The measurement of the belt tension is always necessary when machines and systems are to be optimally maintained. A belt drive reaches its maximum service life only if it is designed and adjusted for its use. This means that the belt should be tensioned for the specific application optimally and the pulleys – precisely aligned. With the help of the belt tension measuring device, the strand force can be determined exactly when the belt is under stationary conditions.
Long service life and high performance of the equipment and the machines – is the wish-goal of every user, either company or an individual. In many industries, in particular, in various mechanisms, belts are an important and necessary part. The smallest deviations from the standards may lead to serious consequences, like systems failure, that is why, it is especially important to regularly check the belt tension, since only when this value is absolutely correct and optimal, the best performance may be provided. Not only weaker than necessary tension, but also the tension that exceeds the standards, may cause serious and, which is important, preliminary, degradation of the belt and drop of the performance. This could cause serious machine failures with unplaned downtime and high repairing costs. For example, wrong belt tension in the generator of the car is devastating in both cases and may be dangerous and lead to the complete wear of the mechanisms. Significant costs – is just one of the items in the list of the possible problems that may follow. Even if the belt is not broken, the change in its function does not remain unimportant for the whole system or mechanism, and that is why it is actually one of the priority tasks to keep this issue under control.
To do this is easy with the help of the belt tension meter, which represents a small, but a very useful device which can help the user to determine the belt tension in the system to be controlled and thus, indicate whether the prompt measures should be taken to adjust the tension to the setpoint value.
Testing the tension manually remained in the past long time ago, and the best way to determine the tension is to use the device and by means of the calculations get an exact data about the belt tension. The vibrations coming from the belt are not only registered by the belt tension meter, the data are processed after they have been received by the optical sensor, and based on the characteristics of the belt (weight, width, length), the final result is calculated and displayed on the lighted screen (in N and Hz).
The spectrum of application is wide, starting from individual applications in household (various devices and household equipment) or office to industrial fields where it can be used for different conveyors, lifting equipment, elevators, automotive industry or agricultural machines.
The main advantage of the belt tension meter is not only that it helps to detect the faults and prevents failures, it may also be used for checking the correctness of the installation before commissioning. Thus, before the equipment gets started, the check by means of the belt tension meter is a reliable confirmation that the machine will run flawlessly in compliance with the regulations. The data received with the help of the meter may be saved and used as a norm-sample during the regular maintenance checks later.