Fenner Industrial Motion 5050008 3/16X14 CLEAR 85 TWISTED KIT (BOX OF 50)

The name gives color or material, hardness and construction. 85 means 85A hardness, and round belt grades run from 80A to 95A plus 40D and 55D; Can Cable comes in 50D, 55D and 63D with its own data. Suffixes: R is reinforced, T textured, QC Quick-Connect, MD metal detectable and EC means Regulation (EC) 1935/2004. Textured lowers friction: Green 89 T is 0.50 on stainless steel against 0.65 for smooth Green 89. FDA listing depends on the exact grade: Red 85 is listed as FDA compliant, Red 85 QC and Green 89 are not. Fenner says a listing covers every product made in that material, though an intricate profile can occasionally fall outside it. A-hardness grades are rated -22 to +150 F (-30 to +66 C); 40D and 55D reach +176 F (+80 C).

Non-reinforced belt is stretched on, so it is made shorter than the belt path. Fenner says 4 to 10 percent install tension suits most applications, and needing more may mean the load is too high for the belt. Measure the reference length with a tape around the pulleys, with any take-up at minimum, then divide by 1 plus the tension. A 44 in reference length at 8 percent gives 40.7 in for a butt weld. Install tension is high because the material loses elasticity over its life. Check the load against the catalog: 1/4 in Orange 85 (1032008) is rated 4.9 lb at 10 percent.

Reinforced belt carries more load with less stretch. At 1/2 in, non-reinforced Orange 85 (1032016) is rated 19.6 lb at 10 percent, while reinforced Orange 85 (4940061) is rated 31.1 lb at 4 percent. Because an endless reinforced belt is essentially a fixed length, it cannot be stretched on, so the drive needs a mechanical take-up with at least 4 percent of belt length. It also needs bigger pulleys: 4 in minimum for that non-reinforced belt, 5 in for the reinforced one. Fenner calls too small a pulley the most common serious mistake in belt drive design.

Solid non-reinforced belt is butt welded. The Mini Butt Welding Kit (5700231) takes round belt up to 8 mm or 5/16 in, and the Butt Welding Kit (5700200) has the larger clamp for bigger sizes. The cordless Eagle Freestyle kit (5700539) takes round belt up to 18 mm or 5/8 in. Some reinforced belts are overlap welded with the Overlap Welding Kit (5700160K), using dies matched to the belt size, and the overlap uses 1.5 in of length, but many are still butt welded; drill back the reinforcement first if you butt weld one. Fenner says a proper weld gives 100 percent of the non-reinforced belt's tensile strength or the reinforced belt's working load. Cure at least half an hour before installing. These are US plug kits. Hollow QC belt can be butt welded or joined with QC connectors.

Eagle QC (Quick-Connect) is hollow belt joined with QC connectors, such as L04CON13S for 1/2 in and 12 to 13 mm, and Fenner says it can also be butt welded. QC has its own load ratings in the catalog and carries less than solid belt of the same size: 1/4 in Clear 85 QC (4934012) is rated 2.1 lb at 10 percent, against 4.9 lb for solid 1/4 in Clear 85 (4908012). Eagle Twisted O-Rings are 3/16 in Clear 85 loops, 50 per box with metal hooks, for live roller conveyors, and go on without dismantling the line shaft.