Belt-drive transmission

[Brady Matthews]

Does anybody use a belt-drive transmission like shown below. If so, are they any good and are they good for 3s brushless system?

And also is it recommended over gears?

 

[J’sCrawler]

I saw a video by the Exocaged guy on YouTube where he put one in his “super lite” and it seemed pretty cool. I think it was that truck, it was last year when I watched it though. Check out some videos, I don’t run that drive setup so I can’t say it’s good or bad.

 

[Willy0942]

I don’t know anything either, but seen that video.
I would be trying it.

 

[Brady Matthews]

I just watched that video and will try it out.
Thanks

 

[bill_delong]

I am not a fan of belt drives, they tend to stretch/snap and lose teeth causing the belt to skip and they require a tensioner if you want it work properly which then looses efficiency.

I've owned many belt drive cars, though I wasted far too much of my time trying to solve the myriad of design flaws on the BSR BZ-222, I'll probably never touch another belt drive again

 

[WickedFog]

I am not a fan of belt drives, they tend to stretch/snap and lose teeth causing the belt to skip and they require a tensioner if you want it work properly which then looses efficiency.

I've owned many belt drive cars, though I wasted far too much of my time trying to solve the myriad of design flaws on the BSR BZ-222, I'll probably never touch another belt drive again

View attachment 180688

You don't need a tensioner on the ones that replace the spur and pinion.

 

[bill_delong]

You don't need a tensioner on the ones that replace the spur and pinion.

Every belt system I've seen has to have a tensioner, the one pictured above uses the motor mount for the tensioner and you'll have to periodically adjust the belt tension with the motor mount screws which is a very poor design choice. Like I said before, I would stay away from it, complete maintenance nightmare, been there, done that for decreased performance/reliability... shrug

 

[WickedFog]

Every belt system I've seen has to have a tensioner, the one pictured above uses the motor mount for the tensioner and you'll have to periodically adjust the belt tension with the motor mount screws which is a very poor design choice. Like I said before, I would stay away from it, complete maintenance nightmare, been there, done that for decreased performance/reliability... shrug

People have been running the WFO belt system for years with good reviews.

Your comment about the tensioner suggests it robs power. So I was assuming you were referring to an idler pulley, or friction type tensioner, which would rob power. But a sliding motor mount does not rob power, so I assumed you weren't refering to the motor mount as being a tensioner

 

[bill_delong]

People have been running the WFO belt system for years with good reviews.

Your comment about the tensioner suggests it robs power. So I was assuming you were referring to an idler pulley, or friction type tensioner, which would rob power. But a sliding motor mount does not rob power, so I assumed you weren't refering to the motor mount as being a tensioner

I don't really care if you believe me or not based on my personal experiences, but feel free to refer to the following article published by an engineer who states the very same things I've already addressed:
https://www.design-engineering.com/...e-or-belt-and-pulley-drive-system-1004038188/

 

[WickedFog]

I don't really care if you believe me or not based on my personal experiences, but feel free to refer to the following article published by an engineer who states the very same things I've already addressed:
https://www.design-engineering.com/...e-or-belt-and-pulley-drive-system-1004038188/

View attachment 180694

I didn't say the belt drive wasn't less efficient. I was just stating you don't need a tensioner, in the sense that you suggested a tensioner robs power.

 

[Grizz03]

I wouldn't go belt drive. They create so much extra heat in the motor, are inefficient, and put excessive side loads on parts that aren't meant too. If they were such a great idea you would be seeing RC manufacturers using them as an OEM part.
The only good thing I can say about them is that they are quieter than metal to metal gears.

People have been running the WFO belt system for years with good reviews.

Your comment about the tensioner suggests it robs power. So I was assuming you were referring to an idler pulley, or friction type tensioner, which would rob power. But a sliding motor mount does not rob power, so I assumed you weren't refering to the motor mount as being a tensioner

I didn't say the belt drive wasn't less efficient. I was just stating you don't need a tensioner, in the sense that you suggested a tensioner robs power

Rubber + Metal = Friction. Belt drive has more friction than pinion spur gears. The more friction something has the more power that is lost.

Not sure how an idler pulley would rob power and sliding mount doesn't? Using an idler pulley or using the motor mount to hold the belt tight is the same. Both hold tension on the belt to the gears so the belt won't slip.

 

[bill_delong]

The only exception where belt drive makes sense is for 1/10 Touring Cars where shaft drives tend to induce "torque steer" causing the car to veer off center on power with a mod motor. The industry has opted to stay with belt drives for majority of TC's for this reason alone where the loss of efficiency is worth the trade off.

Racers running stock classes tend to run shaft drives where the Awesomatix A700 is arguably the fastest chassis on the planet for stock racing. Stock motors don't provide enough power to induce much (if any) torque steer. Check out how they place the shocks below the drive shafts to drastically reduce the center of gravity:

Not sure how an idler pulley would rob power and sliding mount doesn't? Using an idler pulley or using the motor mount to hold the belt tight is the same. Both hold tension on the belt to the gears so the belt won't slip.

Precisely... all belt designs require tension which loses efficiency... gear drives have virtually no tension from an outside angular force, it comes down to setting proper mesh to minimize tension between gears where you set gear mesh once, but must adjust belt tension as the belt wears and stretches/cracks, etc...

 

[Brady Matthews]

So, should I try it or no?

 

[Grizz03]

Myself I won't go belt drive to replace pinion and spur gears. Knowing how much extra heat they introduce in a motor I recommend not to. I'd rather stick with the more common Pinion/Spur gear setups.

But if you want to try it, it's certainly up to you.

 

[9x19]

Can't really see a reason to go belt-drive, but sometimes our curiosity just won't stop nagging us!

 

[Roog]

Despite having purchased a bunch of bevel gears, I chose to use a belt drive in my scratch build tethered car.
Getting the tension right is going to take some experimenting especially as I can see a ‘baggy belt’ stripping the teeth off the belt!
My very basic system doesn’t have a separate tensioner I have to move the motor.
I agree with others that the extra sideways force on the motor shaft will affect bearing life and increase load on the motor creating more heat. My anticipated run time will be a around a minute, so this isn’t a great concern for me.
I am also concerned that high revs off load with kill the belt too.

I haven’t run it in anger yet but will report back once I have.

I think it’s fair to say that gears would be less fragile. :0~

 

[WickedFog]

Despite having purchased a bunch of bevel gears, I chose to use a belt drive in my scratch build tethered car.
Getting the tension right is going to take some experimenting especially as I can see a ‘baggy belt’ stripping the teeth off the belt!
My very basic system doesn’t have a separate tensioner I have to move the motor.
I agree with others that the extra sideways force on the motor shaft will affect bearing life and increase load on the motor creating more heat. My anticipated run time will be a around a minute, so this isn’t a great concern for me.
I am also concerned that high revs off load with kill the belt too.

I haven’t run it in anger yet but will report back once I have.

I think it’s fair to say that gears would be less fragile. :0~

View attachment 180958

You could lower the tension on the belt and use nylon or delrin guides to keep the belt from trying to eat itself. An example would be like in the pic, but you can also add guides to the the outside as well. That would allow for a lot less side load needed to tension the belt.

 

[Roog]

Now there's thought, thank you :0)

 

[WickedFog]

Now there's thought, thank you :0)

You see that used a lot in machinery. I've actually had to make a few myself at a shop that built custom made progressive die machine presses.

It is also the same way the belt drive works in this. It's not very tight, but the belt runs in a channel, so it stays put.

 

[Roog]

Now you mention it I have seen them used quite a bit in industrial machinery.