Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Apr 16, 2018 18:41:30 GMT -5
I refurbished my Lortone 3A tumbler coupla months ago. Replaced the belt at that time and it has already stretched, losing friction and the barrel will eventually slip to a stop. The motor mount screws for the unit go through slots in the side of the machine to allow the motor to move changing the belt tension. The adjustment was already Maxed out so I decided to make the slots longer allowing for a tighter belt. Used a regular hand drill and just forced the drill bit sideways making the slots about 1/4 inch longer. Now the belt is tighter but not tight enough. Need to add another 1/4 inch to the slots before I will be happy with it. This will involve cutting away a small portion of the blue housing cover.
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Post by aDave on Apr 16, 2018 20:09:04 GMT -5
I refurbished my Lortone 3A tumbler coupla months ago. Replaced the belt at that time and it has already stretched, loosing friction and the barrel will eventually slip to a stop. The motor mount screws for the unit go through slots in the side of the machine to allow the motor to move changing the belt tension. The adjustment was already Maxed out so I decided to make the slots longer allowing for a tighter belt. Used a regular hand drill and just forced the drill bit sideways making the slots about 1/4 inch longer. Now the belt is tighter but not tight enough. Need to add another 1/4 inch to the slots before I will be happy with it. This will involve cutting away a small portion of the blue housing cover. Nice info. I have one 45C where it seems that I have to move the motor to the extreme length of the adjustment slots, just to keep things in good order. I have actually never considered elongating the slots to help with belt tightening. Thanks for offering the idea.
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Post by orrum on Apr 16, 2018 20:16:43 GMT -5
Be careful, too tight of a belt burns the motor up.
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Post by aDave on Apr 16, 2018 20:17:54 GMT -5
Be careful, too tight of a belt burns the motor up. Agree. Seems I am at the max adjustment even with a new belt. Thanks for the reminder nonetheless.
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Wooferhound
Cave Dweller
Lortone QT66 and 3A
Member since December 2016
Posts: 1,423
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Post by Wooferhound on Apr 16, 2018 22:17:54 GMT -5
well . . . which is worse ?
too tight of a belt burns the motor up. not tight enough and the belt slips.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 17, 2018 17:36:54 GMT -5
well . . . which is worse ? too tight of a belt burns the motor up. not tight enough and the belt slips. Belts $2.00 Motor $32.00
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 17, 2018 17:37:45 GMT -5
I got one tumbler,I need to do this with ....
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Post by aDave on Apr 17, 2018 18:43:22 GMT -5
I got one tumbler,I need to do this with .... Just out of curiosity, is it an older Lortone? The one I would need to do this to is one 45C that is about 18-20 years old. My two-year-old 45C does not have the same issue in maxing out the adjustment slot. Makes me wonder if belts were slightly smaller back then.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 17, 2018 22:20:46 GMT -5
Mine is maxed out, too. Won't be long before I have to do something like this. Last time I got belts, I got a knock off and it seems a bit smaller, which in my case is a good thing.
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Post by grumpybill on Apr 18, 2018 14:34:56 GMT -5
Last time I got belts, I got a knock off and it seems a bit smaller, which in my case is a good thing. Where did you get the smaller belts? The ones I've gotten from the Rock Shed require maxing out the adjustment...and I'm too lazy to drill the slots longer.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 18, 2018 14:37:35 GMT -5
Last time I got belts, I got a knock off and it seems a bit smaller, which in my case is a good thing. Where did you get the smaller belts? The ones I've gotten from the Rock Shed require maxing out the adjustment...and I'm too lazy to drill the slots longer. I got them on ebay for cheap.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 19, 2018 17:21:00 GMT -5
I got one tumbler,I need to do this with .... Just out of curiosity, is it an older Lortone? The one I would need to do this to is one 45C that is about 18-20 years old. My two-year-old 45C does not have the same issue in maxing out the adjustment slot. Makes me wonder if belts were slightly smaller back then. Its the older Lortone a friend gave me... I changed out the motor(new),the bearings and rollers...New build, but still not doing its job with the rotation of the barrel, compared to the new 45C standing next to it..
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 19, 2018 18:22:54 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, is it an older Lortone? The one I would need to do this to is one 45C that is about 18-20 years old. My two-year-old 45C does not have the same issue in maxing out the adjustment slot. Makes me wonder if belts were slightly smaller back then. Its the older Lortone a friend gave me... I changed out the motor(new),the bearings and rollers...New build, but still not doing its job with the rotation of the barrel, compared to the new 45C standing next to it.. I don't know if it will help or not, but when my rubber barrel was not turning right I wiped it down real good with acetone. That gave it more grip by making it a little tacky again. I did this a long time ago and it doesn't seem to have hurt it at all.
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Post by aDave on Apr 19, 2018 20:17:47 GMT -5
Just out of curiosity, is it an older Lortone? The one I would need to do this to is one 45C that is about 18-20 years old. My two-year-old 45C does not have the same issue in maxing out the adjustment slot. Makes me wonder if belts were slightly smaller back then. Its the older Lortone a friend gave me... I changed out the motor(new),the bearings and rollers...New build, but still not doing its job with the rotation of the barrel, compared to the new 45C standing next to it.. Hi Mike. This particular tumbler that is giving me fits is an old 45C. Even when I put on a new belt, I am pretty much maxed out with the adjustment. When the belt starts to stretch with use, I'm as far as I can go adjustment-wise. It's a couple of RPMS short of what spec should be, and it's driving me nuts. I've done a total rebuild of this tumbler...bearings, shafts, motor...but it still seems to lag a bit. While most would just recommend going to a Loto for my finish work, I'm not ready to do that yet. Ironically, I just pulled a batch out of medium from this one tumbler, and I'm not happy with the results. I'm actually going to wait for another 45C to finish polish in a couple of days and just rerun my medium stage on that tumbler. Pretty frustrating at the end of the day, but I guess it is what it is.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 19, 2018 20:35:45 GMT -5
I know the feeling!!! Did some Obsidian in it,swiched over to a different 45C. I will try the extra drill set,after that I will just use it for the 2nd stag grit runs...(if it doesn't work)
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 21, 2018 8:47:20 GMT -5
Did the drill thing on it yesterday, will find out today if it was worth the trouble....LOL
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kskid
Cave Dweller
Member since July 2014
Posts: 98
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Post by kskid on Apr 21, 2018 23:04:50 GMT -5
I'll bet you could use a round file to lengthen the slots. The labor is manual instead of powered, but it should be faster than using a drill bit. I've never had much luck using a drill bit that way. The files I use to sharpen my chain saw chains are cheap, readily available, and come in a variety of sizes.
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Post by aDave on Apr 21, 2018 23:31:17 GMT -5
I'll bet you could use a round file to lengthen the slots. The labor is manual instead of powered, but it should be faster than using a drill bit. I've never had much luck using a drill bit that way. The files I use to sharpen my chain saw chains are cheap, readily available, and come in a variety of sizes. Good point, but I would think I have a better chance of matching up sizes with the drill bits I have on hand. I'm just not sure I have a round file that would match the slot without going and buying a new one. I would agree that a file would afford more control. I guess it's a "to each his own" scenario.
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Apr 22, 2018 8:48:16 GMT -5
I just did mine the other day, its working so far......The RPM's picked up a bit too...
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Post by aDave on Apr 22, 2018 20:39:12 GMT -5
I just did mine the other day, its working so far......The RPM's picked up a bit too... I'd like to pick up a few RPM's as well. I'm really not that sure I'm dealing with a belt slipping issue, but that has to be the case, unless this motor is simply getting tired. I gotta play a bit.
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