Quote:
Originally Posted by Oblarg
I have never, ever, ever seen a HTD belt come off of a sprocket, no matter how hastily or imprecisely-assembled. I've used quite a few HTD belts. I've seen sprockets buck chain regularly for my entire experience in FRC. So I think we'll just have to disagree here.
You're correct here, I meant to edit that out of my post but you responded first.
Not by any appreciable amount in any drive I've worked with.
It seems we've had different experiences. It'd be nice to know what we've been doing differently, since I've never ratcheted a belt nor have had one snap in competition, but have thrown plenty of chains (due to misalignment, bad masterlinks, and other causes).
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Our team has never used belts in a drive system, but we've always used chains. Our experience is that chain issues are mainly caused by stuff getting stuck in the chains or the sprockets, or the sprockets being bent or misaligned (located incorrectly axially on the shaft, not C-C being wrong).
From my point of view, chains are little better for center to center, as they do actually work if they're too tight, or too loose. That said, it's not that difficult to get the center to center correct on either, so it's not that much of a benefit.
I think a disadvantage of belts is that it's tricky to get a center to center close to what you want. With half links on chains, you can get tons of different chain lengths, but it's difficult to find belts with strange numbers of teeth.
Chains are also absolutely terrifying at 5,000 rpm, and belts aren't great for higher torque.