direct drive blower converted to belt drive

Discussion in 'Ask Our Repairmen' started by alan.axiom, Dec 13, 2010.

  1. alan.axiom New Member

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    I recently had my machine reconfigured with same 25 HP Kohler,#4 blower to be belt driven rather than direct driven. The lower noise and vibration advantages are tremendous. I understand the ratio is different now due to pulley size, but loss of vacuum is extreme dissappointment. Reads 5" hg at about 2000RPM. Previosly with direct drive , the suction was violent, in a good way.
    alan.axiom, Dec 13, 2010
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  2. joeynbgky Active Member

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    only 5? you cant clean like that.. you are going to have to make it direct drive again to make it usefull
    joeynbgky, Dec 13, 2010
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  3. Gnu New Member

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    before redesigning a good idea. Its a good practice to know what your doing. a Blower is going to be noisy reguardless if belt driven or direct drive. the reason its not loud now is because it's not turning fast enough. thus low vac pressure. and you just made a maintenance bill go alot higher in the long run. just my two cents.
    Gnu, Dec 13, 2010
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  4. Davey Cracker New Member

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    Sounds like you missed the correct pulley ratio big time.

    I've been thinking about also making the conversion on my machine, just to spin the blower at a higher RPM.
    Davey Cracker, Dec 13, 2010
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  5. davenjai Member

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    For a 1-1 ratio (what it was with direct drive) both pulleys need to be the same size. Don't go real small with pulley size as then you will encourage belt slippage. Too big and you add a lot of unneeded weight.
    davenjai, Dec 13, 2010
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  6. Ara Klujian Moderator & TMF Repair Expert

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    Yeah, belt slippage and vibration.
    Ara Klujian, Dec 13, 2010
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  7. Gnu New Member

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    Ok I did some research on this to make sure I was Spot-On. the old configuration was a 1:1 ratio. I.E. turned equal to engine speed.
    You need to figure out what speed you are after. think of the pulleys as inches equal to a ratio. one 6 inch engine pulley and one 5 inch blower pulley. would be say somewhere as 1:1.8 ratio to 1:1.5 this should be more than enough for blower speed without bogging down the engine preload.
    Gnu, Dec 14, 2010
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