Still Shredding Belts with New Alternator? Need some Help

[slimjim]

I was haveing problems with squel belts and shredding belts. (on 4th set) Bought a new Alternator and had the mech look it over and line up alternator with dual groove pulleys, and add new belts. Tension felt fine ran the boat for a few hours all was good, then after about 6 hours the squeal came back and the shredding starts.

Now I need new belts again, the mech took a look and said I might need a new dual pullyeys. Any other input in this please let me know. Is this a common problem? I get 14 volts when running after engine warm up and the squeall and sherdding only starts when I first start running when volt meter is 11 to 13 volts.

Should I buy new dual pulleys? Are there other belts I should be buying? Like track belts? (I have been buying new yanmar belts) this is driving me nuts plus its getting $$$$ thanks for any input AOGers!!

[RobS]

Unplugging the air heaters on top of the engine would solve the issue of the initial load/squealing/belt destruction but really not "fix" the overall issue. Without being there hands on it's tough to offer too much more. There should be no need to use anything other than OEM/Factory belts.

[jleonard]

Make sure (you probably already have) that the pulley grooves are clean, smmoth and rust free.
What do you see when you watch the engine running? Is the alternator vibrating at all? Do you smell the belts burning?
Are they truely matched in size? Different mfg lots will likely be different lengths. Try making sure they are both the same length...not by the marking on the belt but by measuring them.
Just fishing a little here....but something has to be out of whack...try a different mechanic?

[slimjim]

we put on new yanmar belts today and made sure everything was lined up right. The belts are new and they look in line. Running a fishing trip tomorrow and will test. I will post a picture in the net few days and hope all goes well.

2 things, there is a little rust on the pulleys and there is a little click of movement back and forth with the pulley and I have 2 batterys one is a 8D and the other is a 4D they both are west marine batterys and were bought at the same time June of 2011.

The 4D is reading fine, but the 8D is half of what the reading should be. So maybe I have a bad battery, whould that cause a possible problem to my alt and belts??

thanks for all your help guys. Let me know what you think. I willl post a picture.

[Tree]

Sounds to me like the bearing on one of your pulleys is shot. You say you've got movement on the alternator bearing? Add in some rust for friction and that would be why you've got belts breaking up. Your problem sounds mechanical and certainly not electrical. Also if you are over tightening the belts, this is going to make matters worse, just as having the belts to slack will.

I'd remove the belts and see how much movement you have on all of your pulleys before you start throwing money at the problem.

[RobS]

In the first post he said the alternator was new.

[Tree]

2 things, there is a little rust on the pulleys and there is a little click of movement back and forth with the pulley and I have 2 batterys one is a 8D and the other is a 4D they both are west marine batterys and were bought at the same time June of 2011.

I assume we are talking about the 315 Yanmar unit here? What i am referring to is the other pulleys like raw water pump etc.

So far as i know it is the same engine as the Yamaha high output engine and with those they had an issue with the main drive pulley from the crank, where water was able to get down by the shaft (something some Osprey 26 owners have suffered from) which later caused bearing failure if not monitored. Without seeing the engine itself, one would assume that there is a misalignment on 1 or more pulleys and that is causing the high failure rate of the belts or they could well be being adjusted far too tight.

[RobS]

The raw water pump is gear driven but maybe the fresh water pump is either seizing up or there is an issue with it's pulley. Other than that the only other pulley is the crank pulley as Tree explained above. Has the mechanic checked either of those?

Tree, when you mention water getting down by the shaft was that outside water coming down through leaky decks, etc. or fw coolant from the fw water pump located above it?

[Tree]

Rob,

that was exactly the case - the engine boxes on the Osprey's are not the best at being watertight, that and they are a very wet boat - mechanical things don't mix with sea water!

Lee

[slimjim]

The boat is a Albin 28TE with the 315 Yanmar engine. 2002 model year. Yesterday we put new belts on and the alinement all looked good the belts seemed just right.

We had a fishing trip today and ran 20 miles today and put 6 hours on new belts, no squeal and 14 on the volt meter all day long, but we did find some belt dush when we got in today.

Here is a picture of our belts after we put the new belts on yesterday.

photo.JPG

[slimjim]

Sounds to me like the bearing on one of your pulleys is shot. You say you've got movement on the alternator bearing? Add in some rust for friction and that would be why you've got belts breaking up. Your problem sounds mechanical and certainly not electrical. Also if you are over tightening the belts, this is going to make matters worse, just as having the belts to slack will.

I'd remove the belts and see how much movement you have on all of your pulleys before you start throwing money at the problem.

No movement on altenator bearing and its a new alt. A very very light click (bow to stern back and forth) on the top center to engine pulley. And it's a little rusty. Not over tightening the belts as well. Please let me know what you all think. Thanks for the feedback guys.

[mudskipper]

It could be too much wobblization of the pulley. are the engine and alternator mounted on the same plane? In the picture the alternator on the bracket looks like a true right angle, but the engine pulley does not look in line. try burnt offerings. This should be easy on the 4th of July good luck

[Tree]

The boat is a Albin 28TE with the 315 Yanmar engine. 2002 model year. Yesterday we put new belts on and the alinement all looked good the belts seemed just right.

We had a fishing trip today and ran 20 miles today and put 6 hours on new belts, no squeal and 14 on the volt meter all day long, but we did find some belt dush when we got in today.

Here is a picture of our belts after we put the new belts on yesterday.

photo.JPG

it looks to me like an alignment issue, the alternator is sitting too far forward from that picture - shouldn't there be a spacer behind the bracket that holds it in place, thus bringing the alignment back true?

One other question, is it both belts or just one belt that is shredding?

[RobS]

I agree those belts appear to be coming off of the alternator pulley at an angle to the water pump. Have you compared the new alternator to the old?

[Tree]

Looking at that again, I reckon that the washer under the bolt on the right hand side, should be under the bracket on the left hand side. Reason being, if you bring the alternator forward to align it, then the head of that bolt on the right hand end is going to hit the belts - hence why i don't think that washer is in the right place.