Black dust on raw water pump?

[TrawlerDavid]

Seeking wisdom. After installing new raw water Oberforfer pumps on GB 36, fund a heave accumulation of oily black powder on top of water pump after several hours of operation. I cleaned it off to bronze, and after a few hours of engine operation saw the much lighter accumulation of black dust as shown in photos. New Gates belts recently installed. Anyone else have a similar issue? Looks like belt dust, and perhaps I need to sand pulley slots (quite old and some rust). Want to be sure its not something serious.

 

[DDW]

Sure looks like belt dust. The belts themselves will polish the running surface given some time (wearing themselves a bit in the process). You may also want to take a close look at belt alignment, even slight misalignment can cause a lot of dust.

 

[SteveK]

Looks like belt dust, maybe belts are wider than they should be.
Are they getting looser?

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Thanks! That was my thought as well. I had similar dust on my Pearson 33 (pre-trawler sailboat) but the belts were quite old and issue went away when I replaced them. I was surprised to see it with new belts and the point about alignment is well-taken. I'lll see if it improves with a few more hours of operation.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Looks like belt dust, maybe belts are wider than they should be.
Are they getting looser?

Thanks! New belts so they may be stretching as they wear in. I'll check the tension and alignment. Are you in the Guld Islands? We're in Seattle and are planning a trip to the Canadian San Juans later this summer. My parents were from Winnipeg and Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, so I have dual Canadian citizenship.

 

[SteveK]

Yes our boat is based in gulf islands.
So with dual citizenship do you change out the stern flag. It would feel odd to fly a courtesy flag.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Yes our boat is based in gulf islands.
So with dual citizenship do you change out the stern flag. It would feel odd to fly a courtesy flag.

It will be our first trip to Canadian waters in Innisfree so haven't sorted out the flags yet. Likely will bring a Canadian flag to swap when we cross the border.

 

[Comodave]

It will be our first trip to Canadian waters in Innisfree so haven't sorted out the flags yet. Likely will bring a Canadian flag to swap when we cross the border.

You don’t swap flags. You hoist a Canadian courtesy flag in addition to your US flag. You don’t swap them because you are not a Canadian flagged vessel.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

You don’t swap flags. You hoist a Canadian courtesy flag in addition to your US flag. You don’t swap them because you are not a Canadian flagged vessel.

Thanks for the protocol tip. Adding Canadian courtesy flag to the list.

 

[tiltrider1]

The V pattern of the new belts does not match the pulley. You are wearing down the shoulders of the belt. As the shoulders wear down your belt will get looser.

Some say the belt will eventually wear to match the pulley as long as you have enough tension adjustment. If you lack enough tension adjustment you will either need to better match your pulley or replace your pulley with the correct V pattern.

 

[cafesport]

So looking at the pulley it does seem that you are riding on the shoulders. Not a reel problem as long as you keep tabs on it. Those fleetrunner greens are great because the tend to last longer and create less dust, as long as they are sized properly. You should get at least 1000 hours out of them. Just monitor the temps and tension.

 

[TrawlerDavid]

Thanks for the advice. I tried to match the belt size for the prior Gates belt but may not have been able to do so exactly with the Fleetrunner. I'll keep an eye on it. When you say monitor temps, assume belt temps, and when do you check on them and what to look for?

 

[SteveK]

I would check right after engine shut down after a run until it settles in and you are satisfied it will last the long haul. Some belts have inside cord that once other skin worn thru may wear faster and fail.
The new belt should not ride outside the pulley, the V should match the pulley V.

 

[cafesport]

Since it’s on a water pump it should be pretty obvious if the belt is slipping by shooting the pulley with an ir thermometer. Alternator belts are a bit trickier.

 

[DDW]

The belt looks like it is sitting in the V fine to me. There are different cross section V belts, but they are pretty obviously different.

 

[SteveK]

The belt looks like it is sitting in the V fine to me. There are different cross section V belts, but they are pretty obviously different.

