Link belt failure on Bandsaw...

I recently, January 2008, replaced a belt on my 20" Lobo Bandsaw, Taiwanese mfg, with a link belt and it failed miserably. My bandsaw is 9 years old but in excellent condition, 3 HP 12" cutting depth 20" throat and uses a standard V-belt. It has a main drive pulley with a 2 speed primary drive pulley that feeds an intermediate pulley then onto the pulley on the lower wheel. I replaced the belt and ran it for about a 1 minute to see how it well ran with the link belt. Looked good. Hooray. I then installed the blade, adjusted the tension and tracking. Again, started it up to see that it ran smooth. Looks good again. Installed the blade, adjusted tension and tracking and fired it up. Guess what, the link belt came apart. I am positive it was properly joined together. So, I am a patient guy. I went through the process again with the same results. Decided to try it one more time. This time I saw I checked every single link and found them all to be perfectly joined and running in the correct direction, arrows toward rotation. Started up the bandsaw without the blade, looks good...again. Installed the blade, adjusted everything again and started it up and "OFF" again. I gave up on the link belt. I then located the manufacturer and they quickly sent me a replacement belt(s), actually I replaced both belts. Everything works fine now. I have used a link belt on my old Craftsman 10" tablesaw with no problems but I will never try it again on my bandsaw. This problem may problematic due to the manufacture tolerances but thought I would bring it up for others who may have a large 3HP bandsaw and are thinking of using a link belt. Caution is the word. Hope this all makes sense. My fingers aren't always in sync with my thoughts.........Ralph

"Steve Russell" wrote in message news:C1DE68D2.1D071% snipped-for-privacy@houston.rr.com...

Oddly, conventional practice says a single V-belt is good for up to 2HP. Perhaps there's a reason? Link belts are probably designed with that in mind too.

"George" wrote: Oddly, conventional practice says a single V-belt is good for up to 2HP.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ George, even though the motor is rated at 3 HP, according to the OP this failure occurred with the saw idling (and blade tensioned.) The actual HP developed under those conditions certainly would not exceed the rating of the belt. There must be some way the pulley alignment gets disturbed when the blade is tensioned--my guess is that the conventional V-belt is more tolerant of misalignment.

From my experience, link belts by there nature (links) are pretty tolerant of misalignment, Leo..

Not sure what the OP called "failed" either.. went up in smoke? broke?

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hello,

I was the original poster of the message at the bottom of this post and as I mentioned, the link belts failed miserably on my bandsaw. I was able to easily replace the "V" belt on the lower wheel assembly. A good tug on the wheel was all that was needed to get it off... :-) Since I have replaced the link belt with a "V" belt, I have had no problems whatsoever.

I did get a chance to check the alignment on my bandsaw, whilst I awaited the replacement "V" belt and I went through the series of checks on MD's Bandsaw book. Alignment was not a problem with my bandsaw. She checked out fine. Translating the owners manual from Italian to English was a REAL problem! Luckily, Google Translate works very well for things like this. :-)

Since I posted this original message some time ago, I heard from at least five other folks who had similar failures with link belts on larger horsepower machines. Like anything, link belts seem to have their limitations, regardless of the marketing information that is proffered. Take care and all the best to you and yours!

Hello George,

Humm... I don't know, but my bandsaw has always been a 3 H.P. model and it came from the manufacturer with a "V" belt to power the lower wheel. My table saw also has a 3 H.P. motor and it also has "V" belts to power the blade. Maybe "V" belts have gotten better through the years? Take care and all the best to you and yours!

That they have, however, the link types may not have kept up, if they ever were there. Some notes on the shapes, whys and wherefores here

Ok, Steve... If it was you, I know that it wasn't newbe operator error..

I've only used link belts on 3/4 to 1 1/2 HP stuff, but they sure work well there... My little Ridgid bandsaw is a lot quieter and more adjustable with a link belt..

That said, all link belts are NOT created equal.. there are good and bad, just like "conventional" belts..

BTW: When I needed a belt change on my Jet 1442, a link belt was a no-brainer... No way was I going to take the headstock apart to change a belt!

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hello Mac,

I don't recall the manufacturer of my link belt, but it was red in colour and it was highly recommended by lots of users (not for bandsaws though). It was definitely not a el-cheapo link belt... It just was not up to the task in my particular situation. I think the hotter running Italian 3HP motor had a lot to do with it, but nevertheless my problem was solved with a good old fashioned "V" belt... :-) Take care and all the best to you and yours!

I looked at 3 different places selling link belt, Steve, and none of them mentioned HP, but I'm pretty sure that's the problem..

mac

Please remove splinters before emailing

Hello Mac,

I can't recall any HP recommendations either... IIRC, three of the five blokes that emailed me with link belt failure stories were using them on large motors as well. One was a 5HP, the other was a 3HP motor, I don't recall the others.

I do recall that the bloke with the 5HP motor said the belt failed several times a few minutes after start-up, just like mine. I'm thinking about trying a link belt on my drill press, as it's double "V" belt pulley arrangement is noisy when filming and wearing a microphone. I'm also going to line the inside of the lid with some sound deadening material to further quite the monster... :-)

I also wondered a few times if the pulleys may have contributed to the failure, since I would guess they are metric and the link belt was not metric. Maybe the slight difference in size contributed to the problem? I looked for metric link belts back then, but I never found any. Oh well, at least my bandsaw is back in business. My old "V" belt lasted about ten years before it died, so if the new one lasts that long again, I'll be a happy camper. :-) Take care and best wishes to you and yours!