Internal Belt Problems on Powerdyne Supercharger 1

[Scoupe89]

I have had a Powerdyne Supercharger with an internal belt drive similar to a Cam drive belt on OHV engines. The belts seem to break due to both heat and tension. I have tried Kevlar belts, which seem to last longer, but still break. I have heard that Neoprene rubber is only good to 150* F, could this be the failure mechanism? Are there any stronger materials or better belts or materials available?

 

[patprimmer]

I don't know your specific application, but supercharger drive belts normally need to be set quite loose when cold, to allow for expansion as ehe engine warms up

Regards
pat

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[SMOKEY44211]

How about changing to a multi groove v belt with a spring loaded tensioner like most of the accessory drive belting on a lot of automotive applications? Underhood temperatures often get in the 400Deg. F. range and the belts seem to give reasonably good service life. I tried the cog belt drive on a centrifugal blower arrangement. I had all the problems you described plus I wiped out the gearing in the blower. ------Phil

 

[Warpspeed]

It seems to me that the problem might be more due to rotor inertia, and sudden drastic changes in engine speed. Going to a multi V internal belt is only going to allow slip, and the belt will burn out and still break.

Perhaps contacting Powerdyne, and seeing what they say might be worthwhile.

I believe allowing the EXTERNAL drive belt to slip a bit is one possible cure for this. Are you using a toothed external drive ?

 

[Scoupe89]

""Are you using a toothed external drive ?""
The external drive belt is a 6 rib serpentine type belt.

Here is their website and propaganda.

http://www.powerdyne.com

and

http://www.powerdyne.com/silentdr.htm

They are not willing to help, just keep saying "Send it back to Powerdyne$$$". They normally want $500 just to take it apart.

 

[GregLocock]

I worked on a few supercharged cars and the 6 groove serpentines were much better than the timing belts. A timing belt has no chance to slip, whereas a polyV can.



Cheers

Greg Locock

 

[steve383]

I would say it is a tension issue. They will tighten up alot when hot. Try running it looser then you have. I have a procharger with an 8 groove serpintine and it slips like a SOB above 5000 RPM. I will be changing it over to a cog drive.

 

[SMOKEY44211]

For STEVE383 I tried that routine with a Procharger with disastorus results.(wiped out the drive gears) I know of several others with similar experiences. Are you using aluminum pulleys? I switched to steel (better coefficient of friction) solved all my problems.------Phil

 

[patdaly]

Smokey, I have been running a cog drive on my D1 for about 2 years now. I am curious, was yours a P600? I have heard of problems with the very early units and cog drives.

Steve, I couldnt even get the 12 rib setup to hold on a D1, so for my money, cog is the way.....

 

[steve383]

Hey patdaly, thanks for the tip! Where is the best place to buy a cog drive for my PS1 Procharger?

 

[patdaly]

steve, I made my own, because of packaging issues. I would not recommend anyone else do it though, it was not a fun project. Check out http:/

http://www.aspracing.com

 

[SMOKEY44211]

For patdaly. Yes it was a P600. I have heard that procharger now has a more robust gear for some of thier models but even with that they don't recomend use of a cog belt drive in engines equiped with a rev limiter or manual shift. Anything that would cause in a sudden change in engine speed. The inertia is the killer. For Scoupe89 are you trying to run your unit a little faster then recomended? I consulted with a few guys I know that run it. Feed back is it will hold up ok on a 5.0L at 4 lbs boost but when they try to "kick it up a notch" that's when the problems start. I am not aware of any successful cure as of this writing.--------Phil