Venicemud Posted April 28, 2014 Report Share Posted April 28, 2014 I need advice. This afternoon, as I was throwing a piece, a strange noise suddenly emerged from under my wheel, a Pacifica GT800. I unplugged the wheel, unscrewed the bottom cover/plate? and discovered that the turntable turned due to the efforts of four rubber belts, and one was broken. I called Laguna and a very nice man assured me that it was no big deal, that I could buy a new belt for about $7 and that I should be able to put it on myself. Later, I called Laguna again to ask if I could use the wheel with just the three remaining belts temporarily. A new nice man answered and said yes but when I said that I wanted to order a new belt he told me that I should replace all four. My questions: Should I replace the broken belt or all four? Is it reasonable to think that an old (78) lady could replace all those belts? I have managed to replace elements, thermocouples and relays on my kiln but my hands are arthriticy and it looks as if belt replacement might require quite a bit of manual strength. I would appreciate your input and opinions, Joan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmism Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 the belt replacement is straight forward. The belts stretch with age (and eventually break). You want all the belts to transfer roughly the same amount of torque from the motor to the wheel. This increases the belt life as it spreads the load out between the 4. This is why it is recommended you replace all 4 belts at the same time. There is a thread floating around that tells you how to measure your old belts to determine the size of the new ones. Ill see if my google fu can find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmism Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 google fu! Take them off and measure: if they are anything less than 50 inches then order the 42" ones , if over 50 then order the 50".If they are 49.5" they still would be the 42 that have stretched: they cannot shrink. source http://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/5825-troubleshooting-pacifica-wheel/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Dear Joan, We stoked a wood kiln together not long ago. No doubt in my mind you can do it. I would replace all four. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Venicemud Posted April 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Thanks to all of you for your input. Repairing my kiln was easy(ish) because its an L&L and they have Youtube videos that show you how, I don't think Laguna is that helpful. Their nice ccustomer relations man did say that if I got the belt(s) he could talk me through it on the phone though - my worry was re my hand strength, if the belts had to be stretched or something, by hand, I'll give it a go and if all else fails I'll go play the helpless little old lady trick in front of one of my stalwart neighbors. Joan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stellaria Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 If you've got the card, play it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Selsor Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 There should be grooves for each belt. Not difficult on my Bailey. Sounds like the same drive system. Marcia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay lover Posted April 29, 2014 Report Share Posted April 29, 2014 Go for it ,Girl. When I did mine, it sort of 'walked' it's way onto the spindle while I turned the wheel. Old Brent. Hardest part was tilting the wheel up on it's side to get to things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justanassembler Posted April 30, 2014 Report Share Posted April 30, 2014 you should be able to do it, you can release the tension by loosening four bolts on the motor mount, and re-tension it using these four bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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