belts and tension / rest

[Mike Minto]

do you guys take the weight / tension off of your lathe's drive belts when you are done using them for the day? i know band sawyers say relieve the blade tension so as to minimize wheel deflection. cars, however, have pressure on their engine belts all the time. just wanted some opinions on this - i've been relieving the tension on mine, but if it's not necessary, it's one less thing to hassle with / remember. as an aside - how many jet 1642 users have had to replace drive belts, and how often? thanks, mike

[Steve Schlumpf]

Mike............... nope! Just thought you would want to know.

[Robert McGowen]

Have a 1642 - never released belt tension except to change speeds.... and I have probably only changed the speeds a couple of times in the past year.....I actually have never even heard of releasing the tension on the belt in order to save the belt.....YMMV

[alex carey]

never heard of this either, thought I can't imagine it wouldn't help the slightest. Perhaps if you weren't going to use it for an extended period of time this might be an ok idea but still not necessary.

[Mike Minto]

thanks, guys - glad to hear it. mike :cool:

[Richard Madison]

Nope. The belt tension on a 1642 is pretty low, just the weight of the motor. Really no need. Am told that a really bad catch can flat spot the belt if not shut off instantly, resulting in some unwanted vibration. If I ever get a catch I'll let you know if it hurt anything.

[Steve Schlumpf]

If I ever get a catch I'll let you know if it hurt anything.

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha........... you crack me up!

[Robert McGowen]

If I ever get a catch .........

You're too funny Richard..... :rolleyes:

[Bernie Weishapl]

No never release the tension on either lathe.


Richard now that was funny.:D:rolleyes::cool:

[Richard Madison]

Thanks for your support. Glad we mostly don't take it too extremely gosh awful seriously.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Richard....you weren't serious?:confused:






:p

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Take off the tension ??
I don't think it would do any good, I never do it, but if you do, don't forget ever to put the tension back on, or you will get a burned-up belt real quick, so there is a downside to doing it, but I suppose some people never forget these things :rolleyes: ;) :D

[Richard Madison]

Gosh no Ken. Am pretty sure I had a catch a couple, three years ago.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Nope. The belt tension on a 1642 is pretty low, just the weight of the motor. Really no need. Am told that a really bad catch can flat spot the belt if not shut off instantly, resulting in some unwanted vibration. If I ever get a catch I'll let you know if it hurt anything.

What's a catch? The word is not in my vocabulary. ;)

[Jim Sebring]

I did loosen the belt on my Jet 1220 the other day, just because I haven't used it for a few months. I put a twister tie on the belt tension knob to remind me to retension it before use (I do the same thing on my bandsaw guide bearings when I de-tension it).

I haven't loosened the belt on my DVR xp because I can't find it. :rolleyes:

[Frank Drew]

I've never relieved the tension on a drive belt, but I did regularly de-tension my bandsaw blade, on the advice of the saw's maker (Oliver).

[curtis rosche]

you would only need to loosen the belt if there is a lot of tension, like mentioned with a sawyers blade, which i think has a couple hundred lbs of tension so the blade doesnt drift. you would only need to loosen the lathe if you had an enviornment where the belt would dry out and not run smooth from being left in the same position for a long time

[Paul Engle]

Richard , great way to releave the tension ....:eek::D. In 40 years of Band saw tension the only time I ever did was with old model rubber tires , I had a Simco (? long time ago) that had a tension release but I only used it to change blades when i did something stupid ... the newer urethane tires do not seem to set/flat spot( if sat alot) like the old rubber compounds and the newer blades " keep on tickin" ...besides the price of a release "do hickey" is more than a good chuck and jaws ..... and a new gouge..:rolleyes: or maybe taking the SWMBO out to dinner now and then ....:o.

[Mike Minto]

Nope. The belt tension on a 1642 is pretty low, just the weight of the motor. Really no need. Am told that a really bad catch can flat spot the belt if not shut off instantly, resulting in some unwanted vibration. If I ever get a catch I'll let you know if it hurt anything.

IF you ever get a catch? want me to send you some? mike

[Richard Madison]

IF you ever get a catch? want me to send you some? mike

Mike, I appreciate your generous offer, and much as I hate to pass up anything free I must respectfully decline this time.

BTW I do detension my bandsaw blade between uses, but not with fancy doodad. The day after the new saw arrived I removed the useless plastic knob and installed a home made (as usual) bell crank. Nine turns off, nine turns on. No need to look at the "gauge" except after blade changes. Kind of a hassle though, so am thinking of motorizing it, maybe link it by remote to the shop lights. Ok that last sentence was just kidding again.