Kluge 12x18 belt slipping

i recently replaced the drive belt on my kluge (w/ a 117” laced leather belt). it seems to be having trouble maintaining rotation on the flywheel (esp. as the form rollers come up to the ink disk). i’ve been advised to soak the belt in water and allow it to “draw up” but i wanted to run it past you guys first. (lets say i trust your judgement more).

thanks…brian

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Belt dressing or ensure the pulleys line up

Belt dressing is a good start and should fix it.
You can also check the tension on the belt. Kluge motor mounts are adjustable and a lot of the older Kluges have a tendency to need a little help with momentum, so turn on the press and give the flywheel a few good pushes to get it going.

is this a new belt? i agree though, start with tension and alignment. i have also used rubber V style belts on these presses but you should be able to get the leather to work.

this is an old-style kluge…
@ericm-it is a new belt. and the pulleys are flat w/o the notch.

@printertim-it starts losing speed after its been running for a bit. typically at the spot in the cycle where the form rollers are making the turn as they come up to the ink disk.

Does the belt slip, or is the motor slowing down? Could your new belt be stretching as it breaks-in? It might require several adjustments during the break-in period.

My old-style 1015 with the original motor slows down after it’s been running for awhile, especially when it’s under a load (as when the rollers go up to the disk and the press closes). Rebuilding or replacing the motor might fix that.

The belt often slips at startup — a shove on the pulley gets it going. When the belt starts slipping during the run I adjust the tension.

@sharecropper that sounds about right…it is the original motor.

what size motor did you replace yours with?

Must you do that @ thing? I know I’m behind the times, but it makes my eyes bleed and as far as I can tell it has no useful function on this site.

It’d be great if people could put their real name in their profile and sign their posts!

Thanks,
Dan

hey dan…thanks…really useful there.

a lot of people find the @ helpful if there are multiple posters on a thread. while it does have some functionality on other sites: twitter, facebook…etc. on any thread-based forum it can provide a good reference point for others to get up to speed quickly on the conversation without having to read the entire thread.

also…you should probably get the eye bleeding thing checked out, it could be something serious.

and one last thing….if you could strain your bleeding eyes for just a few moments longer…why don’t you take a glance up to the inital post here…where i have signed my name.

again, dan…thanks.

you shouldn’t have to replace the motor, my press would do the same thing, the motor would make some sparks, i replaced the brushes and its running fine, my kluge was made around 1930 and still has the original motor. Good Luck Dick G.

Hey, I wasn’t trying to be mean. I did miss where you signed your name. Sorry about that, Brian! Good luck with your press. Hope we cross paths some day.

Dan

its cool, dan…evidently i’m running on a short fuse today.
i think its really dope what you’ve got going on at the arm up there.

later.
-b