GO490 Motor and Pulley Alignment

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Could use some of the collective experience of the group today! I am having a heck of a time getting the motor mounted with the pulley's aligned.

I had what I thought was correct alignment (the manual says to align by eye) and after checking tables for parallelism and knife heights, etc. I went for the test run at first a run! But, after about 10 seconds I started to hear a little vibration, followed by a faint smell of burning rubber I let it go a few more seconds thinking might just be the new belt. Then a little smoke! I shut it off quick and unplugged....maybe after 20 seconds of total run time. Pulled the back panel off and found the belt had ridden off the pulley by a couple of grooves (the newer grooved pulley/belt). The belt has a bit of wear showing along the outermost edge.

two issues:

1) customer service said use a straight edge, but I can't seem to get one into the tight space? They said alternately plumb-bob...I have tried this but it seems, well, not precise?

2) do I need to replace the belt? there was a little fray along the outer edge where it began to rub the cover and a small amout of black dust inside the cabinet.

Thanks for any advice.
Matt

[alex grams]

hmm, it was a pretty easy alignment for me by eye. Maybe your belt could be warped a little. Does your belt sit even if you lay it on a flat surface?

Not sure what else to say, but it isn't a high precision alignment.

[Cliff Holmes]

Pull a string tight against both pulleys, it should lay flat against the top/bottom of each. This will show you if you need to move the motor in/out as well as if it's parallel.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Alex-- the belt was flared a bit...when I unpacked it is was sort of trapped under the switch box. Customer service suggested this was no matter and that it would break-in after running for some time. Not true? (no pun intended!)

Cliff -- the top and bottom of pulleys not exact with plumb-bob, but as i try to lift the front (fan end) of motor to level the face of the pulley I am not sure there is enough tension on the belt.

Guys thanks for jumping in with advice and suggestions!!!

MK

[Cliff Holmes]

but as i try to lift the front (fan end) of motor to level the face of the pulley I am not sure there is enough tension on the belt.

Then move the other end. I rigged two quick-clamps reversed as spreaders. One between the pulleys and one between the other end of the motor and the floor. That way you can loosen all the bolts, get good tension on the belt, and easily adjust the parallelism of the motor shaft. All while tweeking the motor horizontally so the pulleys are aligned vertically.

[Myk Rian]

Use a plumb bob as they suggested. Why don't you think its accurate?

[paul dyar]

If you plum bob, check both sides. It could have angular misalignment as well as horizontal misalignment.
Paul

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Use a plumb bob as they suggested. Why don't you think its accurate?

for a couple of reasons...

1) where the motor-shaft is keyed into the pulley extends beyond the rim of the motor pulley...so I cannot plumb down the center of the pulleys...has to be 1" left or right of center, so if there is any in/out play laterally across the pulley the belt might not track true...in effect the two pulleys would need to be aligned in two planes.

2) Having now tried this (since the last post) I am finding it very hard to hold the string by its very top (above the cutterhead pulley)...suppose to do so I will have to take off the fence and fence carriage...which was to tighten to its mount!


Cliff -- I like the spreader idea...I have now placed a torpedo level across the top edge of the motor mount...it was definitely canted...lower at the fan end...causing the pulley to be out of plane.

Matt
Matt

[Matt Kestenbaum]

If you plum bob, check both sides. It could have angular misalignment as well as horizontal misalignment.
Paul

Yes...this is just what I wrote back about!

[keith ouellette]

The way i did mine was to use a straight edge off of the motor pulley and make sure the gap between the straight edge and belt was equal all the way up. you can only check a few inches against the belt but if its equal distance as far as you can check then your good.

[Chris Ricker]

the straight edge idea is great and remember to check the belt pulleys for tightness, they could be loose and moving about freely causing the problem

I learned this the hard way.
good luck!

[Matt Kestenbaum]

the straight edge idea is great and remember to check the belt pulleys for tightness, they could be loose and moving about freely causing the problem

I learned this the hard way.
good luck!

