re-conveyor belt running to one side

flying belgian · Aug 25, 2019

You suggested a conveyor belt will pull to the tight side of the rollers. I keep tightening the roller on the side I am trying to pull the belt but nothing ever changes. Right now I have one side tight and the other side tighter. Belt never moves. Tighten it some more, belt never moves. Do you think I have everything to tight? Should I have it loose and looser. Would belt move then?

Determined · Aug 25, 2019

Sometimes crud gets built up on the back of a belt.

If so then no matter what you try short of cleaning or scraping it off will do much good.

Eagle Beagle · Aug 25, 2019

Which is easier, walking uphill or walking downhill? Belting, hydraulics,electricity always take the easy way.

Do either of your belt pulley's have a crown in the center? A straightedge will determine that. Hard to get a belt to track straight, unless one or more of the pulleys are crowned.

Slack up on the high side, tighten up on the low side. This will help in the short run.

Beagle

Eagle Beagle · Aug 25, 2019

https://woodgears.ca/bandsaw/crowned_pulleys.html.

Hope this link helps,

Beagle

buickanddeere · Aug 25, 2019

(quoted from post at 11:23:09 08/25/19) You suggested a conveyor belt will pull to the tight side of the rollers. I keep tightening the roller on the side I am trying to pull the belt but nothing ever changes. Right now I have one side tight and the other side tighter. Belt never moves. Tighten it some more, belt never moves. Do you think I have everything to tight? Should I have it loose and looser. Would belt move then?

Tighten the other side instead .

fixerupper · Aug 25, 2019

A belt will track to the tightest side of the pulley. When we had draper heads on the combine we always tightened the end of the roller the belt tracked away from. Like Determined said crud on the bottom side will throw it off too.

flying belgian · Aug 25, 2019

I'm more confused then ever now. Eagle and Buick say one way and fixer says the other!!

plowhand · Aug 25, 2019

On gravel conveyors it tracks to the loose side.Is there build up anywhere?a bearing out?

rick n ohio · Aug 25, 2019

I worked with conveyors for forty three years. Take a tape measure and check the difference between your bearing take ups on the tail pulley. Which ever one is the greatest the belt will run down to the opposite side of the tail pulley. When standing behind the tail pulley looking at the conveyor going away from you think of having a bicycle handle bar in your hand fight arm goes forward left hand comes back just a little just like turning a bicycle. Do the opposite to make it go the other way.if will also help if your troffing rollers and return rollers are square.

flying belgian · Aug 25, 2019

A little more clarification. These are the draper belts on my 5-belt pickup head. Each belt is maybe 20" wide. The rollers are flat and clean. No crown to either one. Seams like years ago when we ran a hammer mill with the JD. "A" flat belt, it wasn't hard to get it to stay on the pulleys. Getting them parallel was not that critical. If belt was running to one side we moved the tractor over a couple inches and all was good. As long as it was on the same plane, belt stayed on. I can't believe I'm having such a hard time with this.

Steve@Advance · Aug 25, 2019

If the rollers are flat, no crown, tighten the side you want to push it away from.

If crowned, do the opposite.

But also check the rollers for alignment, worn shaft, twisted frame...

And a poorly laced or failing belt will not track true.

Janicholson · Aug 25, 2019

Flat belts (like belt sander belts move to the tight side. This is true without exception. Loosen the side that it is running to and see what happens. Make sure the side it moves to is sufficiently tight. A car driven on a highway with wear grooves will try to clime out onto the higher pavement for the same reason. Jim

gmccool · Aug 25, 2019

A belt will track to the tight side. Not the loose side.

Janicholson · Aug 25, 2019

Fixer upper is correct. I run a wide belt sander in My construction Lab. (40 inch Time Saver brand) with an automatic belt positioning system. the adjustment allows the sanding belt to run to the right (tight) side slowly. as it moves, it breaks a LED laser beam to a sensor. When it breaks the beam, the top roller retracts about .010" for 2 seconds (allowing the far side to be tighter) the belt then moves sideways to the left about 1/4 inch. this resets the sensor. The cycle time is about 8 to 12 seconds, and makes an audible air puff to assure the user that it is functioning. Take this to the bank. Jim

showcrop · Aug 25, 2019

I am with Eagle, B&D, and Steve. It will go away from the tight side towards the loose side. Here is another way to look at it that may help. Look at it like a thrower belt on a small baler, that is on a steep pitch into the air. The tight side will be the same as the high side. It gets pulled towards the end of the belt frame which is the highest point. S0 the belt will want to run downhill towards the looser side. This is true without exception, Janicholson.

Janicholson · Aug 25, 2019

Nope Jim

Eagle Beagle · Aug 25, 2019

Well, IF the pulleys are ( or at least one of them ) crowned, then the belt will walk, or climb, to the high side. But if the pulleys are flat, then the belt will move away from the tight side to the lower ( least tight ) side.

Working on rock saws with multiple belts, I can only say what I've experienced in the past years. The condition of the belt can come into play if it is stretched or damaged on one side.

If one side is stretched, then it may appear to climb to the higher side.

Now, if you REALLY want to know about how belt tracking works, Please go to the 40 minute mark in this video. Janicholson and Fixer please watch!
Conveyor Belts

Eagle Beagle · Aug 25, 2019

Please watch starting at the 40 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oowVLGSQxmw

JD Seller · Aug 25, 2019

The trouble your having is your going the wrong direction with having flat pulleys/rollers. I run a lot of conveyors for fertilizer and corn. You tighten the side you want the belt to move away from. Think about the rollers being a wedge. The belt will move to the lower/shorter side. The wider the belt the harder it is to get straight. A little bit will usually move the belt when your close to straight.

Older flat belt driven shellers/grinders and such, just about all had domed pulleys. They are more forgiving about not being perfectly straight. If you can get the lacing out of your belt lay it out flat and measure the length of each side. Belts will stretch or may not have been laced correctly to begin with. Wide belts will often not stretch evenly side to side. Then they are curved when laid out flat. On longer conveyor belts this makes then junk.

You can try measuring the belt in place by wrapping a tap measure around the belt/rollers.

Lumpie · Aug 25, 2019

A conveyor belt is no way comparable to a belt sander. Are you trying to adjust it with an empty belt or loaded. I've had belts that always run to one side empty but as soon as it's loaded with material it runs true.

Janicholson · Aug 25, 2019

Well reality and opinion are oft different. Rubber belts are not the same as relatively ridged belts My final statement (as I abandon this thread) is If it tracks off to one side more when adjusted tighter on one side go the other way. Jim

JimKS · Aug 25, 2019

Over tight belts are hard to track.

Jim

flying belgian · Aug 25, 2019

That's what I'm starting to think.

Traditional Farmer · Aug 26, 2019

Is the head pulley square with the conveyor?

Blackhole49 · Aug 26, 2019

Don't know about conveyors, but snowmobile tracks move to the loose side.

showcrop · Aug 26, 2019

(quoted from post at 06:37:51 08/26/19) Don't know about conveyors, but snowmobile tracks move to the loose side.

Blackhole, That is what I have been thinking of through this thread as well. We snowmobilers have to be very aware of tack alignment and adjusting it regularly. Tighten one side-it goes to the other.

re-conveyor belt running to one side

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