My Carriage belt needs to be replaced, its not possible to tighten it anymore. There is no problem most of the time but on full speed with a lot of details it jumps out of its positioning which causes things to not align. So I can just slow it down, but of course I want it to work. A new belt costs 30 dollars but shipping is 180 dollars! Have anyone found a cheaper option? Or should I just try to think of a friend living in the US that could bring it back at some point?
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How so? It’s a belt, I was under the impression that you could just yank it tighter. I’ve never had to tighten mine so I don’t know what I’m talking about.
You might find this useful:
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Unless it was damaged in a fire, it shouldn’t need replacing, just tightening.
The belt isn’t a loop of specific length, it’s a strip with both ends clamped at the carriage plate. I’d be surprised if that wasn’t available in Europe.
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You can just take it off, cut of a tooth, and reinstall.
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Yep, an easy fix. Unlike glowforge shipping cost which have always seemed out of alignment
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The popular YouTube / Facebook advice for removing the carriage plate now has people loosening the pulley that holds the belt, instead of working it off the way the support site says to do it. I’m seeing a LOT of issues out there with improper belt tensioning and issues with the pulleys as a result of this, but every time I’ve tried to speak up about it on FB I’ve gotten slapped down by the “experts,” so I’ve given up.
But yeah, none of us “oldies” here seem to have run into this issue. 
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That would be amazing! Have you done it?
easy fix as cutting away a tooth?
I had never removed it until a glowforge staff asked me to tighten it due to the issue I had. I did it according to videos they sent me. It felt like I couldn’t tighten it more but I figured I was maybe wrong and had tightened it even though it didn’t feel like it. The issue only appears at full speed of small paths so I don’t notice it all the time. I realised the issue wasn’t resolved and took a closer look underneath and saw that the wheels adjustability gap was already fully used. That’s why I guess I needed another fix… If I did it wrong or not I don’t know and at this point the only thing I care about is fixing it (and maybe not repeating the same wrongful handling if it now was my fault).
tightening as cutting a tooth? Because the wheel doesn’t go further to the right.
I thought I replied to you but I see I replied to @evansd2 . When I went back to my old post ´lots of tiny circles see you replied me then. It basically the same issue and me been working around the issue for 2 yrs. I did every step they asked me to do and the wheel under is not as far to the right as it goes. I figured I needed a new one but maybe there is a way of just cutting a tooth as I was replied here. I’m slightly worried of doing something that would affect ALL cuts of my glowforge though…
No. My belt never needed any adjustment in over 5 years. I never removed except once early on (following their instructions to just roll it on/off the pulley) to see how simple it was after a lot of complaints. The belt tensioner was never touched.
ok but then I might not dare to do it… Don’t wanna break something that overall is working.
I’ve never messed with my belt tension, so I don’t really know…the belt itself isn’t an unusual type though. You should be able to buy a length of it somewhere, and then if your experimenting doesn’t work at least you have a spare. I sure hope you can get it figured out!
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I think your best bet would be to slow your score speeds down if that is when you get the jumping and misalignment. I have never loosened my pulley wheel as I remove the belt by sliding it off. Here is a photo of my pulley wheel that has never been moved for your reference.
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Yes I see, it looks pretty much as mine I think. Both before trying to tighten it and afterwords. I still don’t know for sure its the belt causing the error but after a looong thread of checking stuff out with @MorganW, @MarcM, @BrandonB and MikeD that was their last conclusion. I´ll stick with a slower pace then.
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