Belt Cooling

[GeneMiller]

assuming the manufacture lines everything up and tensions them correctly my main concern is heat. I use a radiator fan to keep my belts cool. Won't work well on this machine. The belts are enclosed with vents on the bottom and then vents at the top. Thanks to Ashley I have the perfect solution. I ordered a inline blower, small hood to cover the vent, and some duct. The hood will fit the vent perfect and the force air through out the top vent. I'll draw cooler air from under the truck. Perfect solution because sapphire enclosed the belts. I got the 175cfm 3"
Already shipped and on the way.

Again thanks Ashley, I would of never found this.

http://performanceunlimited.com/cobravalley_drivetrain/ductfan.html


Gene​

 

[Mikey P]

the 870 does not have the built in fan the other SS TMs do?

 

[Nate The Great]

the 870 does not have the built in fan the other SS TMs do?

Not according to the user manual....... Also everything I read on it doesn't list it as a highlight.......Like they do on the 570....

 

[Ron B]

Gents
I would like to address the belt cooling topic. You are correct the 870 does not have our standard "through frame" belt cooling system like our other SS truck mounts. The 870 actually uses the fan blade from the engine and flows air through the vents on the right side of the belt guard, then the hot air is pushed out of the vents on the lower left side of the belt guard.
Ron Britton

 

[bob vawter]

them ain't green belts.......

 

[rwcarpet]

assuming the manufacture lines everything up and tensions them correctly my main concern is heat. I use a radiator fan to keep my belts cool. Won't work well on this machine. The belts are enclosed with vents on the bottom and then vents at the top. Thanks to Ashley I have the perfect solution. I ordered a inline blower, small hood to cover the vent, and some duct. The hood will fit the vent perfect and the force air through out the top vent. I'll draw cooler air from under the truck. Perfect solution because sapphire enclosed the belts. I got the 175cfm 3"
Already shipped and on the way.

Again thanks Ashley, I would of never found this.

http://performanceunlimited.com/cobravalley_drivetrain/ductfan.html


Gene​

Good luck with those. Make sure you aren't drawing hot air through those fans. The impellers will just loosen up on the fan shaft and go flying. Ask me how I know.

 

[Lee Stockwell]

I'd suggest using an IR meter to verify belt assembly temperatures before/after modification.

 

[KevinD]

I'd suggest using an IR meter to verify belt assembly temperatures before/after modification.

Direct couplers also.
I found out after many coupler insert failures that the flange side of my coupler closest to the engine was exceeding 375 degrees.
Way past the temperature limitation of a EPDM coupler.
Have not lost one since a cooling fan was installed.

 

[GeneMiller]

View attachment 4481 View attachment 4482 View attachment 4483
Gents
I would like to address the belt cooling topic. You are correct the 870 does not have our standard "through frame" belt cooling system like our other SS truck mounts. The 870 actually uses the fan blade from the engine and flows air through the vents on the right side of the belt guard, then the hot air is pushed out of the vents on the lower left side of the belt guard.
Ron Britton

Ron if I understood you correctly your using engine heated air to blow through a vent then out the bottom. That's going against the natural flow. Sapphire recommends replacing all the belts every 1000. To often for me. I'm gonna cool the heck out of them. I have cross ventilation and it's still scorching hot in my box. You can't cool belts with hot air. You can't touch the door panels when it running. It throws off serious heat. I'll check the belt temp tomorrow and post the results.

Gene

 

[GeneMiller]

I only remembered to check once but the engine was plenty hot. It was running on low for about an hour when I checked. We were cleaning upholstery. I couldn't see if I hit the belt or not. I needed a flashlight and forgot my phone had a light. The top measurement was 174 and the bottom measurement was 155. It's gonna go up with the higher speed. You can feel air coming out the bottom vent but it's to hot to keep your hand there. I think I can lower those temperature quiet a bit.

Gene

 

[GeneMiller]

( The ideal operating temperature for a V-belt is approximately 140°F (60°C). Standard construction V-belts typically can withstand ambient temperatures up to 165°F (74°C) without sustaining appreciable damage. Gates V-belts with EPDM construction are specified to go up to 230°F (110°C). Beyond these temperatures, every 18°F (8°C) increase in internal belt temperature can reduce V-belt service life by half. ). Above is from Gates. I dropped my temperature to 144 on medium speed. I didn't check it on high. . I'm more than happy with that.

Gene

 

[AshleyMckendree]

@GeneMiller Any time my friend!

@bob vawter they dont make 5vx green belts unfortunately

 

[mwall2230]

can you post a picture how to installed this.

 

[GeneMiller]

I'll post some. It's pretty straight forward.

Gene.

 

[GeneMiller]

QUOTE="mwall2230, post: 4372405, member: 41671"]can you post a picture how to installed this.[/QUOTE]

Here's how I did it. I got all the stuff from jegs. I clean his carpets so I figured I should. It's all 3".
I used high temp rtv to hold the fitting.

 

[Doug Cox]

I put an inline blower pointing at the belts where they are closest to the exhaust and they've survived a month so far. I pull the air from floor level in the van. I've got 100+ hours on the belts and since I don't feel like pulling my recovery tank to wrap the exhaust, I'm just going to replace the belts every month until I feel like doing it. The belts cost about 35 bucks per change. Cheaper than cleaning up the wreckage of a broken belt. I've also been dealing with water temp spiking issue that was causing everything to run very hot which was finally corrected. That should cool things down also.

 

[GeneMiller]

This air is coming from underneath so it's much cooler. On my other machine i used a radiator fan, which moves more air, but was in the truck basically blasting hot air. It worked fine. I went from belts not lasting to lasting forever. I got in the habit of putting labels on everything so I can see how long things last before and after changes. Keeping belts as cool as possible absolutely has been one of my best improvements. I should say the sapphire scientific system was working. The air from the radiator fan passing the engine was surprisingly cool. I just made an improvement.

Gene