Cat 3535 on razor wash slowing down randomly

[Waxman]

hello! My razor is a few years old now and has been running like a champ. Recently I noticed some squealing when a car went through my underbody. It seemed like the pump was slowing down and causing the belt to squeal. I cleaned out some blocked nozzles and thought I had it licked. I tightened up the belt and thought I had it licked. I cleaned out a blocked nozzle on the arch and again it seemed OK for a while. Now today I can hear the pump slowing down again and the Drive belt squealing. It recovers after a few seconds of slower operation/squealing. I should also add that it does it during the wash process but it also will exhibit this symptom while the machine is parked in the home position and I toggle the high-pressure pump on. It doesn't do it every time. Sometimes when I toggle it on it'll run perfectly with no slow down/squealing.

Any ideas? Anyone experienced this on their razor?

Thank you!

 

[Car Wash Man]

Is the belt slipping, can you notice it getting loose at all? Any chance you could shoot a video of what's going on?

 

[Waxman]

it does seem like the belt is slipping, hence the squealing noise i described.

i will try and get video.

 

[HeyVern]

Could also be a bad bearing squealing

 

[Car Wash Man]

Yeah bad bearing could be a possibility with the extra friction its causing it to slow down. We have the exact same pump at our location but ours has been pretty bullet proof.

 

[TMoliver]

If the unloader is not responding fast enough the pressure could be spiking as well. This could overload the pump and motor and the squealing can be the belts, NP flowing through the unloader or a motor bearing. Just a direction to look.

 

[water guy]

Belt slipping

 

[Waxman]

I'm going to try tightening the belt again. The first time I tightened it I didn't loosen up the motor bolts first I just cranked the nuts on the threaded rods at the bottom of the pump stand.

 

[traveler17]

I had the same exact issue w vector. Didn’t help when I tightened belt. Replaced the belt and went away

 

[Waxman]

yes I'm also going to clean the pulleys really well when I do my next attempt at tightening the belt. Maybe early Saturday morning not sure yet.

 

[water guy]

Thinking about going with a cog belt

 

[ShinePro]

Fyi
I have a neighbor with a Razor 4
New last may 2023
Belt was doing exactly what you are describing here.
When I went to work on his wash.
I determined that the belt had been slipping so much that it needed replaced
We tightened it up and was better for a while. But quickly started again.
Of course there was a hand full of rubber filings from the belt inside the cover.
We ordered a new belt and we are paying closer attention to this one.

 

[ShinePro]

Thinking about going with a cog belt

RBX67

 

[Waxman]

Update

Tightened belt properly; slowdown and squeal gone.

Thanks for the great advice!