Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Hi.
We are having trouble with binding in one of our AndyMark Toughbox transmissions supplied with the 2008 KOP.

It looks like once per revolution of one of the big gears, it is very hard to turn by hand, and if run under motor power, makes a hideous noise.

Hard to say for sure, but it looks like the gear might be eccentric.

Anyone else having problems like that?

Thanks,
David Fort
Team 1001
Rockwell Automation

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

oooh yes, ours is as well..... one of the gears has a ton of play in it............ we even tested ours with a cordless drill, just stuck the shaft into a drill and spun it up, it binded right up..

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

We had a tight spot on one of our transmissions. Try to see if there is a burr on the gear that needs to be filed down. Also remember to put grease in them. It makes them a lot quieter.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Likely Problems

1) You assembled it wrong.
2) You tightened the bolts too much.
3) You tightened some of the bolts more than others (Anyone who works on cars knows why this is a problem)
4)There is no problem. Spur gears are just really noise, put some grease on them and hook up the CIM, a little wear will break them in.

I had trouble turning the toughboxes by hand the first time we assembled ours. After we ran them a little bit with some white lithium grease they worked just fine.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Are you certain that the little raised parts on the gear faces face the bearings? That is rather important bit that could cause this behavior and is easy to miss.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

does the fact that the boxes aren't square bother anyone else?

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

What do you mean they're not square?

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

ours ended in the scrap pile within two days, on one of them the hole was not big enough for the bearing, and it had to be reamed out a bit. A really shotty part for an expensive KOP.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

measure each corner. Ours weren't the same. it was cut at a slight angle and just sanded down.

we also had to drill holes in one bigger, and the other didn't even have them.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

You do know the bearings are supposed to be press fitted in? And if it's such a shoddy part, then please post something that YOU have designed and made that costs less, weighs less, and is more reliable then this gearbox. This is a challenge I'm confident cannot be done by most FIRST teams.

[/rant about teams complaining about such an awesome piece of the KOP]

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Banebot has a problem with their transmissions. The tolerances are off... Sometimes the motor shaft pushes up against the case of the transmission... I have 4 and two of these have that problem. I put a small washer on all 4 screw between the motors and the transmissions. It backs the motor shaft back just a bit but that's all it needs. This creates a gap around the motor to transmission joint, but I can tape that and the unit runs smoothly. If that's not for you, you can try making a spacer gasket with just thick cardboard.
I've done both and they've worked perfectly. I went to the washer because... I'm Lazy... It's a gift. (If you want to find the most efficient way to do something... put your laziest person on it.)

Hope this helps

Steve

(Some of you sound like you might have a different issue... but look in the transmission and see if you are getting small metal pieces or scratches on the inside of the transmission. either of these is the spacing problem. I've worked with 8 Banebot transmissions and this is the only problem but it's a darned consistent one!)

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

I don't think we got the Banebots gearboxes in the kit this year... just FYI....

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Oh My mistake... Don't know about the New Andy Mark transmissions, but the older ones... well you just had to hold your mouth right to assemble them... and use a lot of grease.

Steve

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

Yep. The Banebots, once working, were awesome. I'm excited to see how the Toughbox performs on the field. All of our shop tests indicate it to be a very strong system.

Re: Binding AndyMark Toughbox transmission?
 

an 1/8" too small is a little more then press fit. It sounds like some are great, but others just were not done right at all (like the one with no holes). Looks like a good design, but a little more QC could go a long ways. It is not an issue for our team seeing as we are not using them anyway.