Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 12, 2015 12:10:31 GMT -5
Okay ... I can see that there is some chatter here about belt breaking on CE tumblers, but I am not seeing much in the way of solutions.
I have the dual drum (6 pound total) Chicago Electric tumbler. My original belt lasted over a year without adjustments and was in service non stop all that time. Out of the blue recently it began "chirping" when it ran, so during a barrel change I discovered that the pulleys had accumulated black powder deposits and the belt was slipping on each rotation and making the chirp sound. so I cleaned everything and readjusted the tension and away it went. A few days ago the original belt cracked without breaking. I only noticed because it made a thumpa-thumpa-thumpa sound. The tumbler came with a five pack of replacement belts so I swapped in one of those ... and another ... and another. The replacement belts last about a day each. Either the replacements are just unbelievable pieces of junk, or something else is going on. My tension setting is tight enough to make it work but the belt still has play so it doesn't seem to be too tight. The shaft bearings are good and well oiled. Everthing is clean and moves freely.
This is a pretty simple system. It shouldn't be doing this. What on earth could be going on that breaks these belts unless they are just too wimpy. Will the Lortone O ring belts fit and work better? Does anyone make a fiber reinforced V belt that fits? How about chain drive pulleys and a chain belt? (JC Whitney used to have that stuff.)
What's the solution here? I can't simply buy belts by the gross and change them daily.
Any suggestions or experiences would help. Thanks.
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Post by broseph82 on Feb 12, 2015 13:17:28 GMT -5
I read somewhere that people use the thicker rubber bands as a cheap replacement. If you got the warranty, take it back and swap out for a new one.
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Post by captbob on Feb 12, 2015 13:28:57 GMT -5
If your spare belts were stored somewhere that it gets pretty hot they won't last.
I used to store my extra Thumbler's tumbler belts in the garage. When I needed to replace a belt on a running tumbler maybe a year later, I used the garage stored belts. I went through 5 belts in a day. Something about being stored in hot environments I guess.
Don't know that is your problem, but just something I learned. Store spare belts in the house.
And, tell your wife where they are for when you forget. Not that something like that could happen...
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Post by phil on Feb 12, 2015 13:33:10 GMT -5
Those are cheap chinese belts. When mine broke, I went to the local lapidary supply and bought a made in USA belt that lasted forever. When I sold the tumbler, it was still going strong. Made with real rubber, not a chemical copy.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2015 13:40:59 GMT -5
Greetings [Enigman] firstly may i welcome you to RTH Forums, Lortone 33B belt is a direct replacement for your Chicago Electric tumbler and they last a lot longer. Rock Shed (USA): Lortone replacement partsPlease check out my Sticky's below. -- Please click images to open larger images in a new Tab, same with everything that is Underlined! I currently have a 3lb Beach (UK), Lortone QT 12/66 (USA) rotaries & 2x Viking Vibrasonic (Diamond Pacific) (USA) virbrating tumblers, with Silicon Carbide grit F80, F220, F600, F1200, with Tin Oxide (1.0 micron) & Aluminum Oxide (1.0 micron & 0.3 micron) polishes. I hail from (The Barony of Seabegs) Bonnybridge, Stirlingshire, U.K, where aliens (15mb) sometimes come for a visit & about 4 miles west from that monstrosity & 7 miles west of this new monstrosity! Sticky's: their contents are resource information 1#: Vendors worldwide (2mb), 2#: How to use the forum, 3#: How to identify rocks & minerals, 4#: Save money on expensive grits & polishes, 5#: Aussie Lapidary Forum: Rock Tumbling Guide!
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Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 12, 2015 21:50:16 GMT -5
I read somewhere that people use the thicker rubber bands as a cheap replacement. If you got the warranty, take it back and swap out for a new one. Sooooo can't do that .... bought it over a year ago on eBay. Since then I have made many "upgrades" to make it a viable machine. As soon as I got it I realized it was a Chinese knock-off of the Lortone 33B. heck, Chicago Electric doesn't even offer it any more. But, my mods have made it a workable machine. I ordered some Lortone 33B O ring belts today. Hopefully that will fix things or help.
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Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 12, 2015 21:54:49 GMT -5
Those are cheap chinese belts. When mine broke, I went to the local lapidary supply and bought a made in USA belt that lasted forever. When I sold the tumbler, it was still going strong. Made with real rubber, not a chemical copy. Yeah, I did notice that the original belt on the machine was different than the replacement set that was included. The original was more dense rubber. The replacements are more like black latex. I ordered some Lortone 33B O ring belts today. Hopefully that will fix things or help. But, I am also interested in the proper tension for the belt. The latest one I installed this afternoon, I adjusted to make it loose to the point just before it won't turn the barrels, then tightened just enough to make consistent revolutions. We'll see ....
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Feb 12, 2015 22:19:52 GMT -5
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tkvancil
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2011
Posts: 1,547
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Post by tkvancil on Feb 13, 2015 9:25:50 GMT -5
Used a Lortone belt on a second hand CE single three pounder. Ran for two years. Retired the tumbler because the barrel got really thin. The Lortone belt will likely cure your problem.
