Has anyone ever used conditioner for the conveyer belt on their wide belt? I have a two-head Timesavers, and I've noticed stock slipping more frequently. I'm not sure when the belt was last replaced, and I've only heard whispers of the high cost to replace them. Is there a way to get a few more miles out of the belt, and for those of you who have replaced a belt, where did you buy through?

Todd

Todd,
Rubber conveyor belts get glazed over after they have some age on them and they don't have the grip they used to have. I have been told that you can "dress" the conveyor belt by putting a coarse grit (I think) sanding belt on the sander and carefully raise the bed while the conveyor and sanding belt is running. You want the conveyor belt to just lightly touch the sanding belt. You just want to remove a small amount of the top of the conveyor belt. I have bought two conveyor belts for my sander from Sparks Belting. They make a good belt and it's probably not as expensive as you are thinking. You can either get a belt that is seamed at the factory or you can do a field seam. If you get the factory seamed belt, you will have to remove the bed on your sander to get the new belt on. If you get the kind with a field seam, you won't have to remove the bed from your sander. Hope this helps.

Thanks Larry, this is super helpful! My current belt was field stitched with metal staples by the previous owner, so I'm wondering if I could just sand it by hand with an ROS to get to some new belting? I also reached out to Sparks with my belt dimensions, so I'll see what they say. Thanks again!

Todd

You are welcome, Todd.
From what I understand, you wouldn't have any staples in a new belt if you decide to get the kind with a field seam. I think it's just glued together. I always chose the factory seamed kind because I figured the factory seam would be better. If you go that route, just be prepared to drop the bed off the sander. It's not that bad, but it does require a decent amount of work. Sparks definitely does make good belts. I hope it goes well for you.

Dressing is fairly standard practice. We have dressed them both ways. RO sanding helps but using the sanding head gives better results. If the belt is in good shape you would be foolish to replace instead of dress it. Lots cheaper and way less work.

Thanks again for the responses. Gary, with my belt having metal staples, would I just run the belt up to the seam? I'd probably slow the conveyor speed down so I could sneak up on it as close as I can.

Todd

Is the conveyer belt taller than the splice? If so the sanding belt won't touch the splice. You will only be kissing the surface of the conveyer belt barely removing any actual thickness, maybe a few thousands of an inch.

It's close... I'm not sure if I feel confident enough to risk running it through the paper/contact drum to do it, so I'll probably stick with an orbital.

Simple Green works well for me on rubber belt conditioning.

Good to know Rich! Does this help with the glaze-over from time, or is it more for just cleaning pitch/dirt?

Just wiping down the belt with a rag dampened with Simple Green changes the color of the belt a little. But to say it just cleans or even conditions, I can't say. I just know there is no slippage for a while after I do it. So far no degrading in the rubber from doing it, but can't guarantee it will work the same on your belt because of different compounds. It is cheap to try.

Good to know, thanks!