A Complete Guide to Pulley Alignment
Why is Pulley Alignment Important?
In an overarching sense, proper pulley alignment is important because it helps you extract the most value from your belt drive system. It does this in a number of ways, all of which are worth diving deeper into.
For starters, ideal pulley alignment helps to increase the efficiency of your equipment dramatically. When everything is in solid working order, premature wear-and-tear is reduced. Not only does this help increase productivity, but it also cuts down on maintenance costs. Along the same lines, it can also help significantly reduce the possibility of unplanned downtime or equipment failures as well.
What Causes Pulley Misalignment?
Unfortunately, pulley misalignment can happen for a wide range of different reasons - all of which are relatively common, especially with machines that see periods of heavy use.
One of them involves poor drive maintenance. Sometimes, employees are using the wrong belt tension and don't realize it until it's too late. Other times, pulley misalignment occurs somewhat naturally and isn't corrected. Either way, the problem will only get worse over time and could lead to belt failure before you know it.
Environmental factors also sometimes play a role. These can include but are certainly not limited to equipment that is being operated in periods of harsh sunlight, significant temperature fluctuations, and more.
In some situations, improper installation can easily contribute to pulley misalignment. Perhaps an operator used the incorrect belt or sheaves during this process, which created a negative ripple effect in the worst possible way. Other times, the belt may have been forced onto the grooves, causing a misalignment issue almost immediately.
Finally, certain operational factors can absolutely contribute to a situation where pulley misalignment is present. These can include a potential overload of the equipment in question, or even a shock load that is not adequately addressed.
Pulley Alignment Steps
Thankfully, the process of getting back to proper pulley alignment isn't necessarily difficult - but it does require you to follow a number of key steps along the way.
Confirm Misalignment
First, it's important to confirm what type of pulley misalignment you are actually working with. Make sure that the original equipment manufacturer's tolerance recommendations are being followed wherever possible. Look for radial run-out and, if no such factor is present, check for shaft run-out as well. If shaft run-out is present, understand that it will need to be replaced before you can continue on with the rest of the process.
Soft Foot
At that point, you'll want to check what is called the soft foot. This involves the actual base of the heavy machinery being loose. The feet that hold the shaft need to all be sitting properly flat on the base before you can adequately adjust the drive. If one is sitting too far in an upward position, when it gets tightened, it will move the drive further out of alignment. Soft foot that go unnoticed for too long can lead to a distortion of the pulley frame, which itself can cause damage to the bearings, seals, and other elements.
Use feeler gauges that are positioned under each individual foot, one at a time. Carefully measure any rise in the loosened foot and be sure to write it down. Tighten the foot back down before moving onto the next one. During this process, no reading should be any more than 0.002 inches, or roughly 0.05 millimeters, in size.
Install New Belts
Next, you can move onto the installation of new belts. They must be properly fitted before you do so. The slack sides of all belts should be on the same side of the machine - either at the top or bottom depending on the situation. You should never install belts by prying them or forcing them onto pulleys. Instead, they should be fitted using hand pressure only.
Laser Alignment
Last but not least we arrive at the concept of laser alignment - a process that is essential for quality sheave alignment along with the overall maintenance of the system as it pertains to not only pulleys but also belts and bearings.
Laser pulley alignment systems use sophisticated technology to accomplish more accurate results when compared to alternative methods (like the "string and straight edge" method) in a fraction of the time. First, an alignment condition check is performed that includes looking at qualities like vertical and horizontal angularity, offset, and more. Vertical angularity will be corrected by shimming the component itself using hundreds of stainless steel shims. Offset will be addressed by adjusting the moveable pulley axially. Finally, horizontal angularity will be corrected by making any necessary lateral adjustments.
So not only can you reduce the amount of time that a particular machine needs to be down, but also the number of people needed to perform the alignment. You get a more accurate alignment in a way that also frees up the valuable time of employees so that they can focus on more important matters.
In the end, there are a lot of factors that go into getting the most out of your various belt drive systems. Obviously, quality design is a huge part of that. High quality components are also necessary, particularly when it comes to various sheaves and belts. Correct installation should also be a consideration, but ultimately these are just starting points.
More important is your ability to keep your pulley running properly at all times. That requires a level of care and attention-to-detail that only comes with proper pulley alignment.
At Illinois Pulley & Gear, we're proud of the reputation we've been able to earn over the years as experts in terms of pulley alignment and all related matters. We manufacture only the highest quality timing pulleys, all of them being designed to our customer's exact specifications. If you're in need of replacement parts for your system, all you have to do is send us the dimensions, and we'll be happy to take care of the rest. No job is too big or too complicated for us to handle, and we're eager to leverage the power of our expertise to your advantage. If you'd like to find out more information about everything that you need to know about pulley alignment, or if you'd just like to make sure that you have the right partner who understands what you need and why it is so important, please don't hesitate to contact Illinois Pulley & Gear today.
