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Help - joining rubber drive belts

a.palfreyman

a.palfreyman

pfm Member
Anyone know how to join rubber drive belts?
I have an Audiomecca Romance which uses a 2mm diameter rubber drive belt which has snapped. The spare I had snapped about 2 months before and superglue breaks after about 3-4 hrs use. These belts are not a continuous piece as there is an original glue joint so it must be possible.
Thanks,
AP
 
Lightly abraid the ends then join with proper glue, probably be loctite brand, try RS, Farnell or the local auto shop.
 
Bought some "loctite precision" from B&Q. Was only able to give about 1hr use after repair but so far so good.
Thanks,
AP
 
If its rubber how about using the stuff found in puncture repair kits? Its a special pliable glue designed for rubber.
 
I've tried various ways of gluing over the years, but it's rarely long lasting.

From the sound of it , (2mm diameter) you might be able to get a standard 'o' ring to replace it.
o rings are sold as industrial seals for hydraulics, etc and are available in a huge variety of sizes.

Good luck
Regards
Richard
 
How about a trip to your local tyre dealer? When you have a puncture repaired, they fit a patch or plug, and then vulcanise it to make the repair as good as new. I'm not sure what's involved, but it has to withstand far more stress and heat than a drive belt.
 
I have ,for decades, joined two round section rubber belts (about 1.5mm diameter) to make one long one for my modified Connoisseur BD1. The joins usually lasted for several years, 6 days out of 7 usage.

My method was to cut and square up the loose ends with a scalpel (used a head magnifier to check squareness).

Then put one (1) drop of superglue on a metal plate and dipped one end of one belt into the glue (shallow dip). Then I held the join as it dried, turning it every few seconds at the beginning to ensure that the two ends were evenly joined on all sides.

Some years ago I discovered that a superglue called ‘Zapagap’ is stronger than ordinary superglue, and fills in the gaps in the rubber. This product is obtainable from only a few sources; I got mine from Axminster Power Tools (they are online).

Recently, following a tip from Dr. van den Hul, I constructed home made long belts out of polyester thread. (see the Sugden Connoisseur thread on pfm for further details).

This new belt has no disadvantages that I have discovered, and can be constructed for about 10p per long belt. It took me less than 5 minutes to make it. I think that it will last a long time and certainly gives an audible improvement on wow and flutter.

I would say it is worth a try. You might save a lot of time and bother, and get better performance if you use polyester (or silk as Dr. vdH does) and make a substitute belt for your TT.
 
It may be an advantage not to do a square joint.
Lay the two ends side by side and cut at an angle across the pair.
More contact area for the adhesive.
Perhaps clean the joint with IPA prior to glueing.
 
Bemused

The problem with this way is that you can't get any pressure on the joint while it is drying without shifting the belts out of line. If you can figure out a way to put pressure on the drying joint without this problem then what you say seems a good idea.
 
Hmmm, I see the problem. I supose you also need to avoid the trip to A+E to have the drive belt surgicaly removed from the forehead :)
 
Upon checking diameter of my Connoisseur belt I remembered that it is less than 2mm- about 1.5mm. I have edited my post above, accordingly. The upshot is that, unless a joined rubber belt that lasts several years is not good enough, you could try polyester, though I have not yet data on longevity.

At any rate the 2mm belt that a.palfreyman needs to join should be stronger than a 1.5 mm one.
 
Some very interesting ideas to try.
I have even looked at buying some coloured rubber cord off ebay but not sure this will be "hard" enough and might be too stretchy. I have joined flat belt before using a splice joint which you support in alignment and pre-tape with selotape. Open the joint up in the rubber using the tape as a hinge, apply the glue, "close the hinge" and tape up. Any minor gaps can be back-filled afterwards. If the belt breaks again, I will try this.
Thanks everyone for your contributions.
AP
 
Bemused said:
Hmmm, I see the problem. I supose you also need to avoid the trip to A+E to have the drive belt surgicaly removed from the forehead :)
Click to expand...
LOL Superglue is brilliant at sticking skin to anything :rolleyes::D
You can by Oring in chord lengths and just super glue it together as descibed above.
I used it on an underwater video housing as an oring seal and it was fine for years
Alan
 
Some of you are (quite rightly) worried about supergluing yourselves to yourselves. I offer the following helpful hints. I have superglued myself to myself innumerable times (the voice of experience).

Axminster Power Tools also sell DEBONDER- called ‘Z-7’ that, it is claimed, “aids in removing cured superglue from skin etc.”

I bought it. So far as I found it doesn’t work, or doesn’t work well enough to be bothered with it. Instead I would suggest that if- by any chance some superglue gets on your skin- be careful not to touch any OTHER skin with that skin. Instead, go to a warm water and soap public bathing place and give it a scrub as soon as possible. This won’t get it off, but will cure it pretty quickly so that if you do touch more skin with it won’t glue the skins together. Eventually it will peel off.

I assumed that the 2mm belt to be joined is round section. If it is a flat belt I think you may have a problem if the belt is less than 1.5mm thick cross section. I still think that you should try a polyester belt, even as a replacement for a flat belt. You may have to experiment with more turns than the 4 I used. If you want to try this I give full details on post #100 on the SUGDEN CONNOISSEUR- LOST GEM (etc.) thread.

On the assumption that you wish to join a round section belt, then after the ‘shallow dip’ into the drop of superglue on a metal piece, (one end dipped only; the other left‘dry’) join the two ends and keep your fingers about ¼ inch in from the cut ends on both. You can put pressure on the join after you carefully align the ends. Your fingers will not get superglued. Keep adding pressure until the belt STARTS to buckle- then no more pressure. Keep that amount of pressure and rotate the two belts simultaneously to ensure that the ends keep square, aligned and well butted until it dries. Don't worry about the small bead of glue that forms proud of the join all round; it won't affect performance and will strengthen the join.

Any further problems – we are here to try to assist!
 
Hi Eguth,
The belt in question is 2mm round section. The flat stuff I had mentioned was for a totally different project (Van-der-Graff generator)
It is very encouraging that you can get several years fault-free performance out of your own glued joints. If the joint I have made snaps again, I will adopt your procedure. I will try and source some 2mm section o-ring seal cord which can be bought in nitrile grade and is typically 70 Shore hardness which should be ideal.

TIP: superglue can de disolved with acetone. I believe that nail-varnish remover also works as it is acetone based.

Thanks,
AP
 
Acetone is nasty stuff; be very careful if you have to use it. I would do it outside. I doubt whether nail polish remover with do the job, but I will try it if necessary.

My joined belts used to last several years at least; sometimes more.

Hardness of the belt does not matter much, if the genuine Connoisseur belts are any guide; they are pliable and rather soft. Belts if stored, should be kept in the dark, away from oil.

I am puzzled why you do not want to try making a polyester belt.
 
You could try your local bearing shop , they often have O-rings in some large sizes , also google o-rings and see if you can find a supplier
 
While cyanoacrylate is water-activated, Superglue also just falls apart in hot water; so if you accidentally gum yourself to something, the answer is a very hot bath...
 
martin clark said:
While cyanoacrylate is water-activated, Superglue also just falls apart in hot water; so if you accidentally gum yourself to something, the answer is a very hot bath...
Click to expand...

Bugger, I just took out the bath to make room for a v.large shower.
I will have to wait for summer and get the inflatable hot tub out if I get stuck.
Best keep from super glue untill the weather warms up.
 
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