hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 12, 2024 10:21:19 GMT -5
The belt on my Lortone QT66 busted yesterday after 3 months of use. I'll check out if I can see why that happened so quickly if only I could find a replacement belt in stock. The Rock Shed, Kingsley North, Lortone and the rest of the usual suspects are all out of stock on this belt right now (I should have bought some replacements a while ago...). Makes me think there's an issue with these belts in general? I was able to get the belt dimensions from The Rock Shed and found an equivalent on Grainger that will be in my hands on Thursday. The Rock Shed stated that the QT66 v-belt is 1/4 inch wide and has a circumference of 15 3/4 inches. I found that the belt code (is that the right name for it?) is 2L160. This indicates the belt is a 1/4 inch wide, 16 inch circumference belt intended for fractional horsepower uses. I think, with the way you can adjust the motor on the QT66, that 16 inches will be fine. Thoughts? I'[ll update this post when the belt arrives and let you know how it fits and whatnot... Grainger had the cheapest shipping of all of the other places. I can't believe that the default shipping service at a lot of these places is UPS ground at $28! I mean, throw those small belts into a padded envelope and ship through USPS for $3 why don't you?  |
|
Fossilman
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,722 
|
Post by Fossilman on Mar 12, 2024 10:50:42 GMT -5
Lortone products are all on back order.... I have a Lortone 6 #'er, it's running great on the factory belt..
Yes, it seems that shipping prices are out of control anymore! Hopefully you get your tumbler rolling soon..
|
|
hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 12, 2024 11:17:47 GMT -5
Lortone products are all on back order.... I have a Lortone 6 #'er, it's running great on the factory belt.. Yes, it seems that shipping prices are out of control anymore! Hopefully you get your tumbler rolling soon.. It seems like most tumbling equipment and parts are on back order these days. I hope it's because there's a surge of interest in this hobby, but I worry that it's due to continuing supply chain issues and that we're going to see the equipment manufacturers start going out of business... I think I need to accelerate my plans to make a homemade tumbler... |
|
|
|
Post by chris1956 on Mar 12, 2024 13:49:53 GMT -5
I have a QT-12 and replaced the belt 3 or 4 months ago. I keep expecting it to break one of these days. Everytime I take the belt cover off to lubricate the bearings, there is a buch of worn rubber crumbs from the belt. One other place to try for the belt may be Minnesota Lapidary Supply (MLS). I have found they typically have stuff in stock when others don't.
|
|
hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 12, 2024 14:06:54 GMT -5
I have a QT-12 and replaced the belt 3 or 4 months ago. I keep expecting it to break one of these days. Everytime I take the belt cover off to lubricate the bearings, there is a buch of worn rubber crumbs from the belt. One other place to try for the belt may be Minnesota Lapidary Supply (MLS). I have found they typically have stuff in stock when others don't. Dood!! Thank you! I just called them and they have the belts in stock, so I ordered one as a back up!  |
|
|
|
Post by oregon on Mar 12, 2024 17:37:04 GMT -5
Yeah, I finally used up my stash refurbing folks QT tumblers. the original belts I had were Optibelt, vb 6x375 mm .
I've purchased a few sewing machine belts for folks: MB390, they're much less expensive, proper dimensions and seem to be holding up ok, but don't have many data points to go on. I also have some 6mm Poly urethane belt to make my own, but haven't found anyone to try that out for me yet. There's also the option of 3d printing with TPU - will try that sometime.
$15 for the original belts seems a bit excessive.
|
|
hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 12, 2024 18:25:08 GMT -5
Yeah, I finally used up my stash refurbing folks QT tumblers. the original belts I had were Optibelt, vb 6x375 mm .
I've purchased a few sewing machine belts for folks: MB390, they're much less expensive, proper dimensions and seem to be holding up ok, but don't have many data points to go on. I also have some 6mm Poly urethane belt to make my own, but haven't found anyone to try that out for me yet. There's also the option of 3d printing with TPU - will try that sometime.
$15 for the original belts seems a bit excessive.
