BT3100 Belt Questions

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  • HLPBikeBoy
    Forum Newbie
    • Dec 2020
    • 5
    • Mequon WI
    • BT3100-1

    BT3100 Belt Questions

    So the Pandemic made me fire up my old but lightly used BT3100 saw, and I am attempting to learn some woodworking.

    I am attempting a shaker table, and just had started making the legs in 8/4 stock when after 1 ft of the first bevel rip cut, the saw stalled. Upon examination of the belts, one was broken, and the other was missing. Two are now on order (about $60, right?).

    So now I am wonder whether the second belt will be found once I take it apart, or it had broken previous to this cut. Has anyone had a similar experience?

    As to the challenging bevel rip, I understand with a little more finesse it should be possible to cut this in red oak. Do I just have the wrong saw? I am planning to try to have a gentler hand when I fix the saw, and I have purchased the Diablo ripping blade. Any other suggestions?

    Howard
  • LCHIEN
    Internet Fact Checker
    • Dec 2002
    • 20914
    • Katy, TX, USA.
    • BT3000 vintage 1999

    #2
    This sounds like a chicken and egg question.
    Did the saw stop because the belts broke, or, did the belts break because the saw blade got jammed?

    I wasn't there so I don't know.
    Some belts are known to break from old age, but I don't think its that common. They are known to break upon stalling or jamming the blade.
    They usually go in pairs when breaking... They share the load so whenever one breaks then twice the load is carried by the other and it almost surely breaks.
    I have not heard of one belt breaking and the user going on with just the other one.

    So I'd put my money that whatever broke one, caused both to break and you just have not found all the pieces.
    Last edited by LCHIEN; 12-31-2020, 02:43 PM.
    Loring in Katy, TX USA
    If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
    BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

    Comment

    • Jim Frye
      Veteran Member
      • Dec 2002
      • 1051
      • Maumee, OH, USA.
      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

      #3
      When I was learning to use my BT3K, I stalled the blade in a cut and before I could react, both belts melted through on the motor pulley. I bought multiple replacements and used one set to replace the broken set. Twenty five plus years later, those same belts are still working. Hint, when you buy replacements, buy a couple of extra sets and you'll not have to replace belts again. Wink Wink
      Jim Frye
      The Nut in the Cellar.
      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

      Comment

      • LCHIEN
        Internet Fact Checker
        • Dec 2002
        • 20914
        • Katy, TX, USA.
        • BT3000 vintage 1999

        #4
        Originally posted by Jim Frye
        When I was learning to use my BT3K, I stalled the blade in a cut and before I could react, both belts melted through on the motor pulley. I bought multiple replacements and used one set to replace the broken set. Twenty five plus years later, those same belts are still working. Hint, when you buy replacements, buy a couple of extra sets and you'll not have to replace belts again. Wink Wink
        Ain't that the truth. When I break something I usually buy twice as many, especially if the shipping costs as much as or more than the part.. That's cheap insurance against breaking them again... usually works!
        Loring in Katy, TX USA
        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

        Comment

        • Jim Frye
          Veteran Member
          • Dec 2002
          • 1051
          • Maumee, OH, USA.
          • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

          #5
          This saw has enough power to make the cut you described. I have resawn 3 1/2” maple on mine. Sometime ago, I bevel ripped the under side of a Shaker table top in cherry and the cut was nearly 3” wide. I recently did raised panel drawer fronts with a two inch bevel cut in hard maple. I use a 24T thin kerf blade. My saw is on a 20 amp. circuit with 12 ga. wiring all the way to the saw motor. I learned early on that the BT3K can easily pull more than 15 amps. under load and the 20 amp. circuit pretty much eliminates tripping the circuit breaker.
          Jim Frye
          The Nut in the Cellar.
          ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

          Comment

          • cwsmith
            Veteran Member
            • Dec 2005
            • 2737
            • NY Southern Tier, USA.
            • BT3100-1

            #6
            Howard,

            I've been using my BT3100 since I bought it in 2005. It has plenty of power and I've cut quite a bit of red oak in the remodel of my kitchen more than a decade ago. However, take note that this is not a big induction motor-based saw that you can just push stock through. Not that you've used the saw in that way, but I've seen a few contractors, with heavier induction-motored saws, push stock through them as if every second wasted was costing them money. With the BT, you simply can't over-stress the cut and you need to let the blade do its job. I've fed as much as a 14 ft rip through the BT, and the cut quality was terrific with the proper blade and reasonable feed. (note that thee RPM of a BT is significantly higher than an induction motor).

            Now, I have broken the belts on mine. I was making a zero clearance plate and I had not lowered the blade far enough. In fact, it was resting against the new blank plate and so on start up, it couldn't rotate at all and the belts melted almost instantly. Expensive mistake on my part. Changing the belts was a bit of challenge, and would have been much easier IF I had followed the instruction that I later found here on this forum. Perhaps one of the other members can point you to those, because at the moment I don't have that link.

            Hope this helps,

            CWS

            Think it Through Before You Do!

            Comment

            • Jim Frye
              Veteran Member
              • Dec 2002
              • 1051
              • Maumee, OH, USA.
              • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

              #7
              How to change belts

              https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...-Instructions=
              Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-02-2021, 02:44 AM.
              Jim Frye
              The Nut in the Cellar.
              ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

              Comment


              • cwsmith
                cwsmith commented
                Editing a comment
                Thanks Jim!