Pictures can fool you. The third picture does show a belt inside the pulley, maybe a little too much for a new belt. What is not clear is it aligned.

 

[DDW]

Yes, alignment is not apparent in the pictures. Also suspect to be checked because new components were installed.

 

[luna]

To me it looks like the cross section of the new green belts is too small and may possess the wrong angle.
The Gates Fleetrunner Belts are said to be "used on specific lawn and garden applications, vintage vehicles and specialized applications". These belts only come in widths of 13mm and have an included angle of 38º

This might not be the place to look for a belt to fit your main engine.

You noted in post #12 that you tried to match the size of the existing belts, but may not have been able to do so. I think you are right, they don't match.

You may want to consider doing something like this.

Remove all the belts and using a drill motor mounted wire wheel, clean up the pulley grooves until they shine. The unused pulley groove in picture #3 looks mean.
Run the vacuum all the time and spent some time cleaning up the iron dust.

Hopefully the engine manufacturer can tell you what the pulley spec's are so you could find the right belt. If not, I would measure the width of the groove at the top, which from the pictures looks to be wider than the 13mm width of the green belts. Then from the Gates Truck Belt selection find a 15 mm (0.59") wide, 40º belt of the right length and test the fit. The belt should be just proud or flush with the pulley.

Truck Belts

Gates Truck Belts are specifically designed for heavy-duty truck, bus and off-road equipment applications.

www.gates.com

Similar sized belts are offered by Dayco, Goodyear and others.

While you are at it, spend some time checking and adjusting the pulley's alignment, which to do correctly will take a bit of thought and effort.

Once done, belt dust should disappear.

 

[DDW]

The Gates Fleetrunner Belts are said to be "used on specific lawn and garden applications, vintage vehicles and specialized applications". These belts only come in widths of 13mm and have an included angle of 38º

While it is possibly the wrong belt, Gates Fleetrunner belts come in a huge variety of sizes, styles and lengths. Widths up to at least 22mm, micro-v, and other types. Not just for the applications in your quote, but almost any application you can think of for a belt. You do have to pick the right one for the application though.

 

[luna]

If we can put aside the Micro-V belts as I doubt that they would fit, and the Green Stripe series of belts as they seem to be black in colour, the only Fleetrunner Green single V belts that I see all have the same section, known as HC50, which is 13mm wide.

Here is the info. I was reviewing.

FleetRunner™ V-Belts | Gates Corporation

www.gates.com

Maybe I overlooked something. Do you have a link to these wider Green Fleetrunner belts?

 

[SteveK]

@luna copy the words

FLEETRUNNER V BELT​

into their search engine and you have plenty after you click on width and more below 6 displayed

 

[luna]

Ya, I know what you get when you search the site.

I see about 10 different names and intended uses for the belt groups that show up on the search.

So just answer these questions please.

How many single V-belt groups are called Fleetrunner?

How many of these single V-belt groups are green?

How many widths are there for a Green Fleetrunner single V- belt?

Same answer to each question?

 

[Delta Riverat]

The belt does not seem too wide for the pulleys, I can see sheave over the belt on both

 

[DDW]

Try here.
Starts with 10mm, ends with 22mm. There are other pages at gates.com with a bunch of others too. They make a lot of belts.

 

[luna]

Maybe my monitor is acting up. I swear that the colour of the outside of the OP's belts is green. I also am convinced that I was talking about the OP's Green Fleetrunner belts and the fact that they seem to be limited to 13mm wide. Ya got a green one that is other than 13 mm wide, like I asked you 3 hours ago?

You may think that the belt riding lower than the pulley is fine. You're likely alone in that thinking as conventional wisdom is a new belt should be flush or just proud of the pulley so as it wears it is less likely to bottom out.
However, you are entitled to your opinion.

 

[Steve DAntonio]

This seems like a belt/pulley alignment issue. Editorial: Reviewing Invoices – Feature Article: Fan Belts | Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting