[TowerTalk] Belt Slippage on LM-470 Towers
paul@w8aef.com
paul at w8aef.com
Thu Nov 24 14:50:35 EST 2005
It could also be that the belt is too narrow and rides in the bottom of the pulleys. The belt dressing is a good idea. Even if it slips when first applied it will (should) reduce slippage in the future.
There doesn't seem to be a brand name on my belt. There are two sets of numbers on it: 321 E 12 and 43517. I think the 43517 is the manufacturers part number. This is a belt that I purchased to replace the worn belt that came with the tower. Sorry, can't remember where I obtained it, maybe an auto parts store. This belt also has 'teeth', for lack of a better word. It does not have the same continuous cross-section, it has teeth.
Also, the Tri-ex bill of materials calls for either a Dayco 4L410 or Gates 2410 belt.
de Paul, W8AEF
----- Original Message -----
From: Joe Giacobello
To: k0dan
Cc: paul at w8aef.com ; Tower Talk ; k6ll at adelphia.net ; KJ6Y at aol.com ; K9RB at bellsouth.net ; wa3gin at erols.com
Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2005 7:27 PM
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Belt Slippage on LM-470 Towers
Thanks, Paul, Dan, Skip, both Daves and Roger.
To answer several questions, I had recently changed to a new belt, applied grease to the drum via the fitting and changed the gearbox oil. Frankly, I may have been a little lax about oiling the pulley bearings on one tower, but I know I had done it recently on the other tower. I really don't think the issue is the pulleys or obstructions to the movement of sections.
Usually, I can get things to work properly by simply retightening the belt. In fact, I got it running yesterday and while it was going up sprayed Belt Dressing on the pulleys. The slippage immediately began again. I think that Belt Dressing is more of a lubricant and seems to make the problem worse. The can says it is for the elimination of squeaks.
The idea of reducing the belt size by a half inch makes a lot of sense. In the past I had blindly replaced the belts with the identical size that came with the towers. I bought a shorter belt yesterday and will try it out on Friday.
Frankly, I had no idea that there was some kind of clutch mechanism associated with the large pulley. I knew that the mounting hardware was unusual, but that information was a revelation. I'll pay more attention to it in the future.
I'll let you know how the shorter belt works tomorrow.
73, Joe
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