Vastex Econored II Belt TRACKING

[Hey Monkey]

Got the electrician to get it all hooked up and runs great. But the belt keeps sliding. I am following the directions but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. One thing it does say is to raise the aligning roller to tighten the belt and the 1 to 2" of sag at the bottom is ok. But 1 to 2" from what? I think it is way too saggy but I do not know for sure.

[Orion]

You say the belt is sliding, do you mean it is moving but not tracking true? You only need enough tension to get the belt to grab. Do not overtighten. The 1-2 inch sag is from the dryer bottom between the front and rear leg braces. Reference the manual for correcting tracking from the front roller first then check/adjust the rear drive roller to tracking in the center. Hope this helps

[Hey Monkey]

Yes. It moves round and round just fine but it tracks (I used the word slide) to the left if you are facing the front of the dryer. I have about 3 inches of sag right now from the bottom of the dryer to the belt. And when I say bottom I mean the cross braces across the bottom of the dryer. I geel that it is too tight but i dont know as this is my first dryer. Thanks!

[Orion]

They say 1-2 inches but I would try to get Vastex on the phone for help. Don't want to jack up the belt on your new dryer.

[Frog]

Slack notwithstading, when actually adjusting tracking, crank up the speed so that you see the difference in a short time.

[lrsbranding]

I measured the tension by being able to lift the belt off the deck 2". Adjust both sides evenly. Then with the belt running at a fast speed slowly raise or lower a side to change the tracking. It wont happen immediately. Let it run for a couple of minutes. 

[Hey Monkey]

SO it will eventually as I let it run fix itself, correct? I shoudn't have to manually slide the belt back to center and recheck.

[Frog]

SO it will eventually as I let it run fix itself, correct? I shoudn't have to manually slide the belt back to center and recheck.

Yes, either fix itself or move too far in the other direction! As has been said, the faster you run it, the sooner you'll see a change.
It doesn't do it all in one revolution.

[screenxpress]

Sag does not control tracking. 

If the belt is running to the right without centering, adjust the right side out a bit and leave the left where it is.  At some adjustment point the belt should cease to run to the right and move to center.  If it then moves from center to the left, the right is out a bit too far so back the last adjustment back.

Just a matter of getting the roller in the correct (in-out) position to sustain center tracking.  My Red 2 has a funky heavy roller bar with knurled up edges that tries to help with tracking.  Not sure that even works though.

IMO

[GaryG]

First things first- make sure the dryer is LEVEL IN EVERY DIRECTION.
If not, it tracking will be difficult or even impossible. The whole frame could
be out of whack, or kittywampus, not by sight, but just enough to make fidgeting with rollers difficult.

[GaryG]

Or in other words, the tunnel could be level and the indeed and outfeed
could be crooked, sending belt sideways.

[SPX]

Level the feet on your conveyor so the conveyor is level. Otherwise, the conveyor will be torqued to one side.
Your floor could be pitched or sloped to one side.  See it all the time

[mooseman]

here is some experience I can offer as we had the same exact issue with our ERII dryer .

The tracking is very slow and iffy to control when the belt is new. The tracking bar that you adjust with the right and left screw places a load on a part of the center of the belt . This causes a new belt to mechanically react and possibly change it's own form causing you to adjust the process all over again and again until the belt kind of settles down. Also keep in mind the heat applied to the belt makes the process even more frustrating as the belt will change  as a result of being heated / cooled etc.

We simply kept an ongoing tweak to the belt screws as we used the dryer. It was a PITA for a while but eventually it settled in and ran perfectly..........BUT BUT BUT wait here is the bad part.

Our belt after 4 or 5 years use has SPLIT into separate belts that are now about 4 inches narrower than the original belt because there is about a 2 inch overlap in the center where the belt ripped RIGHT at the contact point of the tracker bar!
This started slowly as a few strands that popped up and then a small rip in the belt mesh structure , then several small rips (running right down the center of the belt) until they all kind of met up and resulted in two twin belts.
The good news is I have been operating this way for the better part of a year and it all works fine if you can live with  slightly narrower belt.

The morrow of this story is take the time to get the belt tracked LITTLE BY LITTLE . The racking bar will change the belt structure until the belt is fully influenced by the bar, something like chasing a ghost then the tracking will settle down.

I will send you a couple of pics if you want of my belt condition but at the end of the day it works just fine
mooseman