mudduck on thu 23 jun 11
A while back I put up a post about belts that had been breaking on my =3D
Pacifica wheel. About a week after my post Julie Brooks from Laguna =3D
contacted me and after a little problem solving it was determined that =3D
my pulley was missing or had worn out a rubber part in the bottom of the =
=3D
V on my pulley, the result was that the belts would pinch in the bottom =3D
of the V instead of move freely, thus they where breaking at the weakest =
=3D
point of the belt which was the join. Laguna was able to supply me with =3D
a replacement pulley. The new pulley has 4 separate grooves for each =3D
belt to ride in like the pulley on the motor. Replacing the V type round =
=3D
belt pulley with the new 4 groove round belt pulley design makes the =3D
wheel run much quieter, no more pinching belt noise. I've had the new =3D
pulley on for about a week and a half now and turned about 500 lbs. of =3D
clay. No belt squeaking or breaking so far. I really think this will =3D
solve my problem.=3D20
If anyone needs a new style round belt pulley for their older Pacifica, =3D
Julie said they can e mail Sergio@Lagunaclay.com she said It is a =3D
special part, so it might take a few days to get it.
Laguna also said that the belts from McMasters and Carr are the wrong =
=3D
size belts and theirs are indeed better priced and the correct size for =3D
the Pacifica wheel and available on www. Axner.com.
=3D20
The folks at Laguna really stepped up and helped me find what I feel =3D
was the best and most affordable solution to my belt issue. Thanks =3D
Julie!!
=3D20
Gene
mudduck@mudduckpottery.net
www.mudduckpottery.net
jonathan byler on thu 23 jun 11
Hi Gene,
I don't know what could be "wrong sized" about the mcmaster-carr
belts... maybe I am half an inch too short or something in the total
belt length, but they do stretch a lot so this isn't really a factor
here. you can have them made up at any length you desire, the
diameters of the material is the same or close enough to work well.
one can order just about any diameter urethane belt with any length
that you could possibly want. I have 20 of the GT series wheels in
our shop at work and I haven't had a lick of trouble from the mcmaster-
carr belts that I ordered as replacements when the original belts
eventually failed on a number of our machines. this bit about them
being the wrong size sounds like a line of bull to sell you their
belts instead of having you go elsewhere for parts. I looked all over
the axner site and couldn't find replacement belts listed so I can't
compare prices. last time I ordered them from axner/laguna, they cost
significantly more as in almost twice as much, as the belts from
mcmaster-carr.
I'm glad Laguna got the other stuff worked out for you with the
pulley. I was a bit unimpressed with how our wheels are designed when
I saw the large driven pulley as you describe. I can only imagine
this was done as a cost saving measure initially. having a 4 grooved
pulley, like the small driving pulley on the motor makes more sense
from an engineering perspective, but that costs more money usually.
so out of curiosity, how much did the replacement pulley cost?
wondering when I get to this whether I buy or make my own.
thanks for posting your follow up.
best,
jon
On Jun 23, 2011, at 12:49 PM, mudduck wrote:
> A while back I put up a post about belts that had been breaking on
> my Pacifica wheel. About a week after my post Julie Brooks from
> Laguna contacted me and after a little problem solving it was
> determined that my pulley was missing or had worn out a rubber part
> in the bottom of the V on my pulley, the result was that the belts
> would pinch in the bottom of the V instead of move freely, thus they
> where breaking at the weakest point of the belt which was the join.
> Laguna was able to supply me with a replacement pulley. The new
> pulley has 4 separate grooves for each belt to ride in like the
> pulley on the motor. Replacing the V type round belt pulley with the
> new 4 groove round belt pulley design makes the wheel run much
> quieter, no more pinching belt noise. I've had the new pulley on for
> about a week and a half now and turned about 500 lbs. of clay. No
> belt squeaking or breaking so far. I really think this will solve my
> problem.
>
> If anyone needs a new style round belt pulley for their older
> Pacifica, Julie said they can e mail Sergio@Lagunaclay.com she
> said It is a special part, so it might take a few days to get it.
