A Vee belt is a drive belt with a V shaped profile. Essentially the belts have a wider top and a narrower bottom meaning it has tapered sides.
Most belts will have codes and lengths printed on them. If you have these then please contact us and we should be able to help just from these codes.
The length can be measured in 3 different ways:
This coupled with the fact that belts stretch over time as they have been under tension makes measuring a Vee belt difficult.
The easiest way is therefore to move the adjustment in so that the pulleys are as close as they can be, wrap something around the pulleys as if it were a belt and then lay it on a tape measure. Then take the adjustment out so that the pulleys are as far apart as they can be and repeat the process. You will then have 2 Li measurements and can find a belt that will fit in your range.
To identify the profile of your Vee belt you will need to measure the width of the V at the widest point (the top of the belt). This is normally enough to identify the belt but if you can also measure the height of the belt it may help. Please be aware that belts wear in width so it is always best to round up (normally by a couple of millimeters).
A Section: Width = 13mm x Height = 8mm.
AA Section: is 2x A Section belts back to back.
AVX10 Section: Width = 9.5mm x Height 8mm (Cogged).
AVX10 Section: Width = 12.5mm x Height 8mm (Cogged).
AX Section: Width = 13mm x Height = 8mm (Cogged).
B Section: Width = 17mm x Height = 11mm.
BB Section: is 2x B Section belts back to back.
BX Section: Width = 17mm x Height = 11mm (Cogged).
C Section: Width = 22mm x Height = 14mm.
CC Section: is 2x C Section belts back to back.
D Section: Width = 32mm x Height = 19mm.
K Section: Width = 8mm x Height = 6mm.
SPA Section: Width = 13mm x Height = 10mm.
SPB Section: Width = 16mm x Height = 13mm.
SPC Section: Width = 22mm x Height = 18mm.
SPZ Section: Width = 10mm x Height = 8mm.
VB Section: These can vary.
VC Section: These can vary.
XPZ Section: Width = 10mm x Height = 8mm (Cogged).
Z Section: Width = 10mm x Height = 6mm.
ZX Section: Width = 10mm x Height = 6mm (Cogged).
Some Vee belts appear to have teeth on the inside. These are referred to as cogs and their only purpose is to allow a belt to bend around a tight pulley. The pulleys are still smooth with no teeth and there are a lot of manufactures that use cogged belts when they could have used a normal Vee belt.
Standard – These universal classic wrapped belts are temperature and oil resistant with anti static properties. They are the most common strength of Vee Belt and are perfectly good for the majority of applications. They have an operating temperature range of -10 to +50 degrees Centigrade.
Kevlar Coated – This coating offers a greater heat resistance and are commonly used in high friction applications. the most common is when a belt is being dropped from and bought up to a moving pulley whilst a machine is running.
Muscle Belt – These are heavily strengthened and can last up to twice the lifespan of a standard belt. These are often used when a jockey wheel is being pushed against the back of the belt (usually for varied tension during use). These muscle belts can withstand this force without being damaged.
If your machine runs with more than one belt sharing the same pulley then it is crucial to get a matched set from the same batch to ensure they are exactly the same length. You should never just replace one belt, you must replace all of them. Otherwise you will soon find that one of your belts will be slipping and getting damaged from the moment you only fitted one belt.
Sometimes these belts are joined together side by side which is referred to as ‘banded’. Where possible it is always best to replace these with banded belts rather than individual belts, as banded drive belts offer immense drive power while almost guaranteeing that your drive belt cannot slip or roll over during heavy use.
When you have identified what you can please contact us by email sales@solenttools.co.uk or by phone on 02380578057 and we will do our best to help find the right belt for your machine.
This list of drive belt types in by no means conclusive and of course each type of drive belt has a wide range of variants. This could be not only material but in strength and quality depending on your requirements.
Many manufacturers of drive belts add confusion by giving their range of belts complicated trade names for certain specifications. At Solent Tools we listen to each customers requirement and advise on a suitable drive belt for the application. We can cross reference different brands and their specifications if you require a belt for a specialised application.