# Jet 16-32 Drum Sander Conveyor Belt ISSUES



## Lance09 (Jun 26, 2011)

I'm having trouble getting my conveyor belt to track straight without pulling towards the left. I've followed the manual, called Jet's support tech and I've even broken the bolt from tightening it too much. The tech told me to take the belt off and switched it around, figuring the belt was maybe the issue, nope, it keep pulling towards the left. (If the belt pulled towards the RIGHT, then we know it's the belt, but it didn't) It says to tighten the side that it's pulling towards and loosen the other. The problem lies when it keeps pulling towards the side that I can't tighten anymore! Reason why it broke. The tech told me if switching the belt didn't help to call back and he'd send me a new belt, but my final thought is that the whole bottom Sand Smart unit needs to be replaced. There is something twisted or wrong with it b/c it pulls hard to the left after 2-3 minutes, this unit has less than an hour of total use. Brand NEW!!

Flipped the belt, still didn't work, this wear and tear is from less than 20 passes through the sander, that's not normal is it????









The bent/broken bolt, I had to break it to get it off!!









Any suggestions?


> ?


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## bruc101 (Sep 13, 2008)

I've got a 16-44 Performax I bought in 1994 and it's never tracked dead on. I finally gave up on it and let it track where it wanted to. The conveyor belt is actually nothing more than a sanding belt for a wide bet sander.

We changed the original belt on the sander last year so I suppose it doesn't owe me a penny for lasting so long. The sander has been used almost on a daily basis since I purchased it mostly sanding face frame pieces and wide panels when the wide belts are busy. It's our go to sander most of the time because of fast paper changes and ease of operation.

Someone else may have a solution for yours.


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Lance, This has been a constant problem with my Jet drum sander. I tried to get my money back (no luck there). They sent me a new belt which helped some but it still requires constant adjusting. Those white ceramic 'guides' under the table are completely useless and I don't use mine. Sorry I don't have an answer but I can commissurate with you.I really hated those cheesy little 'wrenches' on the adjustment bolts so I cut them off and use a T handled allen wrench to adjust them now. I bought an older Craftsman 18/36 drum sander with the rubber conveyer belt and it works perfectly! Go figure. Maybe a rubber conveyer belt would fix ours? But not sure where to find one. Please keep us updated as you are not the only person with this issue.


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## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

I have had SuperMax sander for about 7 years now. They are pretty much same design so I will mention a few things and hope it helps…. First make sure the drum is in correct alignment. If it is not it will tend to push to one side or the other. Straight edge, yard stick or what ever to make sure it is properly lined up. once that is checked. Loosen both sides…. Both….. then tighen back up and you should not have to get real crazy here just enough to keep the belt from slipping…..

get the conveyer belt moving medium speed but be ready to turn off if it is way off, slowly tighten up a bit more, key here is not to over tighten, over time you can tighten up a bit cause the belt will stretch some. I have the rubber belt, pricy for a 37in but been working fine for over 5 years. Does yours only have adjustments on one end? Or both. I agree that the bottom cermaic guides suck…. If it is aligned you do not need them if the belt is off, well you be better off playing pickup sticks with your butt cheeks than to rely on those darn things.

Check drum alignment first….. My first guess is it is off and considering the open end may have a little to much flex in it or just off some…. When it is running without a board on it does it seem ok? But when a board starts going through it start to wonder on you…... Tell me if any of this helps….


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## pinebeetle (Sep 24, 2012)

I had the same problem with mine; I finally got disgusted and bought an aftermarket rubber belt from accuramachinetools.com now no more tracking issues… Don't know if it would fix yours but to me it was worth trying… They run about 90$ tho…


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

Gshepherd, "playing pickup sticks with your butt cheeks"- ROFLMAO!


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

do you have the ceramic guides?


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

I just aquired a 16/32 Performax, and I did a very minor adjustment of the same reason. You do have to tighten one side while loosening the other, and do it in small increments, like 1 or 2 flats (the nut), at a time, then let it run for a minute, then speed it up and let it run for a minute so it aligns itself. I'm just grasping at straws, but, maybe the drum is not parallel, and pullin it to one side? Hope you get it figured out. I know you're frustrated, and you should be, being that it is brand new. Their customer service hopefully will fix you up. Good luck.


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## UncleSnail (Jan 28, 2010)

Hi All, Interesting dialogue here. I also just bought a new Jet 16-32…took delivery just a few hours ago. And the conveyor belt tracks to the right or opposite of the open side. No adjusting works…tightening, loosening…not even cussing at it. I called tech support and he told me to loosen the rollers and drop them (the rollers) down to below the table (his words) and said that would solve my problem. Huh? The belt rollers are NOT on swivels but he insisted they were. In other words, we had a communication issue. I also turned the belt around to no effect. This tracking issue has nothing to do with my sanding drum. It tracks without the sanding. I also ditched the ceramic guides. A bad joke. 'Expecting a call from a service center tomorrow. I have high hopes. I also expect to win the lottery tomorrow. So there ya go. I am thinking either the after market rubber conveyor or perhaps just ignoring the issue as mentioned earlier will be my course. I feel for ya Lance. No, I would not recommend this to a friend…nor an enemy for that matter.


