Do link type belts really damage pulleys?

[66354dream]

I recently bought a Porter Cable PCB660DP drill press and upgraded the low quality V-belts to a link type belt but have read on the internet these type of belts damage pulleys? my pulleys are aluminum and would hate to have a belt mess them up, have any of you guys had personal experience with link belts causing this? thanks in advance.

 

[ndnchf]

I've got green link belts on a Walker Turner drill press, an Atlas bandsaw and a 12" Atlas lathe. I've been running them for years with no sign of wear on the pulleys.

 

[Shadowdog500]

No first hand experience with problems, but I read that it requires more tension to get the link belts to grip as well which can cause more bearing wear. I also know the fine woodworkers love putting link belts in thier drillpresses to attain maximum smoothness. I have that same drillpress and it is smooth enough without a link belt. And I'm still running the origional belt in it. I'm in the habbit of loosening up the tension on a belt after using the drill press so the belt don't take a set.

You will love that drill press!!

Chris

 

[Brad54]

I've had a linkbelt on my drill press for over 10 years, and never a problem. I use my drill press a bunch, too, so if they were bad on pulleys, I'd have found out.

-Brad

 

[66354dream]

No first hand experience with problems, but I read that it requires more tension to get the link belts to grip as well which can cause more bearing wear. I also know the fine woodworkers love putting link belts in thier drillpresses to attain maximum smoothness. I have that same drillpress and it is smooth enough without a link belt. And I'm still running the origional belt in it. I'm in the habbit of loosening up the tension on a belt after using the drill press so the belt don't take a set.

You will love that drill press!!

Chris

You are right I love that thing, I'm just OCD about getting the most out of my equipment. I didn't really notice it being quieter but I can tell the difference in the quill vibration, the link belt REALLY helped.

 

[Davefr]

No first hand experience with problems, but I read that it requires more tension to get the link belts to grip as well which can cause more bearing wear.

I've found just the opposite. They wrap around the pulley easier so it takes less tension for them to grip. Lower tension and less vibration should reduce wear.

 

[organ]

Whoever told you that isn't bright...

 

[larry_g]

Regular belts over time will also wear out a pulley. Come back to haunt your great grandson and see if he can answer your question, as I don't think your going to determine the answer in your lifetime. We have them on a couple of tractors and they run a lot more than your drill press and they are still turning the pulleys.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[454ragtop]

Personally, I don't like them on aluminum pulleys, and would only run them on something like a lathe where disassembly of the spindle bearings would be required to use a conventional belt. Used to have an Atlas 10" lathe that came with link belts on it, the small step on the motor pulley was worn to the point of being unusable. I'd just use a top quality belt with notches on the inside of the vee, an "AX" series belt instead of an "A" series. I've had excellent results with those. I'd use link belts on cast iron pulleys, but not comfortable on aluminum. YMMV.
Jim

 

[justme-]

Back ages ago I used to sell tons of those link type belts for word workers - many unisaws were graced with them... never heard any issues.
As to wearing pulleys, yes all belts wear the pulley - aluminum wears faster than steel, nothing new there. V-belts are made to several standard construction methods - some have kevlar to make them stronger, some have notches in the narrow part for tighter radii pulleys, some are cloth covered on all sides. Each serves a purpose and many can be used interchangeably.
Unless you have a small (very small) diameter pulley on an item the AX variant to get the notches doesn't help in any way, and unless the pulleys are sized for it the A series may not be the correct belt if it's supposed to use a 2L, even tho it may "fit". Many people incorrect choose a replacement belt from ignorance of the sizes. Remember length is from the inside of the belt.

 

[Jere]

I have one on my shopsmith, it is the second one that has been on it. There is some wear the sheaves are just slightly polished. They are cast aluminum and the belt must have picked up aluminum powder and polished the sheaves from the sheaves themselves

 

[ndnchf]

It was the best thing I've done to improve the smoothness of my 12" Atlas lathe.



Same for my old Atlas band saw.



And on my Walker Turner drill press.

 

[bonneyman]

Great chart info, justme!

They might have a little increased wear.
I slapped on onto my evap cooler, in an attempt to reduce the start-up "clunk" noise. Figured all the individual links would each 'give" a little, and absorb the start-up slap. It helps minimally.
As far as wear, I do notice some black on the belt links after several years. Could be the aluminum pulley is wearing and leaving oxide deposits on the belt. The fiber-core urethane link belt is harder than typical rubber belts. But as has been said, aluminum pulleys wear anyway. Can't really go to cast iron in a cooler due to rust, so, I accept alum wear.

 

[sberry]

25 cents in a lifetime. Your car could depreciate several dollars a day.

 

[Jay66]

Love link belts and never had a wear issue

 

[rlitman]

Unless you have a small (very small) diameter pulley on an item the AX variant to get the notches doesn't help in any way

Solid belts wear pulleys more slowly than interrupted (aka cogged) belts, such as the AX you refer to. Link belts would in theory have similar wear issues, because they too have an interrupted surface.

At my work, we have several 10HP blowers that run 24x7. The 3450RPM blower motor has IIRC a 10" dual belt sheave, and the wheel has a 6" adjustable sheave. The blower motor current draw is ever so slightly lower with a BX belt than with a B belt. The BX is known to save a little energy, and you can actually see the difference with a Fluke meter. I wouldn't call 6" "very small", but BX is thicker than AX...

Anyway, we wear through solid belts in 3-4 months. I've seen BX interrupted belts last as long as a year (both with top shelf brand like Goodyear or Browning matched pairs of belts). The BX belts run cooler (as you'd expect with a link belt as well), which explains why they last longer.

In 5 years of non-stop service, the only cast iron sheaves we've worn out were ones that came from refurbished equipment (with an unknown amount of prior service). I haven't seen a sheave wear out in just 5 years.

Yes, aluminum wears faster. Yes, link belts wear out the sheaves faster.

But if your belts are aligned properly, pulleys last a LONG time, and its not like you're not turning on your drill press, applying a load, and then going away on vacation for months at a time.

 

[justme-]

6" is not a small enough belt you really need the BX over the B - you found a reason based on your experiences to use BX that works for you. That's the most important. I do question what exact belts are wearing so long. Bx shouldn't give that big a life increase alone from my understanding - there is some reduced friction entering and leaving the sheave from the increased flexibility and thus reduced heat but I would think a Kevlar or full cloth over a raw edge would make more of a difference.
I can't locate the reference info I have on v belt design relating to X variants and sheave radi - will post when I do. Here's a great page from Carlysle with more vbelt data than most people who are not engineers would ever want... but there is good data (cross reference, layout, tensioning, daidum measure, etc) you may not find easily elsewhere.

 

[rlitman]

Kevlar has less stretch, and is a must on systems with back-side idlers (like my snowblower), but my blowers use dual belts, so with kevlar, I think it's likely to wear one belt faster than the other, so my hypothesis is that they'd be worse. A cloth wrap might run cooler, though I'd be worried about slippage causing increased wear too. Cloth is really used in applications that clutch on the belt (also like my snowblower) for controlled slippage. Never tried them though, but I think I need the raw edge for the full power transfer.

Yeah, I agree that the quadrupling of life switching to BX seems a little odd to me too.