bob

Has anyone had any experience with serpentine style blower belts? Pros/cons vs cog belts. Do they really reduce belt dust and noise? Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks, Bob

SteveDavid

Bob,

I've got serpentine belts on my Whipples and do find them cleaner than the cog belts on my previous conventional type blowers. They are about as noisy, in terms of the "blower whine". From what I gather that's more a funciton of the air being compressed between the belt and the pulley than any particular belt style.

There is still belt dust, although minimal. About every 6 hours of use I can see the rubber residue on a cleaning rag, but nothing serious. My current belts have about 120 hours of use on them and they look new. This is a triple installation, running 5300 RPM max at 7 pounds of boost.

Hope this info helps.

Steve

bob

Steve/ Thanks for the info, exactly what I was after. By the way, nextb time you speak with Rich Brown, ask him where the splinters in his hands came from. We need to get him on this site! Thanks, Bob

SteveDavid

Bob,

Splinters in his hand??? Man that could lead to a couple of different conclusions

Rich just has to be one of the most pleasant fellows I've met either in or outside of the boat industry. I think maybe it's because #1 he is the real thing and #2 he isn't really doing it for a living as much as because he loves boating. And hey, did he snag a truly beautiful wife or what?

Take care Bob, good luck on your Supercharger set ups.

Steve

RLW

I had the impression that the serpentine/ribbed belt was the only USCG approved belt drive system for enclosed engine compartments. The Cog Style or tooth type belt utilizes a "pop-off valve" on the blower to relieve internal pressures from the sudden shock a backfire can create. The cog belt will not slip as a serpentine belt will in the event of a backfire. A "pop-off valve" will exhaust flame into the engine compartment. This does not meet USCG flame arrestor requirements.

bob

RLW/

Thats interesting and I will check it out. However, seems like almost all setups I see are cog style. Thanks.

RLW

Bob, my information comes from the B&M Tech Manual. Maybe it's a bit dated, but it makes sense.
I am talking "Roots Type" blowers.

bobby daniels

RLW YOUR RIGHT ABOUT THE BACK FIRE AND POP OFF NOT BEING LEGAL UNDER A CLOSED HATCH

THE B&M BOOK IS RIGHT ,,,,THE FIRST BLOWER KITS THEY MADE YEARS AGO WERE COG TYPE AND HAD POP OFF VALVES ,THEY WERE MADE TO USE THE NEW TYPE BELTS

IF A WHIPPLE WERE TO BACK FIRE WITH A COGED BELT ,,,MAN IT WOULD BE HELL LIKE A TOP FUEL CAR

WHIPPLES EAT BELTS IN GENERAL THOUGH ,DUE TO THE LOAD FROM THE BLOWER


HAVE A GOOD ONE

SteveDavid

Bobby,

Could you explain your experience with Whipples eating belts a little more? I've got over 150 hours on my Whipples with the original belts and they are still fine. About 16 months total time. With triples if something goes wrong I experience it 300% which tends to make me want to stay on top of potential problems. Maybe you're speaking of the belts on the quad rotor system or some other type of installation aside from the newest 500 EFI install??

Thanks for the info.

Steve

bobby daniels

STEVE YOUR RIGHT ITS ONLY WITH QUADS !! AND THEN THEIR OUT OF LINE