Noisy Belt

[Dave K]

Hi people!!
New guy here, so go easy on me. I have a Fadal 2016. It's a 1999 model with the standard belt driven 7500 rpm spindle. The belt is in excellent shape but it makes a lot of high pitched noise. I know the cogged belts always make a "whining" noise but this is a sort of timed squeak on top of the normal whine. I talked to Fadal about it and the had me spray water on the inside of the belt as a test. The noise went away until the water dried up. So, that supposedly says it's the glazed effect of the belt, and not a spindle problem. Anybody know of a quick fix for this? Maybe a belt dressing that takes away the glazed effect you get over time? I could just replace it, but there's nothing else wrong with it.

[imwllc]

This sounds stupid, but on my bridgeports we had squealing belts at high rpms, and a older guy that worked for me put toothpaste on the belts and it fixed the noise for a long time. I used it on a variable speed bandsaw that squealed when it was being adjusted and it hasnt squealed in over a year. Has a nice minty scent too

[nervis1]

Rubbing some ivory soap (the bar kind) on the belt will also work for a while.

I'd just replace the belt. Get it over with.

[Machinereaper1]

Try tightening it up too, might be a little loose if it's been running for a long time.

[Neal]

Dave--
It may be that the spindle motor mounts, if they are the vulcanized type, that may have a problem. This would allow the pullys to be out of alignment causing the belt to rub on the side.
Be careful about over tightening the belt as this could cause the belt to fail early.

Neal

[Dave K]

Originally Posted by Neal Dave-- It may be that the spindle motor mounts, if they are the vulcanized type, that may have a problem. This would allow the pullys to be out of alignment causing the belt to rub on the side. Be careful about over tightening the belt as this could cause the belt to fail early. Neal

Could you give me a little more info? I don't know what you mean by vulcanized. Also, what happens, do they come loose and just need to be tightened?

[Machinereaper1]

Belts and pullies wear from use and deteriorate with time. You more than likley have a timing type belt and when they get loose & sometimes if they are over tightend they can sound like what you discribe. The motor should be mounted on a slotted plate so you can snug it up or lossen as necessary. But do not over tighten or it's hard on spindle & motor bearings. I think on that machine the belt deflection should be 1/2 to 3/4 inches. But check the manual it should be in it.
Mike

[Neal]

Dave--
Vulcanized motor mounts are rubberized mounts which sometimes can cusion a spindle vibration. If the rubber deterioates the the motor can cock a little or dance around a small amount. The fix is to replace them or replace them with solid mounts.

Neal

[alloyspec]

All of our Fadals have 10,000 rpm spindles so I may be way out of line here, but an air cylinder is what change speeds from one set of belts to another for High/Low gear. One of three machines we have cannot be run at 10,000 rpm for more then an hour straight without switching speeds into low gear for a second, then back to high. It starts making a hard-to-describe noise. Kind of like the belts flopping around. I suspect the aircylinder bleeds off and the air supply to it is a one-shot deal, so it slowly loosens the belt. I guess this could be described as a squeal. Could be a similar problem on your machine if you are doing alot of work at high rpm.
Alloyspec