DATE: August 20, 2001 YOUR REF.NO.:
MILNOR REF NO.:
TO: Parts/Service Managers
COMPANY: MILNOR Dealers (domestic)

SUBJECT: 36" V5 Belt Problems

With more field reports coming in and an inspection on the production line, it is apparent that the 36" V5 pulley alignment is a big issue. We also discovered a problem with the 30" machines that requires action.

We confirmed today that the motor base plate must be shimmed in order to make the motor shaft parallel with the main bearing housing shaft.

We measured this using a 4' carpenter's square along the backside of the main pulley and the topside of the motor. (We assume that the motor case is pretty close to parallel with the motor shaft.)

The preferred shimming method is to shim between the "unistrut" and the hinge bracket for the motor mount plate. In order to shim these locations, it was necessary to remove the belts from the motor and pick up the rear most point in the motor and place shims under that point. There are no shims between the motor and the motor mount plate.

We are using a pre-existing part for the shimming - p/n 02-02822. These parts are used on basket assemblies for 30022 and 36" machines.

We are uncertain how many machines may have such an alignment problem. There are many variables that could occur in the frame weldment, bracket, motor bracket bending and motor plate. Since there are so many variables, we're confident that each machine will have to be checked and possibly shimmed on the production line. This is true for any of these single motor drives from 30" to 42".

Our production measurement tool turned out to be a 4' carpenter's square (available at Home Depot) which was cut to fit the length of the motor and the height of the final drive pulley. This allowed us to check the back of the motor pulley against the top of the motor. When these two surfaces are perpendicular, then the angular alignment of the pulleys is correct.

Currently, it appears that the components we are assembling in the factory (which may have a different tolerance stack-up than the ones that are in the field) require approximately