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How do you get rid of belt squeak?
- Thread starter Janderso
- Start date
Caterpillar road graders and loaders from the era where they still ran belts to drive the fan, alternator and maybe A/C, had an issue with belt squeak.
As a mechanic, the sound would MAKE you investigate.
The culprit most often was worn sheaves (pulleys), usually the alternator one. The dirt and small relative diameter of that pulley had it eroded to the point that it would not grip correctly, but only protested immediately after startup, as the juice was sent back to the batteries. You could tighten them to the point that you KNEW you were too far, and still would not fix it. Put the $15 pulley on, and 'Bob's Your Uncle'
As a mechanic, the sound would MAKE you investigate.
The culprit most often was worn sheaves (pulleys), usually the alternator one. The dirt and small relative diameter of that pulley had it eroded to the point that it would not grip correctly, but only protested immediately after startup, as the juice was sent back to the batteries. You could tighten them to the point that you KNEW you were too far, and still would not fix it. Put the $15 pulley on, and 'Bob's Your Uncle'
Belts squeak, get used to it. Especially under heavy load. Alignment helps but it still happens. When I worked in the "pipe shop", years ago, almost every maintenance man carried a "welder's chalk" , even the electrical people. It would quiet squeaking belts. . . for a while. A week or two at best. But with every maintenance man having one handy, every complaint was cleared up in short order.
Alignment was usually accomplished with a "straight-edge". A framing square, a yardstick, sometimes just a piece of metal banding. I've even used a piece of "hot rolled" when time was an issue. Much of our belting was multiple belt setups. There were "critical" loads that had matched belts, but most of them just had the same part number.
There were spray cans of "belt dressing" available, but in a foundry a spray can is a hazard. Hot metal sprays. . . The welder's chalk was our "standard". The spray was a liquid when it came out of the can. Long term, it would get "gummy" and/or would catch fire. Certainly trapped dirt. . .
Sorry it took so long to answer, it took a while to dig into my memory and recover the specifics.
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Alignment was usually accomplished with a "straight-edge". A framing square, a yardstick, sometimes just a piece of metal banding. I've even used a piece of "hot rolled" when time was an issue. Much of our belting was multiple belt setups. There were "critical" loads that had matched belts, but most of them just had the same part number.
There were spray cans of "belt dressing" available, but in a foundry a spray can is a hazard. Hot metal sprays. . . The welder's chalk was our "standard". The spray was a liquid when it came out of the can. Long term, it would get "gummy" and/or would catch fire. Certainly trapped dirt. . .
Sorry it took so long to answer, it took a while to dig into my memory and recover the specifics.
.