When I replace a belt on my 33b I start it at the minimum tension. Start it and see if I can stop the barrels rotating by putting a hand on them. Add tension to the belt a little at a time until a light touch no longer stops rotation.
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Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 13, 2015 11:49:14 GMT -5
Interesting place, but they don't actually tell you where to get the belts. They just say to call your local belt distributor. LOL ... who on earth would THAT be? Thanks, though. I bookmarked it.
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Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 13, 2015 12:01:47 GMT -5
Used a Lortone belt on a second hand CE single three pounder. Ran for two years. Retired the tumbler because the barrel got really thin. The Lortone belt will likely cure your problem. When I replace a belt on my 33b I start it at the minimum tension. Start it and see if I can stop the barrels rotating by putting a hand on them. Add tension to the belt a little at a time until a light touch no longer stops rotation. BTW, the Lortone replacement barrels work perfectly on the CE tumbler. I use four different barrels, each dedicated to a specific grit. The first two are the original CE barrels and the last two are the Lortone barrels. Besides, the Lortone barrels have ribs inside to keep things moving so I like them much better. Thanks for the tensioning guideline. That's what I was looking for. Once I changed out the original belt I lost the original motor position so I may have been running the replacements too tight. I also think the replacements were just junk. They are glossy black and remind me of gummy worms.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2015 12:50:40 GMT -5
Interesting place, but they don't actually tell you where to get the belts. They just say to call your local belt distributor. LOL ... who on earth would THAT be? Thanks, though. I bookmarked it. The least they can do is suggest a distributor near you. How would us customers know ??
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Post by broseph82 on Feb 13, 2015 15:58:39 GMT -5
Interesting place, but they don't actually tell you where to get the belts. They just say to call your local belt distributor. LOL ... who on earth would THAT be? Thanks, though. I bookmarked it. The least they can do is suggest a distributor near you. How would us customers know ?? That's my beef with bigger companies who use middlemen
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Post by phil on Feb 13, 2015 16:05:20 GMT -5
Looks like they want to to use the "contact us" so they can harvest you, control who sells, etc etc Dunno
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,563
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Post by jamesp on Feb 13, 2015 16:38:23 GMT -5
The least they can do is suggest a distributor near you. How would us customers know ?? That's my beef with bigger companies who use middlemen They have fine belts, just tell us where to buy the darn things. My vibe eats o-ring belts. I buy 50 packs. They are buna-N material. $26/50 on Ebay. It runs at 3450 RPM and uses two. They last about a month. The short life is by design.
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Post by pauls on Feb 14, 2015 2:20:25 GMT -5
O rings aren't really designed to be belts and dont stand up to the job too well. If you are going to a bearing supply place to buy O rings ask them about suitable belts, if they don't have anything in exactly the right size they should be able to offer you belting that can be cut and joined. This belting comes in a continuous length on a roll and looks like a long spagetti noodle, round, thick wall and with a hole down the middle, you cut to length and join by inserting a little metal barb into the hole with a bit of glue then slip the other end over the barb with more glue and job done. For what its worth we have found that a bit of line trimmer line threaded and glued down the hole is a better and stronger join, its flexible and has a lot more length down the hole for the glue to stick to.
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Post by pauls on Feb 14, 2015 2:28:55 GMT -5
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Enigman
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 163
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Post by Enigman on Feb 16, 2015 11:55:30 GMT -5
Interesting place, but they don't actually tell you where to get the belts. They just say to call your local belt distributor. LOL ... who on earth would THAT be? Thanks, though. I bookmarked it. The least they can do is suggest a distributor near you. How would us customers know ?? Okay, well ... I contacted them using the online form to ask about my area (So CA) and/or websites and they provided this: MOTION INDUSTRIES - Ph: 714-780-1791 Kaman Industrial Technologies Ph: 626.961.4444 Stewart Handling Systems, Inc Ph: 951-352-9163 ebelting.comThe website has all manner of O-ring belts that can be ordered to size and the price is not bad for custom made belts. One belt in particular is a rough surface high traction green belt with a polyester cord reinforcement inside. You can see it on this page: ebelting.com Green ReinforcedYou just type in the "cut length" and they weld the belt for you so there is no clunky joiner to deal with. Belts are clear or colors depending on the composition. I have received my Lortone belts so if they don't do it then I'll go after one of the green belts above.
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Post by jakesrocks on Feb 16, 2015 12:02:40 GMT -5
If you have a shop in your area that does sewing machine repairs, take one of your HF belts to them and have them match it with a heavy duty sewing machine belt. That's what I did to replace the belts on a vintage small sphere machine. Been almost 2 years & the belts are still good.
You may also find a match in vacuum cleaner belts.
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snuffy
Cave Dweller
Member since May 2009
Posts: 4,319
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Post by snuffy on Feb 16, 2015 12:30:20 GMT -5
When you cleaned the pulleys,did you make sure they were aligned perfectly when you put it back together? Always were out of line when I bought the hfers new,would pop a belt quickly if just a little bit off.Always replaced mine with lortone belts. I had 8 or 9 of those in the beginning,completely rebuilt finally with Lortone parts.
snuffy
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