                Happy New Year,

                CWS
            • Jim Frye
              Veteran Member
              • Dec 2002
              • 1051
              • Maumee, OH, USA.
              • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

              #8
              How to change belts (another, different link)

              https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...t-instructions
              Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-02-2021, 02:43 AM.
              Jim Frye
              The Nut in the Cellar.
              ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

              Comment

              • Jim Frye
                Veteran Member
                • Dec 2002
                • 1051
                • Maumee, OH, USA.
                • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                #9
                Wonder what happened to my second post with another link to an Articles maintenance how to for belt change? It was ther for one cycle, but then disappeared. OP go to the Articles tab above and the click the maintenance and repair section on the right side of the panel.
                Jim Frye
                The Nut in the Cellar.
                ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                Comment

                • LCHIEN
                  Internet Fact Checker
                  • Dec 2002
                  • 20914
                  • Katy, TX, USA.
                  • BT3000 vintage 1999

                  #10
                  Originally posted by Jim Frye
                  Wonder what happened to my second post with another link to an Articles maintenance how to for belt change? It was ther for one cycle, but then disappeared. OP go to the Articles tab above and the click the maintenance and repair section on the right side of the panel.
                  Jim, I am so sorry, at first glance it seemed to be an identical post, the links started out the same way and ended the same way and they were 2 minutes apart. There was a slight difference in the link (the middle part itself is truncated for display) but I missed it and though they looked identical. I really did spend more than a few seconds comparing the posts before making this decision, but apparently not long enough. I failed to check more than cursorily that the two links were separate and different. But honestly they were the sole content and looked the same as I scrolled back and forth.

                  Side by side what was shown:
                  https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...-Instructions=
                  https://www.sawdustzone.org/articles...t-instructions

                  I thought it was a duplicate post (I've done it myself several times when its short and too quick). So I deleted it, but I have now restored it. I am sorry.

                  I took the liberty to adding "how to change belts" to the text because the truncated link display as it shows is missing that.
                  And I added note for the second link so no one would make the same mistake I did.
                  Last edited by LCHIEN; 01-02-2021, 02:56 AM.
                  Loring in Katy, TX USA
                  If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                  BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                  Comment

                  • twistsol
                    Veteran Member
                    • Dec 2002
                    • 2893
                    • Cottage Grove, MN, USA.
                    • Ridgid R4512, 2x ShopSmith Mark V 520, 1951 Shopsmith 10ER

                    #11
                    Originally posted by Jim Frye
                    ...Hint, when you buy replacements, buy a couple of extra sets and you'll not have to replace belts again. Wink Wink
                    I've discovered that on the rare occasion I do need the extra replacement parts, no matter how hard or long I search, I can't find them until about an hour I've bought another.

                    Chr's
                    __________
                    An ethical man knows the right thing to do.
                    A moral man does it.

                    Comment

                    • Jim Frye
                      Veteran Member
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 1051
                      • Maumee, OH, USA.
                      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                      #12
                      Loring: Not an issue at all. Thanks for fixing things. The articles section is a great resource that is often overlooked.
                      Jim Frye
                      The Nut in the Cellar.
                      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                      Comment


                      • LCHIEN
                        LCHIEN commented
                        Editing a comment
                        ok, thanks.
                    • Jim Frye
                      Veteran Member
                      • Dec 2002
                      • 1051
                      • Maumee, OH, USA.
                      • Ryobi BT3000 & BT3100

                      #13
                      Originally posted by twistsol

                      I've discovered that on the rare occasion I do need the extra replacement parts, no matter how hard or long I search, I can't find them until about an hour I've bought another.
                      Like the old saying about lost things. It is always the last place you look.
                      Jim Frye
                      The Nut in the Cellar.
                      ”Sawdust Is Man Glitter”

                      Comment

                      • HLPBikeBoy
                        Forum Newbie
                        • Dec 2020
                        • 5
                        • Mequon WI
                        • BT3100-1

                        #14
                        Ok. The saw is back together. Will try again tomorrow.

                        Lessons Learned:

                        Came apart as per the Ryobi instructions. One or two screws needed some persuasion, but the part tapping the arbor apart was pretty tight. It was very hard to put it back together after the belts were installed. I eventually used a clamp to get the parts close enough to get the screws onto the bearing backing plate.

                        The belts I bought through amazon are not the exact material, but are the right size. If they fail I will use the Ryobi $60 belts. They looked right in the picture, but the vendor is sending out black belts.

                        I have a BT3100, so the instructions concerning the shims are N/A. There is no set screw.

                        I have to thank everyone for links to two complementary instructions, and their encouragement. Funny, I still never found a belt and a half!

                        Comment


                        • nicer20
                          nicer20 commented
                          Editing a comment
                          Glad to hear you got your saw working. Where can you buy genuine RYOBI belts? Ryobi themselves?
                      • LCHIEN
                        Internet Fact Checker
                        • Dec 2002
                        • 20914
                        • Katy, TX, USA.
                        • BT3000 vintage 1999

                        #15
                        Glad you were able to get belts and get them on. Good luck as you move forward.
                        Loring in Katy, TX USA
                        If your only tool is a hammer, you tend to treat all problems as if they were nails.
                        BT3 FAQ - https://www.sawdustzone.org/forum/di...sked-questions

                        Comment

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