Broken belt on wheel ruining work

[Ryleigh]

I have a Pacifica GT 400 that I refurbished a couple of years ago. I recently finished my new home studio and got into a groove throwing again.  About a month ago I suddenly couldn’t get a finished piece and thought maybe the problem was me developing a bad technique without realizing it. I have businesses asking to buy my work but can’t commit because I haven’t been able to get anything made. I took my wheel apart this evening and found that one of the 4 pieces of my belt had snapped. I’ll be replacing all 4 of them but I am wondering if this could be the reason I suddenly can’t throw anything to save my life? 

[Hulk]

Good question!
I'm in my seventh year of throwing*.
The sessions when most (or all) goes into the recycle bin (else dried a bit and then wedged up to re-throw) still occur - not as often tho'.

The belts slipping could be throwing your throwing off!

While waiting for your new belts, can you tell if there's slippage?
The motor noise changes as you throttle the pedal - does the sound change without throttling? ...as drag on the wheel increases, does the motor rev?

Hope it turns around for you, please do post updates.
 

*At a hobby level, serious hobby, but not anything like full time.
There's still improvement! Just recently I feel, think, and believe that I'm almost back where I was before injury and moving put a hold on my progress.
There's plenty of room for improvements...

[Ryleigh]

1 hour ago, Hulk said:

Good question!
I'm in my seventh year of throwing*.
The sessions when most (or all) goes into the recycle bin (else dried a bit and then wedged up to re-throw) still occur - not as often tho'.

The belts slipping could be throwing your throwing off!

While waiting for your new belts, can you tell if there's slippage?
The motor noise changes as you throttle the pedal - does the sound change without throttling? ...as drag on the wheel increases, does the motor rev?

Hope it turns around for you, please do post updates.
 

*At a hobby level, serious hobby, but not anything like full time.
There's still improvement! Just recently I feel, think, and believe that I'm almost back where I was before injury and moving put a hold on my progress.
There's plenty of room for improvements...

I don’t mind making mistakes because that’s where you learn, but man is it frustrating when the changes don’t help! (Especially when you have people waiting on you.) I haven’t notice any kind of change in sound with the wheel which is why I assumed it was my doing even though my throwing was fine till it suddenly wasn’t.  I just ordered the new belts so hopefully they’re in soon and I can give you an update. Thank you for responding and the reassurance! There is always room for improvement, indeed!  

[Ryleigh]

On 3/9/2024 at 7:00 PM, Hulk said:

Good question!
I'm in my seventh year of throwing*.
The sessions when most (or all) goes into the recycle bin (else dried a bit and then wedged up to re-throw) still occur - not as often tho'.

The belts slipping could be throwing your throwing off!

While waiting for your new belts, can you tell if there's slippage?
The motor noise changes as you throttle the pedal - does the sound change without throttling? ...as drag on the wheel increases, does the motor rev?

Hope it turns around for you, please do post updates.
 

*At a hobby level, serious hobby, but not anything like full time.
There's still improvement! Just recently I feel, think, and believe that I'm almost back where I was before injury and moving put a hold on my progress.
There's plenty of room for improvements...

Finally got the new belts and it was definitely the issue! I read that you can still throw with broken belts but it was messing me up big time so I don’t recommend.