Cimex Belt question

[encapman]

It's weird that the newer machines are behaving differently. The pulleys are interchangeable with the older models - no design changes. And the belts are the same too.

[FloorCareMD]

I think the slipping occurs at the shaft's convex belt knob thingy. I would scuff that up first and try it. You could always re-smooth it later by simply holding steel wool (or something similar) around it with motor spinning.

FloorCareMD is not responsible or liable for any damages or injury resulting from above statements.

[Derek]

Good info, tx FCMD. How would you go about roughening it up?

[FloorCareMD]

Maybe instead of roughing the metal try applying a coat of something to give it some texture. Possibly a light spray of black rubberized undercoating or similar. If that helps then remove it and proceed with roughing up the metal. I would use sand paper. Tilt machine up. Belt off and motor on and simply hold paper against it like a lathe.

[Derek]

guy at the hardware store told me to 1st try the belt conditioner, because it is easier to remove than the rubberized stuff...or scuffing the pulleys up.

i'll post my results in the coming days...next job is Friday afternoon.

[Bccc]

I used my new machine last night and was getting frustrated. I had to push down on the handles to take pressure off the pads so it would turn. Not sure what else to try. I don't think the spray will help much

[Derek]

Ryan, it definitely isn't a matter of the motor being too weak. here is how you find out, as Rodney explained to me:

if on the motor cover you take off the 2 side phillips screws and remove the motor cover, then start the Cimex, you will see the white fan blades are spinning, even when the pads are not. that means the motor is spinning things fine, but the belt is not spinning the 3 heads. it must be that the older models had a tighter belt-fit, or belts that gripped better ...not sure which. but one way or another i am going to get it working better.

my new light blue Cimex belt arrived today. on Friday's job i am going to first try the new belt alone and, once the pads are well lubricated with encap juice, see if i can lift the handles and keep the heads spinning. if not, then i will apply the Belt Conditioner. if by the end of that 2 hour job there is no improvement, my next step will be the rubberized compound. lastly would be roughening up the 3 pins or pulleys or whatever they're called.

there's got to be a way that we can all figure this out together

[FloorCareMD]

Just to clarify..I meant apply the coating to the shaft "pulley", not to the belt. Sorry if that did not seem clear. Make sure to let it dry really well.

[Derek]

clear to me, thanx FCMD

[Derek]

swapped out the "old" belt with the new 1 Friday night. it ran perfect! after the pads were lubed up nice, i put my new 20# tube sand bag and it still ran perfectly.

i've used a heavier (35#) weight belt in the past maybe a dozen times...twice in the past year. perhaps that led to the "old" belt slipping. my new 20 pounder, being lighter, should not affect the belt as soon. i plan on using this belt more often. it helped me clean up this beige CGD carpet on Friday. LOTS of spills in a lawyers office. the difference was amazing with the belt on.

problem solved it seems. now i just need to buy another belt as a backup

[FloorCareMD]

Good news.

[encapman]

We actually have sourced belts for the Cimex ourselves (independent from Cimex for replacement belts). The belts that we sell as replacement have been performing extremely well.

[Bccc]

Still disappointed in my new cimex. I was cleaning at a school this week and the pads will stop spinning going certain directions. I dont think its as aggressive enough to be cleaning likenit should, I maybe should of kept my old cimex. I just think when you buy a new machine that I shouldnt haven to go thru all the issues to get it to work.

[encapman]

Hi Ryan
I'm not sure why you'd be experiencing any difference in performance. I'm sorry to hear you're having a problem. To my knowledge, Cimex hasn't changed the pulleys or the belt - so everything ought to be the same. They have made some changes to the machine through the years, but the belt/pulley config is the same as far as we're aware. Then again, they don't divulge everything to their distributors. Yet as far as I can tell, there shouldn't realistically be a variation in performance. Not implying you're doing anything wrong, I'm just not seeing what's causing the problem. If you can call us at the office perhaps we can help walk you through it and perhaps discover what's happening. Rodney is great with these machines. Also, we ALWAYS notice more belt slippage when the weather turns cold. Or maybe you just got a bum belt. At any rate, let's see what we can do to help get things sorted out. Give us a shout when you have a moment.

[BGCD]

In a pinch flip your belt around.  I was recently at a job just starting and the head would not turn.  Called a friend he told me to flip the belt.  Cleaned 30k sq after that with no problems.  I did order two extra since then. Saved my job for sure.  This was on the previous model and the belt had never been changed in over 3 years.  Cimex machines are beasts for sure.