>
> Laguna also said that the belts from McMasters and Carr are the
> wrong size belts and theirs are indeed better priced and the correct
> size for the Pacifica wheel and available on www. Axner.com.
>
> The folks at Laguna really stepped up and helped me find what I
> feel was the best and most affordable solution to my belt issue.
> Thanks Julie!!
>
>
> Gene
> mudduck@mudduckpottery.net
> www.mudduckpottery.net
jonathan byler on fri 24 jun 11
cool thanks. they must have come down on the price? or maybe I am
misremembering things from when I bought them last. keep me us posted
on the pulley, I'm sure there are others out there who will want to
know about this.
On Jun 23, 2011, at 9:15 PM, mudduck wrote:
> Jon
>
> I got all 4 belts from Laguna for I think was 26 dollars, don't
> remember for sure the invoice is at the studio. But that want be off
> much and it may have been a little less.
>
> As far as size of the belts I'm just going on what I was told.
>
> We haven't discussed the price of the new pulley as yet. Right now
> I'm trying it out to see if it will indeed solve the problem.
> Keeping the belts separated has got to be a much better system in my
> opinion.
>
>
> Gene
> mudduck@mudduckpottery.net
> www.mudduckpottery.net
David Hendley on sat 25 jun 11
I have always assumed that Pacifica designed their wheels with a pulley
with a rubber insert, instead of a grooved pulley, because rubber-on-rubber
is quieter and provides it a better non-slip drive.
As I have written to Clayart before, my circa 1980 Pacifica is still
running on the original belt and pulley. That is over 30 years of heavy,
professional-potter use (less 5 years when the wheel was in storage
while I built my house!).
I have replaced the bearings in the motor. I bought replacement
bearings at a local bearing store and it was not a hard job.
I sent the step-by-step instructions to Clayart about 10 years ago.
(Search for "the crickets are dead" or "the day the crickets died" or
something like that to find the post.)
David Hendley
david@farmpots.com
http://www.farmpots.com
http://www.thewahooligans.com
----- Original Message -----
>
> I'm glad Laguna got the other stuff worked out for you with the
> pulley. I was a bit unimpressed with how our wheels are designed when
> I saw the large driven pulley as you describe. I can only imagine
> this was done as a cost saving measure initially. having a 4 grooved
> pulley, like the small driving pulley on the motor makes more sense
> from an engineering perspective, but that costs more money usually.
> so out of curiosity, how much did the replacement pulley cost?
> wondering when I get to this whether I buy or make my own.
>
> thanks for posting your follow up.
>
> best,
> jon
>
>
> On Jun 23, 2011, at 12:49 PM, mudduck wrote:
>
>> A while back I put up a post about belts that had been breaking on
>> my Pacifica wheel. About a week after my post Julie Brooks from
>> Laguna contacted me and after a little problem solving it was
>> determined that my pulley was missing or had worn out a rubber part
>> in the bottom of the V on my pulley, the result was that the belts
>> would pinch in the bottom of the V instead of move freely, thus they
>> where breaking at the weakest point of the belt which was the join.
>> Laguna was able to supply me with a replacement pulley. The new
>> pulley has 4 separate grooves for each belt to ride in like the
>> pulley on the motor. Replacing the V type round belt pulley with the
>> new 4 groove round belt pulley design makes the wheel run much
>> quieter, no more pinching belt noise. I've had the new pulley on for
>> about a week and a half now and turned about 500 lbs. of clay. No
>> belt squeaking or breaking so far. I really think this will solve my
>> problem.
>>
>> If anyone needs a new style round belt pulley for their older
>> Pacifica, Julie said they can e mail Sergio@Lagunaclay.com she
>> said It is a special part, so it might take a few days to get it.
>>
>> Laguna also said that the belts from McMasters and Carr are the
>> wrong size belts and theirs are indeed better priced and the correct
>> size for the Pacifica wheel and available on www. Axner.com.
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