How did you determine this...jack the motor up off and take the load off the pulleys, and try and just try and wiggle them? How did you tighten them?

MK

[Cliff Holmes]

The problem with using plumb bobs and levels is that it assumes your floor is level and your cabinet is straight. What you really want is for your motor shaft and head shaft to be parallel. That's why I pull a string taught across the pulley (the flat sides). If the string touches all four edges at the same time, they're aligned perfectly. If not, it's easy to visualize what's out of whack and adjust it.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Exactly! And I am absolutely sure that the floor in my 90 year old basement it not level. Pretty sure cabinet is not perfectly straight...having mounted the iron half of the machine as well as the front/back cabinet panels. But the suggestion to draw the string tight to check all four face edges of the pulleys makes sense to me.

I cannot wait to get this working!! Hardwood is waiting. Dialing in the jointer is the last big hurdle to get my shop operational. An out-feed table for the TS, a few jigs and then onto furniture!
Matt

[Cliff Holmes]

EDIT: Oops, I see now that you did say edges. Oh, well, I'll leave the original reply for clarification

Not all four faces, all four edges. Start with the string on the top of the head pulley and move the bottom of the string towards the motor. If the string touches the bottom edge of the head pulley before any edge of the motor pulley, the motor is too far "in". If it hits the motor pulley first, it's too far "out". If it touches bottom of the head pulley and only one edge of the motor pulley, then the motor's tilted.

It'll take some finagling, since you're likely to have both misalignment and tilt, but by using the two spreader clamps for support you can tweak the pulleys into perfect alignment in just a few minutes.

[michael case]

Hi Matt,

Couple of questions. 1. Which pulley did the belt ride off of? Am I wrong in assuming this is the newer poly belt? If it is the new poly belt and it rode off of the motor pulley then it may not be because of alignment with the top pulley. It may be that the motor is tilted and therefore the pulley is on a different angle then the top. If your G0490 is like mine then the top has no adjustment. It is held on by a Allen screw threaded into the rear of the pulley. I went through this same ordeal. First, make sure the top pulley screw is secure (mine was not). Then play with the motor mount a bit. Turning it by hand see the how the belt rides off. Correct the tilt of the motor accordingly. This cured it for me. I've had the same problem with other poly belts so I was ready for it on the G0490. The only new twist was the method of securing the top pulley.

[Matt Kestenbaum]

Thanks to all of you I now have a fully functioning 8" jointer!! The last couple of posts were the ticket. The job of getting the motor (really the motor shaft) to sit level was not so easy! The weight of the motor is enough that its load always found a way to snug up one of the mounting bolts -- even with them quite loose. The mounting bolts/mounting support assembly does not exactly encourage precision...add the pressure of the tightened belt and its was pretty tough to keep the motor aligned and parallel before getting all 8 bolts (4 up/down and 4/side -side). In the end a combination of taught string, magnetic-edged torpedo level, bottle jack, wood blocks and 2 12" bar clamps did the trick!

Ran it for quite a while yesterday. Found the out-feed table a hair too high...was making some nice wedge-shaped stock for a while http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/icons/icon10.gif Unplugged it and got the straight edge back out and dialed it in...of course it was easier to check once it had run for bit and the centrifugal force pulled the cosmiline off the cutterhead and blades.

Thanks again!!

[Joe Kieve]

Matt,
I don't own that piece of equipment but here's something I've used on occasion. If the motor and pulley are in parallel alignment, not twisted or cocked sideways, remove the set screw and key from the driven pulley so that it rotates easily on the shaft. Put the belt on both pulleys and rotate the motor pulley by hand. The driven pulley will finds its position on the shaft. You can then reinsert the key and set screw. All should be well.

BTW...unplug equipment before attempting this.

Good luck.
joe

[Charlton Wang]

I just spent a couple of hours getting mine set up. My machine doesn't seem to vibrate much at all but the belt definitely vibrates for the sections between the pulleys. Is this to be expected or should I be refining my alignment until the belt runs without any vibration whatsoever?

Thanks,
Charlton