Why drives that are slack last only 70% as long as they should

Problem: By some estimates, as many as 60% of industrial chain and belt power transmission drives may be operating with no tension-maintaining device other than having manual-adjust bearing blocks. Many plants forget drive-tensioning adjustments altogether and simply accept the resulting downtime, material and labour costs as normal.

Solution:A self-adjusting tensioner can eliminate improperly tensioned belts, which in turn reduces costs associated with production downtime, energy waste and maintenance-related labour costs.

What is surprising, according to Lovejoy Inc. engineers, is that the self-adjusting chain/belt tensioner is just beginning to gain recognition for its advantages. To understand why these devices deserve consideration, it helps to overview the power transmission tension problem.

Left alone, chains and belts inevitably stretch — as much as 4% to 6% for belts, 1% to 3% for chains. Slowly but surely, this leads to serious power loss, overheated belts due to excessive slippage, or sagging and slapping chains — resulting in rapid wear.

Chains and belts that are allowed to run slack are likely to last only 70% as long as they should. Over time, slack adds up to a lot of unnecessary energy waste, downtime and replacement costs.

Self-adjusting belt and chain tensioners can solve the problem.

Mr. O’s thanks for this tip go to Lovejoy Inc., the supplier of the Rosta self-adjusting tensioner, one of several such products available from various vendors.

Do you have a solution for a maintenance problem? Send it in and if it’s published, we’ll send you $50 and a Mr. O Problem Solver T-shirt. Include your address, telephone number, print complete details and, if possible, add a sketch to help explain your tip. Send your tips to Mr. O, Machinery & Equipment MRO, 12 Concorde Place, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M3C 4J2.