There aren't that many filter belt manufacturers around. I was told by filter vendors that the belt is vulcanised before the grooves are cut. It sounds very reasonable since the concept of peeling back a grooved top cover and expecting it to reconstitute correctly seem full of complexity. In my opinion you would be asking for trouble. Can you even source a length of insert 1385mm wide ? ■

There are several different methods of vulcanizing horizontal filter belts.

1. Louispanjang is correct that many filter belts are spliced endless before they get to the customer. This is due to the fact that because of the construction of the filter belt, they do not always run straight and need to be "trained". Once the belt is running straight, the manufacturer (or the assembler of the system) will trim the outside edges, mark the drainage slot, cut the drainage holes and finish grooving the belt.

2. BMG has installed and hot vulcanized splice many horizontal filter belts at the customer's site (up to 3.5 meters wide) and have used several different methods, including the one above. An additional method is to use sand as a filler for the grooves, in the splice area. This will allow even pressure when the splice is vulcanized.

However, the better method for field vulcanization is to request that the manufacturer provide you with some of the waste pieces from when they cut the grooves. You can then use these as fillers in the splice area.

BMG has spliced many of these belts and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Ronald D. Fernandes

BMG Latin America, Inc.

27658 Cashford Circle, Suite 102

Wesley Chapel, Florida 33544 USA

Phone: 813.385.1254

Fax: 813.909.7946

E-mail: ron@bmglatinamerica.com ■