6x48 sander headache

[Richard Greene]

I have a 6x48 sander. I have put on a new belt which immediately drifts off to one side. The tracking knobs do not seem to have any impact. I tried another belt. Same thing! Any ideas? Thanks in advance

[glenn bradley]

Make and model will help with answers. Owners of similar products or those with access to owners manuals will chime in.

[Bill Space]

This may be a hair brained idea, but I would put the belt on backwards as a test ( rotated 180 degrees) and see if it drifts to the other side. If so, probably a belt issue. If not, then a mechanical issue with the sander may be indicated.

Edit: Afterthought...do you have an old belt that tracked properly? I assume not...

Bill

[mark kosse]

Try putting some tape on the center of the upper idler wheel wrapping with the wheel rotation. If that solves the problem you can see how long the tape lasts or re crown the wheel. I think Bob Vaughn may have a tutorial on re crowning.

[John K Jordan]

Besides the possible crown problem (the tape might work well - I'd probably start with just a single layer of masking tape maybe 2" wide) is the belt tight enough? Also, is the tensioner not working or is it just running off the side too fast to get adjusted? If so, perhaps do the initial adjustment while rotating the belt by hand. I did that for one sanding belt.

[Gregory King]

Not sure how your unit is built, but we had an older model Rockwell with two spring loaded pistons on the out end. Put the new belt on and we would loosen both allen screws. This would tighten the new belt. Relock the allen screws. Then use the adjusters. Sounds like the new belt is just a tad longer.