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## UncleSnail (Jan 28, 2010)

Loren, you can have my guides. LOL


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## UncleSnail (Jan 28, 2010)

Correction: My sander tracks to the open side (left) not the other side as I said earlier.


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## Dion1234 (Oct 29, 2013)

Just purchased the Jet 16-32 3 days ago and I am having the same problem the conveyor belt keeps going to the left, now I am confused and don't know what I should do to correct this problem. Does anyone know where to get the rubber belt?


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## dahenley (Sep 1, 2012)

http://accuramachinetools.com/replacement-conveyor-belt-for-accuraryobiperformax-etc-1632-sa.html


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## Howie (May 25, 2010)

Guess I got lucky when I bought my Jet 16/32. Been using it for two plus years and it was perfect right out of the box.
Only problem I had was trying to figure out that stupid little hook for changing the sanding belts.


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## Dion1234 (Oct 29, 2013)

Thank you for the site, dahenley


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## Philr (Jul 1, 2013)

I have a 16-32 and it tracks fine. However I do have problems with the tacking of the sanding belt on the drum. But that is another story.

Here's my take. So many of us believe that when we get something right out of the box it should work 100% without having to do adjustments. That just ain't so! We don't jostle our equipment around in the shop but the shippers certainly do, so I never take it for granted that all is ok when I pull it out of the box.

Many of the responses have been to adjust the belt with the adjusting bolts. There has also been mention of the drum alignment. Yeah that could be the problem.

However no one has said anything about two other possible problem areas.

So first check to see if the bed is properly seated. If you have extended the bols as far as they will go, see if you and adjust the bed some.

Second, check to see if you have proper tension on the rollers on the drum head. These can skew the board and in turn shift the belt tracking.

There will always be 101 things that can go wrong but never forget that there is also the 102 item and above that we rarely think of.


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## Philr (Jul 1, 2013)

I have a Jet 16-32 and used to have all kinds of problems that turned out to be user errors.

Here are some solutions to issue of conveyor belt not tracking properly. The drive shaft and return way shaft may not be plumb, even, and parallel to each other. You need to check to make sure that the rollers and sides of the plate form a perfect square. Also check that the shafts are level and parallel to each other and to the bottom plate.

The belt tension may be incorrect. Most people over tension the shafts. You need only that amount of tension that will prevent the belt from slipping when sanding.

The belt speed may be too fast. I run my sander usually between 40-50. Also take light sanding cuts (1/8 turn) and do not move your wood sideways when sanding. Infeed and outfeed tables are essential when working anything longer than 24".

Sanding belts: Oh what a pain they are. They need to be kept tight to the drum. Before and after a sanding session , retighten the belts. On a new belt, check the tightness every 5-10 minutes of use for the first hour or so. Take only 1/8 turns on the height adjustment. If you note that your boards are getting warm, let them cool off. Use a sanding belt cleaner regularly.


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## Philr (Jul 1, 2013)

Although the link below is not specific to Jet sanders, it does provide some valuable information on conveyor belt tracking.

http://www.ckit.co.za/secure/conveyor/troughed/troubleshooting/belt_misalignment.htm


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## Grumpydude (May 7, 2018)

Ok gentleman and I use the term loosely. I spent the weekend attempting to install an abrasive drive belt on my 16 inch Ryobi drum sander. Originally it came with the rubberized belt. I bought the sander used several years ago and assume it came with the original belt and has always required baby sitting it on each piece of wood sent through. I kind of got used to this but once in a while would not grab the outbound wood fast enough and . You guessed it. Dammit !!! Spraying the belt with something sticky as a previous person here suggested was a disaster. I believe I have identified why the replacement abrasive belt wont track. The rubberized belt grips well on the drive roller however in order to get the abrasive belt to stop slipping it requires some tension to overcome the lack of friction. Looking down the installed belt at the drive end you will see that the drive roller flexes under the pressure.. That's the problem that is causing the tracking issue. I even tried initially pointing the belt and drive roller into left field about 3/8 inch to start which looked really weird and it still tracked inboard. There is no solution that I have found save reinstalling the original belt or purchase a new one. Epiphany !!! over coffee one morning it dawned on me to score the old belt with 24 grit sand paper. I wrapped a piece around a block of wood and crosshatched the belt. Large quantities of dirt and sawdust were dislodged and the end result was enormously successful. Try it. Use the abrasive belt for a wall hanger. lol… Wash your ears before you get so much sawdust in there things start to grow. Grumpydude


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