TuffCoat Plating on Hydraulic Fittings

TuffCoat plating sets the global standard in both corrosion resistance and environmental friendliness. Gates has removed all hexavalent chromium from its plating process. This metal, common in industrial plating, is toxic to the environment. Gates engineered TuffCoat plating to be stronger and more resistant to corrosion, without the toxicity of hexavalent chromium.

TuffCoat plating is standard on MegaCrimp and GlobalSpiral couplings and when tested under SAE J516 and ASTMB-117 salt-spray conditions, TuffCoat plating provided more than 500 hours of protection from red rust formation – almost 700 percent better than the 72-hour SAE standard. The Gates coupling with TuffCoat plating shows no red rust formation. White patches on couplings are salt residue, not corrosion. 

For any additional questions feel free to look through our other blog topics or contact us at fppasupport@gates.com or 303-744-5070.

Minimizing Heat in V-belt Drives

The air temperature surrounding a belt drive is the ambient temperature. Operating temperature is the actual temperature of running belts. The operating temperature of belts always exceeds the ambient temperature.

Higher than recommended ambient and operating temperatures deteriorate rubber compound properties, leading to premature belt failures. However, there are ways to minimize the impact.

For high ambient temperature applications, increasing ventilation around the belt drive can help reduce belt operating temperatures. This can be accomplished by adding vents to belt guards, by adding fins to sheaves, or by providing a cooler external air source.

Belt slippage will increase operating temperature. If belt slippage is due to under-design, a re-design may be necessary to increase the capacity. If belt slippage is occurring on a properly designed drive system, the belt installation tension level may need to be increased or worn sheaves replaced.

If the heat source is within the belt drive system itself, re-designing may help. Some belt drive design tips to minimize heat generation are listed below.

• Select belt types with a higher ambient temperature range
• Use more belts to decrease the load per belt
• Use larger sheave diameters to reduce belt bending stresses
• Change to a smaller belt cross-section or use notched belts for increased flexibility

NEMA Minimum Diameters

Are you familiar with NEMA minimum diameters?  NEMA stands for National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and they are the organization that sets standards for electric motors.  The particular standard that is important to your belt drive is the minimum sheave/sprocket diameter standard.  These minimums are important to keep from causing shaft or bearing damage to your electric motor.  You can find this information in our Preventive Maintenance and Safety Manual.

 

Design Flex: New and Used Belt Tension

Design Flex Pro shows new and used belt tension information, but how do you know a belt is "used"?

V-belts stretch more than synchronous belts. Most of that elongation occurs within an initial run-in period and V-belts should be retensioned to the “new” value. Any time the belts are retensioned after that, use the used value. Synchronous belts also experience tension decay, but not enough to require retensioning. When planning to re-install used synchronous belts, measure and record the tension before removing and reinstall at the recorded tension. If that wasn’t done, then re-install the belts at the “used” belt tension specs shown in Design IQ or Design Flex Pro.

Classical V-belt Sheave Diameters

Three different sheave diameters are used for classical-section V-belts, depending on what information is needed. The table below summarizes the most common uses:

The table below can be used to determine pitch and datum diameters based on the sheave outside diameter.  To calculate pitch or datum diameter, subtract the indicated value in the table from the sheave outside diameter.

Note:  all values are in inches.

Polyflex Belt Tolerances

There currently is not a published industry standard for 60° Light Duty (Polyflex) V-belts. We still have manufacturing tolerances for Polyflex belts, but just like with other V-belts, the length is the only dimension that can be accurately measured. Detailed specification sheets (available from Gates Engineering) show the proper way to measure the belt length and also shows the tolerance. The belt is measured using pulleys so the width, thickness, and angle affect how the belt will seat inside the pulley groove, and thus affect the measured length.

Identifying Issues in the Hydraulic System: Tube Swell

Hose Reinforcement

The three basic types of reinforcement are:
• Braided
• Spiraled
• Helical

Braided reinforcement can be wire, textile and have single or multiple layers.

Spiraled reinforcement on hydraulic hose is typically wire or textile and has four or six layers (plies). Spiral-reinforced hose can typically handle more severe applications with longer impulse service life.

Helical coil reinforcement keeps the hose from collapsing during suction (vacuum) and tight bending.

Idler Hardware

How much do you know about Gates industrial idler hardware?  Did you know that we offer a line of not only inside idlers, but backside idlers as well?  Are you looking for idler information for Poly Chain, PowerGrip, or even V-belts?  Well we have your answers!  Check out the links below for some more information on our industrial idlers.

Here is a link to our catalog.

You can watch a video on our idlers here.

If you need drawings, you can find them here.

As always, if you have questions, you can call us at 303-744-5800 or email us at ptpasupport@gates.com