Blown BT3100 Belts

[MBFingerhut]

Was creating a ZCTP for a molding head cutter (think router bit for table saw - this was a tool my grandfather had purchased for his craftsman saw about 30 years ago) and suddenly heard saw struggle and then just as suddenly motor sounded normal again. After stopping the saw and checking everything I found that the arbor was no longer turning while the motor was running. Further inspection indicated that the 2 v-belts linking the motor to the arbor had both melted through.

It looks like ryobitools.com has the belts for $20 or so each. Does anyone have any specifics about how to replace the belts myself? Are there other parts of the saw that I should be worried about being broken? Is this something I can fix myself, or should I take the saw to an authorized repair location?

Thanks,
-Mark Fingerhut

[JimD]

You can do it yourself and should look in the articles section for "how-tos". I lost mine when an angled off-cut fell into the belts. You have to do quite a bit of disassembly to get to the belts but it is not very difficult. The difficult part is getting the short stiff belts onto the pulleys because you cannot change the spacing between the pulleys. It took me awhile and I do not want to have to repeat the experience but many of us have managed to get it done.

The belts are the weak link of the saw, perhaps by design. I doubt if anything else is damaged.

Jim

[MBFingerhut]

After I posted, I ran across a few more detailed posts with the same problem, but none showed pictures of how to get to the belts. However, I'll give it a try myself. I guess it's better that the belts go than the motor itself. One more question - is there some other source for the belts other than Ryobi that would either be cheaper, or locally available instead of having to wait for shipping?

[LCHIEN]

I've not had to change my belt yet (knock on wood) but there were some pics posted on how to do it. One of the things that seems to help because the belts are short andstiff and there's no idler pulley, is to rig the arbor with a wrench or socket set so that you can turn it easily. thus allowing you to walk the belts onto the pulley.

[Salty]

Look here.
http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...ht=belt+BT3100

[MBFingerhut]

Cool...Looks like Sears is much cheaper. I think I'll grab a couple sets just in case. Thanks again.