Thanks for all of that information. It's nice know that there are other options out there. The ones I bought from Grainger were about $9 or so... We'll see how they look compared to the ones from MLS. |
|
dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
|
Post by dillonf on Mar 12, 2024 22:29:05 GMT -5
The belt on my Lortone QT66 busted yesterday after 3 months of use. I'll check out if I can see why that happened so quickly if only I could find a replacement belt in stock. The Rock Shed, Kingsley North, Lortone and the rest of the usual suspects are all out of stock on this belt right now (I should have bought some replacements a while ago...). Makes me think there's an issue with these belts in general? I was able to get the belt dimensions from The Rock Shed and found an equivalent on Grainger that will be in my hands on Thursday. The Rock Shed stated that the QT66 v-belt is 1/4 inch wide and has a circumference of 15 3/4 inches. I found that the belt code (is that the right name for it?) is 2L160. This indicates the belt is a 1/4 inch wide, 16 inch circumference belt intended for fractional horsepower uses. I think, with the way you can adjust the motor on the QT66, that 16 inches will be fine. Thoughts? I'[ll update this post when the belt arrives and let you know how it fits and whatnot... Grainger had the cheapest shipping of all of the other places. I can't believe that the default shipping service at a lot of these places is UPS ground at $28! I mean, throw those small belts into a padded envelope and ship through USPS for $3 why don't you? Hey what's up. Sorry to hear about your belt. Did you have a black or orange one? I remember a guy posting earlier about how his belts kept breaking - he was using the orange ones. I have had one of the original black ones on a QT 12 for over a year now, and another on a QT 6 for over 6 months (I'll have to see when I bought it). I bought some orange ones as replacements for the future - they were marketed as more durable - I forgot the specific wording they used. I'm wondering if maybe it's an issue with the orange colored belts? |
|
hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 14, 2024 10:19:35 GMT -5
The belt on my Lortone QT66 busted yesterday after 3 months of use. I'll check out if I can see why that happened so quickly if only I could find a replacement belt in stock. The Rock Shed, Kingsley North, Lortone and the rest of the usual suspects are all out of stock on this belt right now (I should have bought some replacements a while ago...). Makes me think there's an issue with these belts in general? I was able to get the belt dimensions from The Rock Shed and found an equivalent on Grainger that will be in my hands on Thursday. The Rock Shed stated that the QT66 v-belt is 1/4 inch wide and has a circumference of 15 3/4 inches. I found that the belt code (is that the right name for it?) is 2L160. This indicates the belt is a 1/4 inch wide, 16 inch circumference belt intended for fractional horsepower uses. I think, with the way you can adjust the motor on the QT66, that 16 inches will be fine. Thoughts? I'[ll update this post when the belt arrives and let you know how it fits and whatnot... Grainger had the cheapest shipping of all of the other places. I can't believe that the default shipping service at a lot of these places is UPS ground at $28! I mean, throw those small belts into a padded envelope and ship through USPS for $3 why don't you? Hey what's up. Sorry to hear about your belt. Did you have a black or orange one? I remember a guy posting earlier about how his belts kept breaking - he was using the orange ones. I have had one of the original black ones on a QT 12 for over a year now, and another on a QT 6 for over 6 months (I'll have to see when I bought it). I bought some orange ones as replacements for the future - they were marketed as more durable - I forgot the specific wording they used. I'm wondering if maybe it's an issue with the orange colored belts? How you doing?? I remember those posts. That guy was having the worst time with his QT66, and the belts breaking almost immediately after replacing them. The one that broke on mine was one of those orange belts. Inspecting it I saw a couple places where it cracked across the width of the belt on the outside. I wonder if the motor pulley has too small a diameter and the belt is bending too much as it travels around that thing, causing cracks and eventual breakage... Researching belts from alternate suppliers I seem to remember a belt being advertised as working better on smaller diameter pulleys. I'll see if I can find that supplier again. It may not be a bad idea to try some of those belts as well. The replacements I found are orange, so I may have more issues, though now I know what to look for I can see if those cracks are forming as I run some loads on there. Do you think Lortone is really closing down? There's that letter posted on here. It may be a good idea to have a thread where we track all this knowledge, like what belts work and how to repair these tumblers. They're pretty popular on here... |
|
dillonf
fully equipped rock polisher
Hounding and tumbling
Member since February 2022
Posts: 1,622
|
Post by dillonf on Mar 14, 2024 10:27:52 GMT -5
Hey what's up. Sorry to hear about your belt. Did you have a black or orange one? I remember a guy posting earlier about how his belts kept breaking - he was using the orange ones. I have had one of the original black ones on a QT 12 for over a year now, and another on a QT 6 for over 6 months (I'll have to see when I bought it). I bought some orange ones as replacements for the future - they were marketed as more durable - I forgot the specific wording they used. I'm wondering if maybe it's an issue with the orange colored belts? How you doing?? I remember those posts. That guy was having the worst time with his QT66, and the belts breaking almost immediately after replacing them. The one that broke on mine was one of those orange belts. Inspecting it I saw a couple places where it cracked across the width of the belt on the outside. I wonder if the motor pulley has too small a diameter and the belt is bending too much as it travels around that thing, causing cracks and eventual breakage... Researching belts from alternate suppliers I seem to remember a belt being advertised as working better on smaller diameter pulleys. I'll see if I can find that supplier again. It may not be a bad idea to try some of those belts as well. The replacements I found are orange, so I may have more issues, though now I know what to look for I can see if those cracks are forming as I run some loads on there. Do you think Lortone is really closing down? There's that letter posted on here. It may be a good idea to have a thread where we track all this knowledge, like what belts work and how to repair these tumblers. They're pretty popular on here... Good. How are you? Mmmm starting to see a pattern. Luckily, I think I have 1 or 2 black belts left. I agree if Lortone is closing down we need to share ideas on suppliers of replacement parts! I have 5 of them myself. If you find a good alternative replacement belt please let us know!!! |
|
hplcman
spending too much on rocks
Looking forward to my Friday Night Barrel Clean out!
Member since August 2022
Posts: 492
|
Post by hplcman on Mar 15, 2024 13:15:01 GMT -5
So I got the belts from Grainger yesterday. They are orange colored, maybe slightly pink, and seem flexible and strong. I loosened up the motor, put the belt on and started it up. I adjusted the tension by sliding the motor back and forth until it got to the point where the barrels were turning properly, and the motor pulley didn't slip when I put some resistance on the barrels. I tightened everything down and loosely put the pulley cover back on so it's easier to pop off and inspect the works for a few days. So far so good. I'll monitor and update this thread if anything interesting happens. Here's the link: Grainger 2L160 Belt for QT66 |
|
banshe45
off to a rocking start
Member since July 2023
Posts: 1
|
Post by banshe45 on May 17, 2024 17:49:27 GMT -5
Amazon has MB400 belts quite cheap..... they are 15 3/4 perimeter,,,, i ordered 4......will let u know if they work.
|
|
