So today was Yarbo’s PM Day. I brought it into the heated garage to go over the mechanicals, look for any issues, grease the tracks, etc.
It appears that my brand new (replacement) snowblower module’s belt has become slightly misaligned and is now rubbing the side of the pulley causing abrasion and some loss of material.
I haven’t yet determined the cause of the misalignment. So more work to come. Hopefully this can be quickly resolved.
You should pull the motor mount and check the small pulley.
I just went and visually inspected the small pulley while manually rotating the motor. Looks nice and clean. No damage I can observe.
Still think I need to pull the motor?
On mine the nut holding the small pulley in place, was quite loose. I don’t know the cause but the lower rim of the small pulley was worn off. I recommend you pull the motor mount and make sure it is tight.
Yeah, I’m wondering if maybe a shim or something is missing? Was there one on the pulley you took off?
No but there was one with the new pulley.
That could explain a misalignment.
Update:
Removed the motor and checked the small pulley. The nut was torqued and secure. Zero play between the motor and the pulley.
That said, upon close inspection, the belt is already beginning to fray, with the braided metal band starting to become exposed on the end with the abrasion.
So not sure what else there is to check. I don’t see anything that I can adjust to rectify this. If I hadn’t decided to proactively check the belt, there’s no doubt it was headed towards a failure.
Well glad you caught it before it failed, which would’ve been in an inopportune time no less. Do you think it could be because it’s missing a spacer causing the misalignment?
My original S1 had a spacer, and this new one didn’t have a spacer.
I’m going to open a ticket and see what they have to say about it.
Like you said, thank goodness I caught it before it became a failure during a snowstorm!
Ticket #159800 opened.
Sorry to hear about the belt misalignment issue. Our support team has received your ticket and will follow up with you shortly to help troubleshoot and provide a solution. We appreciate your patience and the detailed inspection you’ve already done.
Would love to know if the missing spacer was the issue ? My S1 is making a noise like the belt could be rubbing and I will inspect it but if the spacer isn’t there I would like to have one to put in its place
You are missing the bottom lip.
Bolt is tight on mine. Fully torqued and no wobble or play between the small pulley and the motor.
Oh wow!!
Update on my situation:
Heard back from Yarbo support. They are asking me to reinstall the belt and see if it remains misaligned. No word yet on replacing the damaged belt yet.
I’m not sure what they’re going for by having me reinstall everything. My best guess: Validating if the belt was improperly installed at the factory versus a hardware failure??
