You may have tracking problems. The non-symmetrical arrangement of the cables can cause the belt to favor a shift in the neutral axis.

Many mfgrs. apply, by design, by mistake and/or by the manufacturing technique, have irregular spacing or cord pitch at the outer steel cords, usually larger rubber between the outer two or three cords. During manufacturing, they are more or less the same at both belt edges. With those cords cut from only one side, and their possible non-symmetric arrangement, they may have a tendency to pull more from the closer pitch with evident mistracking. ■

Dear Mr. Vladimir Patera:

As Mr. Nordell has stated, it would be better if the belt was trimmed from both sides. There is a potential for mistracking by having the belt trimmed the way you indicated. You should consult with the original belt manufacturer.

Along with the mistracking issue, you should also examine the condition of the covers. If there are a number of deep cracks and gouges, the integrity of the cables could be compromised through either direct damage or rusting. Depending on the length involved, it may be economical to have the belt scanned.

Finally, the belt should be examined for broken cables. A rough method would be to run the belt out and look for raised bottom or top cover points. If the cover is raised, there is either a broken cable or imbedded material. The alternate method is to scan the belt.

Regards, ■

Mr. Patera:

You have not provided information on the intended use and life you expect. Along with Mr. Miller's comment, you might examine the issues of belt life, residual value and safety.

Cable breakage and corrosion must be determined.

You need a proper cable integrity scan done such as performed by

CONVEYOR BELT TECHNOLOGY CORP. using their

"BELT C.A.T.™" at: http://www.conveyorbelttech.com/

We assume you know the forces are you going to apply. Is the belt adequate? PLease factor in the potential loss of strength due to cable breakage and corrosion. ■

Hello Patera..

I one came across a conveyor that had the belt damaged on one side only, due to massive build up on one side of a pulley.

Since this pulley was trapped between other pulleys, the lump of build up overstressed and broke the steel cords on one side of the belt each time the pulley rotated.

Other than that, the conveyor ran OK and the client could not understand why his outer cords were broken on one side till we found the lump.

The thing is, the belt actually tracked fine despite being horizontally curved combined with straight and despite the abuse.

I would therefore suggest you consider buying the cut down belt, especially if you can scan it first

If your conveyor is short, you have nothing much to loose.

If your conveyor is long then arrange a roll of it splice it in, prove it, and then buy the rest.

Good luck

LSL Tekpro ■