I just bought an old Pac Bay power rod wrapper off of @#$%&. It's old and well used but everything seems to work and I really like it. The dryer motor and pulley turn the chuck just fine and the wrapper motor pulley spins fine but it isn't getting the traction necessary to turn the chuck. It has a very thin band that runs through both pulleys and the big chuck pulley. It seems that the dryer pulley does not turn unless it is powered and the band just slips on the wrapper pulley. Should the dryer pulley spin when the wrapper is turned on?


What can I do to get traction on the wrapper pulley and the band so it will power the chuck?
Do you think the band should be replaced if so where do I get one and what do they call it? or is there something else I may be missing?
Also, Is the band supposed to go around both pulleys at once? I've never seen a Pac Bay power wrapper up close or it's operation ......
THanks in advance ....... I really like this thing and can't wait to get it working right.

You can't power the dryer and the wrapper at the same time of the same belt. Most often, they're designed so that the dryer runs on it's own motor and the wrapper off the stand alone motor mounted down on the bed rails. I may not be familiar with the particular set up you have.

Generally, if the belt is slipping, it's not quite snug enough. I'd wipe it with alcohol (and the pulley grooves) just to be sure there's nothing on there that would make either slipperly. If that doesn't work and you're sure the belt is slightly snug on the pulleys - I'd look at another belt.

Do make sure you've got everything hooked up correctly first.

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When you say "very thin band" it makes me think that you do not have the correct belt on the unit. The belt should look like a large O-ring, approximately 1/4" thick. Kind of like an old vacuum cleaner belt, but larger in diameter. Anything smaller probably won't get enough traction to turn the chuck properly, especially under load.

If it does not resemble this, you may need to purchase a new belt from one of our sponsors on the left.


Walt

Exactly. The one belt does two jobs, but not at the same time. The belt we use on ours would not be described as "very thin". Anothger thing to look at, once you get the right belt, might be the alignment and the spacing between the motor pully and the other two pulleys. That can be adjusted slightly by loosening the mounting screws for the motor and the chuck or drying pulleys and messing with the adjustment till you get a suitable tension.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

As far as I know everything is hooked up correctly. It's hooked up the way it came. The 3 position toggle switch will turn on each motor 1 at a time and the foot pedal works on the wrapper and the rheostat knob works controling the wrapper speed. Both motors are mounted to the rail and the dryer turns the chuck fine ..... I think it is a standard Pac Bay power wrapper looks like an older RW 3L ....... I have the pictures from the bidding but they aren't the best

The band is more like a rubber coated string ........ not like an O ring ..... more like a thin string ......

I'll try to clean it with alcohol and get a new belt.

Do you usually have to move the belt from pulley to pulley when you go go from powering the wrapper to the dryer or does the belt stay around all of the pulleys?

Yes! You move the belt from one motor to another. The belt you have sounds wrong like stated above. I'm just getting used to my XL model, so far it seems pretty good and will get the job done.

When my belt cracked I went to Ace Hardware and bought a big O ring that is the same size as the one that came with the unit. I didn't have the time to order one from the sponsors. The one I bought works just fine.