Kirby G7D burning through belts regardless of adjustment settings

[mariotron]

Just got a new pack of belts from Amazon that appear to be real deal and and have the nurdle and brown branding on them but my G7D's roller is stalling out on a low pile rug and immediately start burning the belt.

Tried all the height settings, different roller heights and a whole new roller because I thought it was bad bearings.

I mean I understand it wearing down faster by using the wrong setting but it starts to stall after just vacuuming the house twice. Weirdly it's not completely destroying the belts but stretching them just enough so they stall when making contact with some of the rugs. Mostly the lower pile ones

 

[kirboover]

Roller Height and Shaft sanding

If it is a new roller, make doubly sure that the roller height itself is set to 1 (end caps themselves should have 1 notch showing). If this doesn't work, try sanding the belt shaft. Get a piece of sandpaper and put it clamp it in some pliers. Bypass the safety switch by using a small screwdriver (push in the bottom one). Once it is on, move the sandpaper up and down the shaft, making sure to evenly sand the belt's path. This should make the shaft grippier and the belt should grip a bit better. I hope this helps you.

P.S. Use coarse sandpaper as finer stuff will make the problem worse by essentially polishing the surface of the shaft instead of roughing it up.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

I question the originality of the belts, as it sounds like you have tried everything reasonable to fix it. I assume you have the bristles protruding 1/8" through the plate.
Would you mind posing a link to the exact item you bought? I know a while back there were counterfeits with poor materials that would give issues like yours.
Real Kirby branded belts had always worked perfectly in all my machines, and for years.

 

[mariotron]

They seemed to be legit from the reviews but knowing my luck

Here's the link to the belts and below I'll include an image of one and my motor shaft.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012PLHZT0?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

@kirboover the shaft appears to be smooth and shiny with only a bit of rubber pattern from the belt.

Uhh it's all clean just needs to be polished

View attachment mariotron-2022050508555308620_1.jpg

View attachment mariotron-2022050508555308620_2.jpg

 

[mariotron]

One more thing

I have the bristles height set to 1. I know they wear faster when set too low but I I've seen people who do it intentional and don't have them wear THIS fast

 

[huskyvacs]

Get a pack of real OEM Kirby belts from a vacuum shop. That you can see they come in a real package from Kirby themselves. The problem sounds like what I have seen many times from no-good aftermarket belts. Kirbys have so much torque that they cannot work with cheap rubber, it will burn them through. That's why OEM is a must.

Those belts do not look OEM. They look and are priced as Chinese junk. Anyone can put anything on Amazon. I highly doubt those came from Kirby at all. Last time I bought a belt for my Ultimate G it was about $8 at my local vacuum shop/Kirby dealer store. For ONE belt. It is still on there too.

Make sure you are setting the Kirby's nozzle height properly for cleaning as well.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

Well, these do ~appear~ to be real Kirby parts by the pictures and listing, however it does not mean the ones you got are genuine.
The latest review is from March 2022, so the seller could have even got some counterfeits since then - anything is possible.


A couple things to try before condemning these belts:

Try stretching the belt with your fingers, hands, and arms. It should be very difficult to get much stretch. If easy, then they are no good.

Clean the motor shaft and brush roll belt channel with paint thinner or gasoline. If any silicone or oil got on them, it can cause major slippage and will not look apparent.

With the belt on the unit and ready to do carpet, UNPLUG the machine, turn it over and check rotation of the brush roll with your fingers. Go in the proper direction or the belt will come off the shaft. It should turn easily, but with some drag from friction.
I did have one episode where the belt tension pulling up on the brush roll caused it to jamb on some incorrect adjustment screws.

I assume this is the proper nozzle that goes with this machine.

If none of the above helps, get some new genuine belts from a vac store as recommended above.

 

[texaskirbyguy]

One last thing - this low pile rug...
If this is a thin throw rug then it could be getting bunched up, getting sucked into the nozzle and jamming the brush roll.
These G series (Diamond aside) are not kind to thin throw rugs. I cannot do my rugs in the bathroom at all. The older machines had the suction relief dial which alleviated the sucked-up-rug issue.

