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Do You Use Belt Dressing

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auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 2168 West of Toronto
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2012-10-05          185115

I posted this under "mowers" because I guess most of them use belts. (I think there should be a new subject added: "Miscellaneous" or "Other.")

Some time ago I asked for opinions on using belt dressings. There was no definitive answer, so I asked the Gates company, which makes most of the belts in use. Here, for your possible interest, is the answer from their product applications and research engineer.

"We actually do not recommend using dressing on any of our belts. These dressings reduce friction and in the case of V-Belts, friction is critical. Commonly people use dressings to eliminate the belts from slipping and subsequently squealing yet this is an issue that should be directly address by simply increasing the tension in the drive and/or performing a drive analysis to see if the drive is potentially under-designed."


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Do You Use Belt Dressing

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hardwood
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 3583 iowa
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2012-10-05          185116


We used to use dressing on flat belts but never have on a "V" belt.
Silly as it may sound I have put a few drops of oil on a "V" belt to quiet them down. Never noticed that they slipped with some oil, be a bit conservative with the oil tho,

Frank. ....

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Do You Use Belt Dressing

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greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2012-10-06          185126

I used to use it regularly. Years ago, belt technology was less advanced. Heat would glaze the contact surfaces of the belts, slippage ensued. Belt dressing fixed that. But I haven't had any glazed belts for years, which strongly suggests that the belt manufacturers are now providing a better product.

That said, a lot of the Chinese stuff I've used in recent years demonstrates that they've still got a long way to go to achieve the same level of rubber quality. So if you've got any of that - or plan to get any - don't throw away the belt dressing.

Hardwood: those "few drops of oil" actually represent (a form of) belt dressing. When used sparingly, oil can temporarily dissolve enough of the glaze to restore the rubber to metal adhesion. But if the belt continues to run hot, the oil will evaporate and the glaze will return. Belt dressing on the other hand essentially melts a new layer on top of the glaze, hence it lasts longer than the oil method.

//greg// ....

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candoarms
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 1932 North Dakota
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2012-10-13          185169

We use belt dressing during the cold winter months. Belts tend to slip badly during very cold weather, as the rubber in the belts gets very hard and has no grip.

Belt dressing works well during cold weather on self-propelled snow blowers, gas engine powered grain augers, etc. It is generally not needed when temperatures are above zero.

Joel ....

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