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Empire 598 III belts and speed (long)

My Empire 598 III came with a Yamaha belt and ran fast.

After reading and asking about belts I decided to try belts from both Elex Etalier (LP Gear) and Turntable Basics.

The table still runs fast with each of these belts.

With the Elex Etalier, it runs a bit more than 3% fast. Adjusting the drive pulley angle does not appear to have much effect on the speed, possibly because the belt width is such that it always significantly overlaps the crown of the motor pulley.

With the Turntable Basics belt, which is narrower, I can adjust the drive pulley angle such that the platter speed drops down to about 1% fast.

The drive is much "springier" with the narrower Turntable Basics belt.

Some unconfirmed impressions are:
- The turntable sounds as though it has "more drive" with the Elex Etalier belt. Perhaps because of the speed or perhaps because of better coupling of the motor inertia to the platter.
- I hear less noise when standing beside the TT with the Elex Etalier belt, possibly due to lower tension and less lateral force on the bearings.

It seems as though I really want a belt at least as stiff as the Elex Etalier belt, as narrow as the Turntable Basics belt (to get speed adjustability) and thinner than either (so the platter speed will drop).

I think I recall someone mentioning original belts made of latex and fabric. Such belts could have the desired properties.

If I can't get such a belt, I think that the most practical solution might be to wrap some tape around the subplatter to get the right speed. IIRC JoeLongwood did this.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Regards

David

PS: For those who are interested, here are some approximate measurements:

Turntable:
- String length around the belt path:- 838mm

Belts:(Yamaha = Y, ElexEtalier = EE, Turntable basis = TB)
- Slack length of belt: Y=762mm, EE =812mm, TB=783mm
- Belt width: Y=5.0mm, EE =5.1mm, TB=4.1mm
- Belt thickness: Y=0.71mm, EE =0.66mm, TB=0.66mm

And here are some calculated values
- Belt spring const: Y=0.28mm/gmf, EE=0.26mm/gmf, TB=0.36mm/gmf
- Belt Tension installed: Y=24gmf, EE=7gmf, TB=20gmf

Note: The slack lengths are as measured, not "as supplied", each of the belts had been on the table and off it for varying lengths of time.



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Topic - Empire 598 III belts and speed (long) - energyandair 12:07:17 03/11/07 (13)


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