 

[mariotron]

I think they are fakes

@texaskirbyguy
I think they are fakes, i can stretch them like an inch or two pretty easily by hand and hooking it belt onto the belt lifter doesn't have much resistance like the older ones I used.

On top of that the burning smell is very sulfur like and the belt became tacky on the inside. Bought them a few months ago and I think amazon is willing to refund with a 5$ extra credit but didn't seem to care actually remove the counterfeit items from the site

 

[mjhoshaw]

Thanks to all for this thread

I could very well have the same problem with my soon-to-arrive Sentria II, believing that belts with Kirby printed on them are genuine. I will make sure to get my belts from a reliable source.


 


Joel

 

[mariotron]

LONG OVERDUE UPDATE

I tried the sanding method and got belts straight from Kirby themselves and the issue remains.

The shaft... Look completely new and again brush spins freely so dunno what's causing it.

Oh and I made the mistake of asking Reddit with their solution being buy and install wall to wall carpet. Yes, because thats a logical solution

 

[lesinutah]

You

Need a soft belt. Check the sole plate of the nozzle.
If your inclined replace bearing behind the fan.
The belt could be too tight putting tension on bearings. The bearing issues make the motor shaft not spin as quickly essentially burning up your belt.
Pretty sure its one of the 3.

 

[mariotron]

@lesinutah

Checked the plate and it's all good.
But is this the correct bearing and should I just change the fan since it has a few nicks in it? https://www.goodvac.com/MOTOR_FRONT_BEARING_1CB_SE_p/k-prt-motr-116073.htm

By the way I'm not sure what you meant by "soft belt" sorry.

 

[lesinutah]

Yes

That's the bearing you should replace. I'd replace the fan if it's nicked up. They have knurled and non knurled belts. Knurled is stiffer and use on heritage 2 to avalier.
I use non knurled belts which are softer and not as stiff. It helps from burning up the bearings your replacing.
I'm adding a link to the belts I'm referring too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1818581630...iSVRhZiQfi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[mariotron]

@lesinutah parts finally came in!

Have any videos to recommend me for the bearing replacement I don't want to remove the wrong one. And you think I should replace my brushes while I'm there you think they're fine?

 

[panasonicvac]

Honestly, I'd recommend replacing both motor bearings. I don't know how good your brushes are. Check these three videos out from our good friend Bill here when he serviced his G7D.

 

[lesinutah]

Id

You can change both bearings but the ones behind the fan are the ones that go out. The brushes can be changed while your in that area.
When you open it up make sire the motor shaft spins at a high speed.

 

[louvac]

Kirby Diamond Edition and Ultimate Edition

These two models, which are also my favorite as all of the Kirby models are, to me have a less refined sounding motor than let's say, the Sentria. I have several of the Ultimate Gs and Diamond Edition in various degrees of condition from excellent to well-used, and they all sound a little more gruff than the other G-series models regardless. I don't why exactly. Perhaps it could have something to do with the gear ratio that Kirby has tweaked across every single G-series model. These motors are a little louder and for lack of a better way of saying it, more "grumbly".

With regard to the Diamond model, I would not use it in the low speed (low speed meaning pressing the top-most button by the handle until it illuminates) perpetually as I don't believe there is enough air-flow to the motor to keep it running cool. Low speed was made for vacuuming small area rug or carpets or draperies where less suction was needed for a short amount of time.

What I have done with all my Kirbys is to change out the machine end of the hose to the version with the lever switch which enables you to use the hose in low speed. This is great for above-the-floor-cleaning with hose only. I find it is enough suction to get the job done.

See photo below. The switch on the hose end is a mechanical function-not an electrical one.

 

[rugsucker]

Kirby hose converter with switch

A rare and little known option.I have never seen one even at Kirby dealers.