Pulley/Fan Belt Welding Jig

[Captainleeward]

You be welcome matey....:O)

[Cascao]

Never had luck trying to weld green PU belts....

[NeiljohnUK]

Never had luck trying to weld green PU belts....

I found it easiest to heat them with a gas flame, soldering irons don't get enough heat into the material to joint it reliably.

[olderdan]

Captain
This is a great idea, I have been using a V block but that tends to draw the heat to fast, this is a much better solution.
I find the worst part is trimming of the flash, any idea's for that?.
The fact that you have made the jig that length makes me think you maybe have other uses for it.

[mklotz]

Captain
This is a great idea, I have been using a V block but that tends to draw the heat to fast, this is a much better solution.

I had to weld a small Unimat-sized belt so I took a short length of angle iron and, in the middle, milled away a section so the belt ends, lying in the V of the angle iron were exposed in the milled slot. Pull them slightly apart and close them on a palette knife that's been heated. While pushing them together on the knife, slip the knife out and the two heated ends of belt are immediately pushed together. (An assistant is useful for this maneuver.)

With the mid-section of the jig milled away the heat isn't sucked from the belts by the angle iron, yet the belt is closely supported so the alignment of the belt ends is good.

A larger version might work for larger belts but I've never had occasion to try it.

[starlight_tools]

Captain
This is a great idea, I have been using a V block but that tends to draw the heat to fast, this is a much better solution.
I find the worst part is trimming of the flash, any idea's for that?.
The fact that you have made the jig that length makes me think you maybe have other uses for it.

Cutting off the flashing is done with a small flush cutting side cutter. I often use a die grinder with a white Al Ox Stone to clean up the weld after trimming with the cutters.

The Belting is Fenner Eagle Orange PolyUrethane, and they actually make a welding kit for it, but I like the jig you made Captain

Walter

[Ralphxyz]

This is called butt fusion.

I was certified to do it on pe gas pipe upto 4".

The homemade jig is something I have been thinking of doing, Thanks for posting.

Ralph

[IAMSatisfied]

I've welded poly irrigation pipe with a similar apparatus... the main difference (other than scale) is that the alignment jig for the poly pipe has a lever that allows lateral force to be applied as you want a certain amount of squeeze-out, but not too much. Butt-fusion is the technical term for the process.

In the video below, they're using an electrically heated plate... with the unit I used in the field, we used a plate that was heated via a standard propane torch... it had a dial thermometer built into the plate and a port into which the torch tip inserted.

[Ed ke6bnl]

What heat source and how is it heated up?

[Tuomas]

Very interesting, thank you.

You heat it just to the point that surface starts to melt, or longer that it starts dripping?