Help. New belts - pump alignment

Pat Norman

Pat Norman

New member
Well deeper problems were causing my surging. I guess belts were slipping. All 4 broke at once today. Put new identical belts on today. Whew what a job. I had to take out two of the four base bolts to get enough wiggle to get the belts on. Barely was able to get the bolts back in. I guess the belts will wear and stretch a little soon and let me get better alignment. It's just a little cockeyed right now. Look at the pic and see if y'all think this is to far out of line to use. I don't need to pull the pulley end out any more due tension. I wish I could get the front to push toward the motor some to line it up but I can't figure out how because of the belt tension.

uploadfromtaptalk1381448840881.jpguploadfromtaptalk1381448855541.jpg
 
I dont know about yours but I ran my first machine like that for 1 1/2 seasons. it still runs fine today. It's an alladin 4gpm 3500. 12 hp kohler. 2 belts. Give it a test run see how it goes.
 
4 belts breaking is crazy and I would worry what the cause was. 4 belts?? What horsepower is that for?

You gotta twist that pump and then with your other hands crank down the bolt right under the pulley, that should hold it while the others get tightened. Terrible frustrating job it can be.

Does the pump slide at all? I've used a 2x4, ratchet straps etc over the years to pull things into tension/alignment - now I have a nice bolt which pushes the pump into tension.
 
Longer belts, good idea, seems like you would have enough sliding range on the pump.
 
Too much tension can cause premature wear on the pump and engine bearings. If the belts vibrate, snug them up until the vibration is gone and you should be good to go. Just check them after a week or two for stretching.
 
I guess the cause is they were 4 or 5 years old. They were really worn down compared to the new belt. I used the exact same replacement belt. 1 or 2 inches longer it would probably be too loose. There's not a lot of "slide" for adjustment. I'm gonna run it probably 5 or 6 hours tomorrow then see if I can get it adjusted a little better.
I was a little confused trying to figure out the tensioner under the pump. But I did loosen it up till the two nuts were at the end and they were not affecting tension. Then used them to just add a little tension as we firmed up the base plate. How much flexion should the belts have?
 
Dang I tried every way feasible then busted one of the 1/4" carriage bolts on the tensioner under the pump. I've got it lined up a little better maybe. I gotta run it 5 or 6 hours tomorrow then maybe I can regroup.
 
Last edited:
That was not a pressure pro 8gpm at 3000psi was it Pat?

Mine shredded all 4 belts the other week, I called Russ to get me the belt size as the biggest part of any of the belts was about 1/4 of the size of a dime and the cords were wrapped around the engine pulley. This machine was bought in 2006 so it was about 7 years old and had the original belts, not any more. hahahahaha soon it will have all new belts.

I spent over 6 hours trying to get the pump close enough to the engine to get the belts on but could not do it, the slide under the pump was blocking the pump from going back any more. I did not want to remove the pulleys to take the pump all the way off so I took it to a shop, it should be done tomorrow as I was getting very frustrated messing with this machine and was about to just torch it if I got any more mad. Time to walk away and cool down.

It would be cool to see a youtube video showing how to do this type of job as you can learn a lot of great things from videos.

Thanks again Russ.
 
having been an electrician last millennium fitting new belts to pumps, air compressors, refrigeration units all running multiple belts like you pressure pump I can offer some insight for your problem. Either the motor or the pressure pump hold down bolts should be going through slotted holes in the chassis of your skid. Usually one or the other is in a fixed position. this gives you a datum to work from. the front face of the pulleys should be aligned true with a straight edge across the faces. The tension on the belts should be such that you have about 20mm downward deflection in the belts and it should be equal across all 4 belts. The long term issues you can have with the belts being out of alignment is that the belts will cut out way earlier than they should. If the belts are over tensioned you can load the pump and motor bearing and they will crap out that's why the deflection in the belts is important. Yes the belts will stretch to a degree but in your case I would suggest not to the amount you need to re-align the pulleys to true. Over tension is probably worse than the belt slipping a little. Of course if the belts slip to much they will become glazed and loose their friction and the efficiency will drop way off. What is the condition of the belt grooves in the pulleys? if the V's are worn on the sides the belts will be running on the bottom flat on the belts rather than on the sides of the belt. Surface area of belt sides + good v's in the pulleys = good traction = higher efficiency= better HP transfer= better output. I can't remember what the efficiency rate is for belts, something like 87% as opposed to chain which is something like 98%. if you unit has a lot of hours on the clock you may need to consider having the pulley grooves re-machined back to true. If you motor is running at 1700rpm and the belts are not efficient your pump could be doing EG: 1580 rpm. Means your motor is working overtime and burning fuel and you not getting the benefit at the pump. Money down the drain. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Christopher said:
That was not a pressure pro 8gpm at 3000psi was it Pat?

Mine shredded all 4 belts the other week, I called Russ to get me the belt size as the biggest part of any of the belts was about 1/4 of the size of a dime and the cords were wrapped around the engine pulley. This machine was bought in 2006 so it was about 7 years old and had the original belts, not any more. hahahahaha soon it will have all new belts.

I spent over 6 hours trying to get the pump close enough to the engine to get the belts on but could not do it, the slide under the pump was blocking the pump from going back any more. I did not want to remove the pulleys to take the pump all the way off so I took it to a shop, it should be done tomorrow as I was getting very frustrated messing with this machine and was about to just torch it if I got any more mad. Time to walk away and cool down.

It would be cool to see a youtube video showing how to do this type of job as you can learn a lot of great things from videos.

Thanks again Russ.
Click to expand...

Good guess Christopher. It is a Pressure Pro 8x3500 2008 model.
 
JDhomeservices said:
My pump is cocked way sideways. I can't figure it out either.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...

The belts got really loose and one snapped, but its running fine on two now that I tightened them.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
 
This belt tensioning and alignment is just a huge sore spot. I wonder if an electric motor mount could work?
GN-3M276-Motor-Base.jpg


William Page welds guide bars so the pump slides between them in alignment.

I have a stop holding a bolt which pushes the pump into tension - freakin wonderful!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top