Re: October 30 - Aground again, Naturally (a riff on a 60's song)...

Skip,
a couple of observations:
repeated belt failure is unlikely cause by chance. Sounds like you are over
stressing the unit. If you have( as I suspect) a high output alternator and
a smart regulator), you have options
1. most smart regulators have a belt load adjustment. Adjust it
2. You may require a dual belt system to carry the load.
My point is that you have had this problem continually and want to solve it
once and for all before you go far afield

regards,
Dennis Gibbons
S/V Dark Lady
CN35-207
"Skip Gundlach" <SkipGundlach@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1193832339.981742.267260@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Oct 30, 6:40 pm, "Garland Gray II" <gg...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I used to use Gates, but now I've been using Dayco Topcog belts that are
sold at Advance. They were recommended as better, and certainly seem
tougher.
BTW, you aren't using the Gates belt with Kevlar are you ? I tried them
once
resulting in rapid, repeat failure. From a call to Gates I learned that
if
any sheave is below a certain diameter, kevlar reinforced belts will not
last.


Hi, Garland,

I don't know - they are Napa's "heavy duty FHP" 4L490W. Certainly
that's a possibility.

I really think it's got to be the pulleys, which are demonstrably
smaller than 1/2 other than on the alternator. I also have a new 3/8
pulley, and the current belts I'm trying are 10mm, as recommended by
one in another list as lasting him more than hundreds (plural) of
hours, so I'll mount that after this one fails. Currently, it just
goes into both of the engine sheaves, and sits low in the alternator,
though well off the bottom. It's also cogged on the bottom, cited as
better for tight turns as well as heat dissipation.

I've felt the engine pulley, and I believe that it's potentially at
fault, too, in that the edges, while not rough (sandblasted during our
refit, and repainted, not rusting before reinstallation), are slightly
pitted. In any case, the speed of wear on the new belt will tell us -
and, for those better connected than I to the world of belts, it's a
25 Xl 7483, which is a tiny bit longer than I need; I'm going to get
the next shorter one today, along with another of these as a spare,
and if the shorter one doesn't go on in the next change, exchange it
for a 7483.

I tried Top Cogs, but I'd been told I needed a 50" belt, and while it
went on easily, there wasn't enough stretch room, and they quickly
started slipping. I've been trying to find another source after the
one I found in Charleston and haven't succeeded yet, but will lay in
some of those as well, if I can. And, of course, if the 3/8-10mm route
works, that will save me having to buy new pulleys, a route I'm sure
will be horribly expensive as they're no longer made...


L8R

Skip

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