Zund S3 L1600

[Zhivko Yanakiev]

Hi everyone.
Here is the thing. We have a ZUND S3 L1600 and the conveyor belt is moving aside during feed. I played a lot with the tension and it brings a slight imrpovement when it is loose but still gets crumpled on the one side and on the other I have a playing gap 3-7mm. After I align it and takes just one full turn to start sliding aside.
Tips and ideas?

 

[Flatbed Tools]

Is this a new belt that was installed?

 

[Zhivko Yanakiev]

Is this a new belt that was installed?

Yes. It is in use since november 2020.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Keep in mind, belts track "Uphill"

This means that if you have more tension on the right side, the belt will tend to track to the right side. It's a bit counterintuitive.

1.) Center your belt
2.) Loosen tension on the side that the belt migrates towards 1 turn, just a tiny bit. If you can't loosen this side any longer, increase the tension on the opposite side
3.) Run the belt until you see a change
4.) Repeat steps 2 & 3 until it tracks straight. This will take a lot of patience. Make small adjustments and watch.

If you spend an hour doing this, making quarter turn adjustments, then tracking the belt for multiple cycles, and you still can't get it. Then you should consider getting a new belt.

 

[balstestrat]

Keep in mind, belts track "Uphill"

This means that if you have more tension on the right side, the belt will tend to track to the right side. It's a bit counterintuitive.

1.) Center your belt
2.) Loosen tension on the side that the belt migrates towards 1 turn, just a tiny bit. If you can't loosen this side any longer, increase the tension on the opposite side
3.) Run the belt until you see a change
4.) Repeat steps 2 & 3 until it tracks straight. This will take a lot of patience. Make small adjustments and watch.

If you spend an hour doing this, making quarter turn adjustments, then tracking the belt for multiple cycles, and you still can't get it. Then you should consider getting a new belt.

Ummm I have to say I didn't watch that long and old video but I'm pretty sure belts do track towards less tension...
Anyways that's how I adjust the belts. Add tension and the belt will move away, lessen and it comes towards you.
It just makes sense and that's how they work, no?

 

[Flatbed Tools]

I would first check if the belt was cut square by placing a strip of 1" masking tape around the conveyor belt on both the right and left edges. Make a mark with sharpie where the tape overlaps itself. Then carefully peel the tape back and measure both strips. They should have the exact same length, if not this will cause the belt to track to longer side of the belt.

 

[FireSprint.com]

These guys are both right. My point assumes the belt starts of square, you have to start with that.

If the belt isn't square/even it will make it much harder to track.

An even belt will track uphill. This is because it will track towards the point of contact first.

 

[Zhivko Yanakiev]

Ummm I have to say I didn't watch that long and old video but I'm pretty sure belts do track towards less tension...
Anyways that's how I adjust the belts. Add tension and the belt will move away, lessen and it comes towards you.
It just makes sense and that's how they work, no?

View attachment 152904

It actually worked as FireSprint.com commented previously. The conveyor moved to the first point of contact - the side where I added more tension. Doing it the other way was making things worse. That is really kind of against the logic but since it works ...

 

[balstestrat]

It actually worked as FireSprint.com commented below. The conveyor moved to the first point of contact - the side where I added more tension. Doing it the other way was making things worse. That is really kind of against the logic but since it works ...

Well it's good that you got it figured. There's always some explanation and must be something here that I don't know.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Really glad you got it figured out. Here's another explanation I found entertaining...but I'm also a geek.

You can skip to about 3 minutes for the meat of the video.

If you need help with your overflow or anything else, feel free to reach out!