
Replies
I feel foolish asking someone of your caliber this, but have you checked the alignment of the pulleys with a straightedge? From my experience belt mistracking to that degree is usually from a setscrew having slipped resulting in out of plane pulleys. I have never seen belts come off due to glazing or wear.
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It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Yes, like Don , I find that hard to understand. For any vee belt to come off a pulley it must be very slack and "rubbery". You note that there is slippage on start up so the usual cause of that is insufficient tension on the belt(s). I am assuming that the jointer block is normal in its bearings-not tight/seized.
Also, I would expect belts for this application (light work) to last way more than 2 years, even if they are inferior quality and being used almost every day, but ofcourse they would have to be properly adjusted and maintained.
I am not familiar with that particular machine but is it possible for the pulleys to become so far out of alignment that a belt can hop out of the grooves? Seems highly unlikely, but again there would have to be a lot of slack to allow that to happen.
I suggest you get good quality standard vee belt replacements: I have seen (and used) a fair amount of machinery made in Asia that has been equipped with Original (Crappy) Belts and found that they a) they are short lived, b)they can do strange things such as stretch A Lot and exfoliate layers of rubber and canvas and c) can turn inside out-I say again: Inside Out.
Hello Phillip!
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It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
I posted a reply and Hello Phillip was all that showed up. Grrrr------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Six bloody paragraphs of my best writing and all for naught!!!
Well it will have to wait till tomorrow.
Be well my friend....------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Don, that is unfortunate- I look forward to further speculation on this strange Glaucon phenomenon (;).
Meantime, beware of vee belts called "Too Long Rubber Rope Co" or similar. Burn them on sight.
Philip Marcou
Philip and DG,Thanks for your reply. I have to admit that I did not check for coplanarity of the pulleys recently, but rather when I did set-up 2 years ago. They do not appear to have shifted, at least by much- I will check with a straight edge.Tensioning on this machine is pretty simple- it is just the weight of the motor- no tensioner or other mechanism. I'm thinking it is likely that the belts have stretched (Grizzly has been criticized for the quality of their stock belts and offer PowerTwists in the manual itself as aftermarket option).Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
I would highly recommend Power Twist belts. I never installed the original belts on my Grizzly G0543 jointer, I went straight to link belts. I use them everywhere I can.
My jointer uses the narrow 3L belts, your probably need the 3L belts also.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Edited 12/11/2007 8:40 am ET by JerryPacMan
I'm thinking along the same lines...Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
This a a message notification test. I love the Power Twist belts.
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans .
Ordered two yesterday.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
How did your belt problem shake out?------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
I replaced the stock belts with PowerTwist belts, and realigned the pulleys at the same time- they were out of plane. Since then, no problems.Thanks for asking,Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
Good deal.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
All belts will stretch after a while under tension. They're cheap enough get a new one and see if it solves the problem. That would be my first step in the troubleshooting process.
HI
I have the same jointer. and the pullys are a b---h to get inline. Id bet the pullys slipped out of line. The joiner works real well but they sure have a mickey mouse design on the motor mount.
Have a nice day Lee
I agree. I'll check the pulley alignment in a month or so to see if it has changed. First time I've had to adjust the machine in 2 years, so hopefully not a recurring issue.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
I am curious. Had you been using the machine in an unusually hard manner to cause the pulley's to become out of alignment? Is there any 'root cause' that you can think of?Jeff
A follow-up:I had pretty much decided to replace the stock V-belts with PowerTwists. When I replaced the belts, I found that the bolts were tight when I checked the pulleys, but the alignment of the pulleys was off by about 1/2".I realigned and replaced the belts, and for the past 3-4 weeks anyway, I've not had a problem.I think it's likely that the misalignment was responsible for the original problem, but I don't regret upgrading to the PowerTwist belts. Thanks to all for their suggestions.Glaucon
If you don't think too good, then don't think too much...
I have the the 8 inch jointer and was having problems keeping the belts on the pulleys. What I found was the motor mounting bolts had loosened and the shaft of the moter was not square to the drive pulley. I didn't find it until I moved the pulley by hand and watched it walk right off the pulley.
Check the motor mounting bolts as well. If one side is loose, the motor may be tilted causing a loose belt.
No offense intended, but read the entire thread before responding.------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
No offense taken. The cause regarding loose motor mount bolts wasn't posted.
No offense intented, but get a life.
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