Tracking the conveyor belt on a Jet 10-20

Pete Howlett

Pete Howlett

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I've had to replace the conveyor belt on my Jet 10-20 and am struggling with the tracking. Anyone done this successfully? It pulls to the right and I can't figure out how to get it pulling straight. Gotta get this right because I paid an arm and a leg to import a couple of belts.

Please don't post with advice if you have NEVER DONE THIS on a 10-20 or have done it on another machine that you think might work on a JET 10-20. :) I need help, not therapy.
 
When I bought my first drum sander it was a 10-20 and that thing just wouldn't track for love nor money.

My problem was that no matter how much one way or the other I adjusted it the belt would always track to the inside of the machine and start to destroy the edge in very short order. It took days of research to find references to the chassis of the machine going out of square, or in my case not built square.

If you have a look you will notice that the chassis is all bolted together and there is indeed a bit of slop for adjustment built into the unit.

I ended up having to set mine up off a granite slab. Levelling each part as if I was fully assembling the unit in the factory. What a complete pain that was.

But in the end, that is what fixed this issue for me. It still was no where near as responsive to tracking adjustments that my new twin drum sander is.
 
As former President Clinton would say in a kind of southern drawl "I feel your pain"
It took me a long while to get a new conveyer belt to track properly. I ended up with a condition in which it glides ever so slightly to the inside of the machine. I made the mistake of leaving the conveyer running all night, when I came back in the morning the old belt was trashed. To get it tracking as well as it is I just kept running it at the highest speed and making micro adjustments.

PS it's harder than it should be.
 
All I can say is I followed the directions from the manual below

Conveyor Belt Tracking
Belt tracking adjustment may be necessary during the break-in period and normal operation to compensate for belt stretching.
Abrasive belt tension must be properly adjusted before adjusting the tracking. Adjust the belt tracking while the conveyor belt is running at its fastest speed.
Tighten the hex nut (Figure 5, Item B) on the side the belt is drifting towards, and loosen the hex nut on the opposite side. Use the attached wrenches (Figure 5, Item C) to adjust the hex nuts.
Note: Adjustment should be made in 1/4 turns of the hex nut. Allow time for the belt to react to the adjustment. Do not over adjust.
Conveyor Belt Tension
Conveyor belt tension adjustment may be necessary during the break in period to compensate for belt stretching.
If the conveyor belt can be stopped by hand pressure applied directly to the top of the conveyor bed, the belt is too loose. Insufficient belt tension will cause slippage of the conveyor belt on the drive roller during sanding operations.
Excessive belt tension can cause tracking problems and result in bent rollers, bent take-up brackets and premature conveyor belt wear.
Adjust the hex nuts (Figure 5, Item B) on both sides of the conveyor to obtain a tight, and equally tensioned, conveyor belt. Use the attached wrenches (Figure 5, Item C) to adjust the hex nuts.
 
Thanks folks... couldn't find me manual and I'll check alignment on Monday Allen.
 
Pete.... Slacken off the adjusters...Fit the belt, start off with a ruler and measure from the frame of the 10-20 to the centre of the roller bearing on the rear and front gently screw out the adjusters equally until the belt starts to tighten and the distance from frame to roller centre is equal (on mine about 22mm)...Then start the belt running slowly at first and see which way it starts to creep...at this point stop the machine and tighten the adjuster a bit at the side its creeping towards..Then switch on and try again... it will now have slowed down on the creep or started to go the other way :)...Keep doing this until it runs central and keep checking with the rule as you go and don't overtighten...when you are satisfied running it slowly...you now need to up the speed and see if still drifts...if it does then you can fine adjust it with a litle nip here and there, when it's running at full speed and stays central for half an hour youve got it .....It's just a matter of getting the rollers parallel, same as a belt sander only more finniky;)
 
Exactly what I needed Ken. I was hoping you would lend your experience to this. Thanks much old friend :)
 
Adjustment is very fine isn't it? I'm sure the belts are quite poorly made and are not true...
 
I know you said only on a 10/20, so up front, my 16/32 has the same issues. I like Ken's suggestion, and its similar to what I used, except I was fortunate that I could snug it up and start the conveyor, and "catch" the drift with the adjusters, stopping every so often as I tightened both sides.

The one thing that helped me a lot was using a line laser level http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Tools-64001-Strait-Line-Laser/dp/B000065CE7 because my eyes got tired of staring at whatever method I tried previously (I'm impatient, and didn't want to run it 1/2 hour to see if it was running straight).
 
When I first got my 16-32 I found the adjuster on one side was all bent up. The ear and the adjustment rod were both bent so I took it apart and straightened everything out. The fiddling with it was as Ken described and it was a long process. It's been tracking great since without any other adjustment needed but getting it straight was painfully slow.
 
Tighten the adjuster screw that the belt is riding toward. Run the belt wide open and adjust appx 1/4 turn at a time. It will take a while to track. I have the same sander and you have to tweek it often when you see it start to ride one side or the other. Once you have it close and only tighten appx. 1/8 of a turn at a time. Try it and see how it goes. With a relatively short belt, it will take a while.
 
I am finding that. The belt is very slack on one side and the other has to be well tight. But it is good to have the automatic feed back as my assistant and I were hand feeding stuff through.
 
You have a plane sitting on a runway which happens to be a conveyor belt, the wheels of the plane has encoders that hand-off wheel rate to the transport runway which quickly coordinates the velocity however in the converse bearing to the way the plane is confronting, Ignoring any contact in the wheel course would the plane have the capacity to take off?
 
Pete,
the answer to your problem is to buy Ken a rail ticket!
h
 
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