Our robot design so far requires single or double sided belts for a CONTINUOUS lift that we are doing this year. That means that we need a SINGLE LONG amount of belt. We can deal with the timer belt pulleys, but does anyone know a source where one could get 250+ in. belts that are like the Gates belts that we received in the KOP this year when referring to the width and teeth?
Does it have to be a continuous loop? or can it be merely a length of belt with two finite ends?
2826 has really been impressed with SDP-SI (http://www.sdp-si.com/). There hasn’t been a belt part/system that we wanted that they did not have. If you call them up (instead of placing an order online), they will give a pretty nice discount when you tell them the order is for educational purposes.
I have only procured 100 inches of continuous, double sided belt from them, but I would bet 250 inches would not be uncommon.
Word of general advice: Stick with the Kevlar reinforced urethane belt if possible. You will thank yourself later
Sorry, I did mean a single “strip” length of belt with two ends (no loop)…:o
Thank You, but I searched the timer open ended belts in the system with the Kevlar reinforced urethane in the search, and the max length I have seen is 120".
I have a question, though, is the pitch length the actual length of the entire belt, or is that not what you use to tell the length? I’m guessing it is, but I don’t like to assume questionable questions…
Have you tried McMaster Carr?
I took a look at the site, and it seems that the maximum length of the type of belt we need is only about 173", which is less than the 250+ that we need…and we need at least two of these belts. I looked at another site with the size we needed, but we came too late. For now (I can’t remember the company) they are out…
Have you tried calling Gates? They are a KOP sponsor.
Bruce
We’re probably going to call them today at our meeting tonight to see if they have a length not on their online store. The same will probably have to apply to the other options suggested. Its going to be a longer night…
We’ve learned a lot about timing belts over this previous summer, and what you want for just about any FRC application is the gates gt2 profile. This is the style from the kop.
The 3mm pitch is fine for smaller applications, the 5mm pitch for big boy stuff.
Gates directly stocks it, as does sdp and various re-sellers.
Data shows it is substantially stronger than the standard MXL and XL you’d get off mcmaster.
Who has ordered belts & pulleys from Gates? What’s the lead time?
All of the free Gates belts from the KOP are 5mm HTD profile belts/sprockets, not GT2.
I would also check out Brecoflex, http://www.brecoflex.com they offer a FIRST discount of 30% (I think, my memory is a little fuzzy on the number, but they definitely offer a discount). They are typically very fast with orders, especially for stock parts, so if you give them a call, discuss your application with them and ask what they have available for it. I know that they would easily be able to fill your order, even if they do not have a single length to fit they can weld the belts together to get as long as you would need.
Thats an uncommon belt length, BUT most belt supply stores or what-have-you will be able to weld custom lengths, call/email them directly and ask
Contact Weimer bearing at
1-800-242-7981
ask for Marty Handle or Mike Kohnle
They should be able to help.
Bruce
I don’t think you can purchase directly from Gates, you need to use one of their distributors: www.gates.com/distributors
All FRC teams can order a limited quantity of free belts and sprockets direct from Gates.
My question (only for teams who have done this) is how long did it take to get them?