J-Flex Belt Tracking

[jheinen 41]

Does anyone else have issues with J-Flex belt tracking? I have a KMG grinder, and when I use J-Flex belts, they track very far to the left. So much so that even with the tracking screw all the way out there's still at least 1/8" of platen showing on the right side. I don't see this problem with stiffer belts.

[Alan Longmire 2,830]

Sorry, my KMG tracks all belts the same.  Are you getting it tight enough?  The belts should be tight enough to twang like a bass guitar.

[Jan Ysselstein 67]

This question was brought up to Bader sales rep..who replied..... "be sure to release the tension on your belt when not grinding" ..if that is the case a brand new belt should track better in your case.

[jheinen 41]

Unfortunately I've tried tightening the belt as much as possible, loosening it, fresh belts, etc. I remove the belt when I'm not using the grinder. The only think I can think of at this point is to try beveling the mounting block on the tracking wheel so that it will track even further to the right, but I'm not sure that's a good idea.

[Joshua States 1,782]

Try flipping the belt around and see if it over-tracks to the left or if it changes direction. If it tracks to the left, the problem is in the grinder, if the tracking changes direction, I think you got some bad belts.

[jheinen 41]

I flipped the belt and had the same problem. I'm not sure what to try other than trimming the tracking wheel's mounting block so that it has more travel to move the belt to the right.

[owen bush 289]

are your wheels worn or is there enough crown on one wheel ? there is not a lot that cant be sorted with some electrical tape around the middle of the tracking wheel to pull a belt central.

 

[Joshua States 1,782]

3 hours ago, owen bush said:

are your wheels worn or is there enough crown on one wheel ? there is not a lot that cant be sorted with some electrical tape around the middle of the tracking wheel to pull a belt central.

 

Easy fixes are best. Low tech solutions make more sense sometimes than permanent modifications. Trimming or reshaping parts of the grinder may cause more problems down the road.

Also, drop KMG an email. Rob is very serious about customer support and service. He probably knows the grinder better than anyone.

[jheinen 41]

I don't think wear is the issue, as the grinder is relatively new. I'll drop Rob a line.

[Brian Myers 130]

Wrap electrical tape around the center of the tracking wheel, about three or four layers, and see if that helps. If that doesn't work then unless you got a weird batch of belts then go for that email. 

[jheinen 41]

Rob provided the solution. An impact adjustment got it tracking where I want it. Reminds me of the story the Greybeard engineer - 

“There is an old story of a boilermaker who was hired to fix a huge steamship boiler system that was not working well.

After listening to the engineer’s description of the problems and asking a few questions, he went to the boiler room. He looked at the maze of twisting pipes, listened to the thump of the boiler and the hiss of the escaping steam for a few minutes, and felt some pipes with his hands. Then he hummed softly to himself, reached into his overalls and took out a small hammer, and tapped a bright red valve one time. Immediately, the entire system began working perfectly, and the boilermaker went home.

When the steamship owner received a bill for one thousand dollars, he became outraged and complained that the boilermaker had only been in the engine room for fifteen minutes and requested an itemized bill. So the boilermaker sent him a bill that reads as follows:
For tapping the valve: $.50
For knowing where to tap: $999.50
TOTAL: $1,000.00”