Wait, I’m sorry I thought the front was on the left. It looks like the front of the skate is on the right. If that’s the case then the idler may be on the wrong side. You want the tight side of the belt during braking to NOT be on the idler.
Hmm, I thought I read the idler is on bottom when inboard mounted.
Does slipping usually happen on the motor pulley or the wheel?
The idler should be on the slack side when under highest stress, which is during braking.
Motor pulley.
Ok I’ll install the tensioner on the other side. I’m sure I read it went on bottom though.
You might just try to remove it if you have a shorter belt handy.
Some folks like them, but in my experience they are a source of problems and not a cure for me.
It’s the only belt I have on hand at the moment. Which is why I added the idler because the mount had to be this exact length to clear the trucks and the battery enclosure when turning. The belt I had was too long.
I just check the thread on the old forum “obsession with idlers” and verified the position was correct. Per that thread. I have another mount, maybe I’ll try an idler on both sides.
Still had this problem on my old build with the dickyho mounts and the belt as tight as I could get it, specifically had lost brakes when almost stopped it was unnerving, I had to almost stop trying to break and step off while rolling.
Do your brakes take you to a complete stop?
In Current control mode, they do. There are a lot of variables. However, I prefer Current Hyst Reverse With Brake which has the double-tap-to-reverse feature which can completely stop you.
With the hysteresis reverse, do you just set the reverse really low?
No. It has a minimum direction change erpm, but you can leave that at the default.
Alright, I’ll adjust for slipping, either tighter or pulley on the other side and give the control mode change a try.
I think that the highest stress to the belt is during acceleration in a typical RWD setup. Torque is pretty much proportional to the motor amps. My Bergs slip at 35-40A per motor during braking but I can accelerate with up to 100A with no issues. Therefore there is more belt tension/force during acceleration, so I believe that having the idler on top side is better.
I’ve got like 12 builds that disagree 100%.
The highest stress to the timing belt power transmission is always during hard braking, and I don’t use the word “always” lightly.
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Interesting, why do you think it would be like that in a RWD setup? Are you running higher motor amps for braking than acceleration?
I haven’t entirely figured out why.
Regardless of drive orientation, the slack side is the same in relation to the motor rotational direction, but when the motor is forward of the wheels it’s basically upside down.
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I do 100% agree with that. However, in AWD setups, your front wheels have a lot of braking traction due to weight transfer. Think motorcycles. For RWD, due to weight transfer, the rear becomes light during braking so you have less traction. That’s why we can use less braking torque than acceleration torque in RWD setups, and therefore the belts should see less load in braking situations than full blast acceleration.