Introduction to a Digital Belt Tension Gauge.

Since I have more or less been doing full car maintenance on my own, I always wanted a digital belt tension gauge to make sure my accessories belts were installed properly. Along comes the landtek btt2880 I saw on Amazon for less than 300usd. It comes in an attractive case. I actually put my digital Torque meter in there too.

I bought it and prior to use on my car I decided to publish this small instructable on my first time use.

The meter is actually a load cell mounted on a beam between two fixed supports. Originally it has exposed wiring to the load cell which I suspected can be damaged during handling or use. I put silicone to protect the wiring and not on the load cell beam. I felt I needed protection on my investment.

Step 1: Measuring Tension on a Steel Cable.

My home automation system has I/O interface to my dog feeder. This feeder is suspended from my garage via a steel cable. As a first ever test I measured the cable tension when the was feeder 3/4 full and then completely full. Those are the measurements I got.

The instruction manual has detailed how to calibrate the meter so currently I don't know how accurate the readings are. However I prefer this meter over those analog ones. In the future I will perform a calibration procedure.

Soon I will test on my car belts and publish those findings. Stay tuned!