Drive Belt Replacement

• Industrial Drive Belt Replacement
• When is drive belt replacement necessary?
• Common belt failures leading to drive belt replacement
• Consequences of drive belt failure on critical plant
• Benefits of critical drive belt monitoring
• How can frequent drive belt replacement be prevented?
• Drive belt monitoring case studies
• Further information about industrial drive belt monitoring
  

Industrial Drive Belt Replacement:
Demands on industrial drive belts, particularly v-belts, are great. V-belts are a relatively inexpensive mode of power transmission, require no lubrication. However, vbelts must be correctly maintained to ensure consistent levels of reliability and to prevent failure in service.

A continuous drive belt monitoring system, such as the SENSSLIP® MAINTENANCE v-belt monitoring system, can be used to enable drive belts are correctly tensioned and maintained, reducing the need for frequent drive belt replacement.

When is drive belt replacement necessary?
A v-belt performing at optimum provides a high level of power transfer efficiency of around 95%. Properly maintained vbelts operating in normal conditions can provide several years of trouble-free and energy efficient operation.

However, v-belts and other drive belts are prone to slip and stretch, principally caused by excessive heat, which is in turn caused by factors including misalignment.

V-belts should always be replaced if they display any signs of cracking, fraying or general wear. Inspection of replaced or failed belts can often provide useful indicators of root cause problems with drives. V-belts that generate excessive heat (too hot to touch) should be checked against their recommended temperature operating thresholds and corrective action taken immediately if necessary.

Common belt failures leading to drive belt replacement:
Causes of belt failure include:

• Improper belt or pulley installation
• Improper belt storage or handling
• Incorrect tensioning of drive belts leading to belt slippage and burn-out
• Over tensioning of drive belts

Consequences of drive belt failure on critical plant:
A drive belt failure whilst in service, under load, will have a number of potentially serious consequences on process and production: -

• Potential fire
• Downtime and lost production
• Damage to plant
• Motor overheating
• Fluid and lubricant leakage
• Pressure on maintenance resources
• Potential safety risks to personnel

The SENSSLIP® CRITICAL system is a continuous drive belt monitoring system that can be configured to shutdown critical plant, by detecting deterioration in drive belts and vbelts and intervening to prevent failure during operation.

SENSSLIP® CRITICAL monitors belts and drive 24/7. It uses alert systems to notify you when drive belts are operating out of tolerance, and these alerts escalate to the point that the system can be configured to shut down motors if a belt fails due to no corrective action being taken.

Benefits of critical drive belt monitoring:
The SENSSLIP® CRITICAL system provides a number of key benefits for critical plant, production and processes:

• Remote constant condition monitoring for critical transmissions, drives and conveyors
• Automatic motor shutdown in the event of v-belt breakage
• Prevent motor failures from overheating due to broken drive belts
• Prevents further damage to plant in the event of drive belt breakage
• System can be configured to shutdown motors, trigger illumination of warning lights or audible sirens
• Cost-effective system

How can frequent drive belt replacement be prevented?
Most proprietary vbelt manufacturers recommend a regular maintenance programme which includes vbelt inspection, correct tensioning, and checking the correct tracking of the belt, to ensure that vbelts run trouble-free and do not fail during service which can lead to production delays, costly downtime and can even present a safety hazard.

Drive belt monitoring case studies:

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

Download the SENSSLIP® drive belt monitoring brochure for further information about the benefits of continuous drive belt monitoring.

Further information about industrial drive belt monitoring:

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

Please contact us for sales, technical and installation information regarding the continuous drive belt monitoring systems, or to discuss the benefits of v-belt monitoring in a specific industrial application.

Tel: +44(0) 1142 541241 or alternatively, Email: info@senssystems.com