This is something I came across several times on a variety of sites:
For ex: https://www.diamondchain.com/understanding-wear-life/
Now, if a so called "preload" is executed, of which is claimed that it prevents that initial significant elongation at start up, then such a "preloaded" chain would already start "eating" sprocket teeth from the very beginning.
What's the benefit then?
For ex: https://www.diamondchain.com/understanding-wear-life/
I don't get this. As stated in this same article: elongation occurs due to wear of certain chain components. Elongation means an increase in pitch, making it bigger than the pitch of sprocket teeth, causing the teeth to wear off to the increased pitch.After assembly, Diamond applies an initial load to the chains, called preload. This preloading approximates the recommended maximum loading in service. Preloading can be done either statically or dynamically. Preloading is done as a final alignment of the various chain components such as pins, bushings and link plates.
Preload Applied Preloading helps to greatly eliminate the initial elongation often found in lower quality chains. Elimination of this initial elongation can increase usable service life. The Preload chart (Fig. 4) illustrates the benefits of preloading by gaining additional wear life. The chain that has no or little preload applied will experience a significant amount of elongation during initial start-up of the drive before leveling off. The chain will then elongate at a steady rate until the case hardness on the wear components is gone and the chain experiences rapid elongation. The Diamond chain that has been properly preloaded has very little elongation during initial start-up, which ultimately results in additional wear life.
Now, if a so called "preload" is executed, of which is claimed that it prevents that initial significant elongation at start up, then such a "preloaded" chain would already start "eating" sprocket teeth from the very beginning.
What's the benefit then?