Serpentine setup

[EGLITOM]

HAllo ,

this is a sketch of my serpentine setup.

it is planned for a standard 6 rib serpentine belt.

Now my questions:

Do i need a automatic tensioning pulley ( which i would have difficulties to find a place for ) ?? I have on from Ford and have no glue how it works, it is somehow fixed ( at least i can not move it with my arms and hands force to see in which direction it works).

Would it be possible to run without and have the tension controlled by the adjustability of the alternator ?

If so how to test the correct tension ??

if you look on the sketch you see the belt running back to the alternator along the waterpump pulley. On the water pump pulley itself the backside of the belt is running in the opposite direction versus the belt running along. So one want to avoid that both sides are getting in contact. What is a save distance to do so at correct tension of the belt ??

Thanks for your help

TOM

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I have my pulleys arranged the way you have shown but I had to do the belt wrap differently. Mine goes crank, AC, idler, idler, Alt, water pump, back to crank. I had to go that way or the belt would hit the water pump inlet. The belt squeals when I run the ac and the engine is cold but stops once it warms up. I am already running a lot of tension in the belt and don't want to increase it any more so I would recommend a tensioner if you can fit one in someplace.

You have more belt wrap on the AC compressor than I do so you may be fine.

 

[Phil]

Eglitom:
I dont think you have enough contact with tha alternator pulley, as jonathans said you probably need to re-route your belt to acheive that. I think you should use a separate tensioner instead of moving one of the driven components to tighten your belt. I have seen both the spring loaded and manually tightened tensioners on engines, and both work well but this type of belt depends on as much contact with the pulleys as possible, with the exception of the water pump which in most cases is driven from the backside and rotates counter to the other components. I would check out some of the available setups such as March Pulleys, and some of the OEM setups for hints. Most of the belts are run with a high degree of tension, and the tensioner is placed where a good "Wrap" can be acheived around it and usually close to another pulley to gain an advantage through leverage.
I personally like the serpentine belt setup and I plan on using it, the advantage is that you can carry one spare belt in a relatively small space, and change it rather easily with minimal tools, also serpentine belts are not "trapped" inside another belt so changing doesn't mean removing one belt to get to the broken one (usually on the inside). I think there is a solution to your setup as this is a really popular system in wide use so there are a lot of resources out there.
Good Luck
Phil

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Contact John at Design Enterprizes for a simple and practical solution to the issue. He has produced a mounting system for the SPF and is now doing one for the RCR.

[email protected]

http://www.designenterprizes.com/GT40.html

 

[Randy V]

My experience with Serpentine Belt systems that don't use a spring-loaded tensioner is not a good one.. Over tightening is easy to do..
I think that at least 90 degrees of contact for med/high load was the rule of thumb I was taught. Serpentine belts have exceptionally good traction on the ribbed side - I believe it to be better than V-Belt.

Remember to get the right waterpump. The one in your illustration would need to be a reverse rotation one.

 

[EGLITOM]

Thanks for all your comments,

Following that i will try to find the space for this setup

all of the load intensive equipment has app 180° belt wrap.
I will post a picture of the spring loaded tensioner i have to ask for your help with that.

Randy: i did not check the rotation of the waterpump, but i´m pretty shure that gordon has it done correctly ( it looks completely stock and has the correct pulley for running on the backside of the belt).

Thanks

TOM

 

[Tim]

An Auto Tensioner is a very necessary thing with serpentine belts. Best placed on the unloaded side of the drive. This is how I would do it.

 

[Tim]

Sorry for the quallity of the drawing, I'm not the best with cut and paste in Paint.

 

[EGLITOM]

Thanks TIM

nice minimum 90° belt wrap and no clearance issue on the top. Will defenitely check it

TOM

 

[EGLITOM]

What is the profile of the Ford 6 rip serpentine belt ?

<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TH>Profil</TH><TH>CONTI-V MULTIRIB®
Längenbereich Lb* in mm</TH></TR><TR><TD>PJ</TD><TD>356 - 2489</TD></TR><TR class=table_kontur><TD>PK</TD><TD>635 - 2550</TD></TR><TR><TD>PL</TD><TD>991 - 6069</TD></TR><TR class=table_kontur><TD>PM</TD><TD>2286 - 16764</TD></TR><TR><TD>PL- ZAR** </TD><TD>2019 - 6096</TD></TR><TR class=table_kontur><TD>PM - ZAR**</TD><TD>2286 - 16764</TD></TR><TR class=table_footer><TD colSpan=4>*Lb = Bezugslänge
** ZAR = Ausführung mit Aramidzugstrang </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Are they a standard PK profile (DIN 7867) ? with 6 ribs that would be a PK6

Would like to source it locally so any info would be helpful ?

TOM