Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris is me
I really don't think it's either of these - I think 9mm belts on 24T pulleys are just very undersized for your application. You will likely continue to have failures even with other brands of belts. If you can't go above 24T pulleys, you have to go to 15mm wide belts if you want to be safe.
(I know you are probably aware of this by now, but I just wanted to say this publicly for the reference of others reading this thread.)
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971's experience has been that 24 T pulleys are just on the edge, though we have been using 3.5" wheels. The old GT2 belts weren't quite strong enough (failed after a hard season), but the newer GT3 belts are just barely strong enough to last a long season. We haven't had a GT3 belt fail, once we failed a set in the first hour from over-tensioning. If you believe the Gates manuals, GT2 and GT3 belts are quite a bit stronger than HTD, and everything doesn't seem rated for long life with the loads they'll see in FRC.
We have found that proper tension is crucial. If the belts are under-tensioned, they will ratchet. If they are over-tensioned, they will break. The line seems to be finer than we'd like. We run lots of un-tensioned belts, but will never run an un-tensioned drive belt. The reward just isn't there.
That being said, we are going to run 15mm wide next year for that extra peace of mind. We can see the pulleys starting to wear.