Belt Slippage

• What is Belt Slippage?
• Belt Slippage Wastes Energy
• Monitoring and Preventing Belt Slippage
• Benefits of using the SENSSLIP® Belt Slippage Monitoring System
• V belt maintenance to prevent belt slippage
• Belt slippage monitoring case studies
• Further information about belt slip monitoring

What is Belt Slippage?
V belts lose tension – either through poor installation, through gradual wear of the v belt and pulley sheaves or through belt stretch. As v-belts become loose on the pulleys, they begin to slip in the pulley sheaves. This belt slippage leads to wear and damage to the belts and pulley sheaves. Belt slippage is a key contributing factor to belt failure in service.

Belt Slippage Wastes Energy:
Up to 7% of the electricity used to run a drive belt could be lost through slippage. On a 100KW drive running constantly this could be as much as £5,000 a year. The SENSSLIP® system will tell you when belt slippage begins to occur and by how much.

Monitoring and Preventing Belt Slippage:
Regular manual checking of belt tensioning is a time-consuming and skilled task. SENSSLIP®’s belt slippage monitoring system provides continuous monitoring and at-a-glance status of belt drives for quick and effective management of vbelt drives in industrial applications.

The SENSSLIP® ENERGY system is a valuable aid in the fight to reduce energy wastage. By alerting users to the energy lost by a slipping belt drive it can save thousands in improved efficiency. Cost effective to install, the SENSSLIP® Energy system calculates both a monitored system’s carbon footprint (kgCO2), and the financial loss of vbelt slippage in terms of cost of wasted electricity.

SENSSLIP® ENERGY is part of the SENSSLIP® range of vbelt slippage monitoring systems, which includes:

• The SENSSLIP® Vbelt Monitoring System
• SENSSLIP® MAINTENANCE – belt slippage monitoring system
• SENSSLIP® CRITICAL– belt slippage monitoring & intervention system

Benefits of using the SENSSLIP® Belt Slippage Monitoring System:

• Huge savings on energy costs
• Eliminate unnecessary belt changes
• Accurate measurement of belt slippage
• Low cost sensor
• Eliminate down time caused by v-belt breakage
• No expensive, conventional condition monitoring
• No unnecessary guard removal for inspection

V belt maintenance to prevent belt slippage:
Maintenance for vbelt drives to help avert belt slippage includes: -

• Visual checking of the drive support structure, ensuring all supports and drives are correctly fixed and bolted to the correct torque settings. Also check for soft-foot, and any signs of movement or disrepair where the support structure is bolted to the factory floor.
• Visual checking for any signs of lubricant on the vbelts, indicating sloppy maintenance practice or lubricant leakage the drive or neighbouring machines. Exposure to lubricants or other chemicals will eventually compromise vbelts and lead to slippage, belt-burn out or cracking.
• Visually inspection for excessive sheave wear. Once identified, pulleys should be replaced and the drive pulleys correctly realigned using a proprietary laser alignment system.
• Newly installed belts should be re-checked 24 hours after installation for correct tensioning. A belt slippage monitoring system such as SENSSLIP® enables quick and easy visual checking of belt tensioning.
• Correct storage and handling or replacement vbelts is essential to prevent deterioration or damage to replacement stock parts. Vbelts should be stored in a cool dark place, ideally hung on a wall rack but no bent to a diameter smaller than minimum recommended sheave diameter for each belt.

Belt slippage monitoring case studies:

• Corus reduce Energy Wastage thanks to belt slippage Monitoring System
• Yorkshire Water Utilise SensSystems belt slippage Monitoring System In Pursuit Of Operating Excellence

Download the SENSSLIP® belt slippage monitoring system brochure for further information about the benefits of continuous belt slippage monitoring for the prevention of v belt slippage.

Further information about belt slip monitoring:

The SENSSLIP® range of belt slippage monitoring systems are designed and manufactured by SensSystems Ltd.

Please contact us for sales, technical and installation information regarding belt slippage monitoring systems, or to discuss the benefits of belt slippage monitoring in a specific industrial application. Tel: +44(0) 1142 541241 or alternatively, info@senssystems.com