Quote:
Originally Posted by EnderWiggin
After seeing several threads on CD about the reliability of the carrier plates we called Banebots to see if we could return them. We were told that as long as we did not exceed 10 N of force on the gearboxes the carrier plates would not distort, and that if they did he would provide a full refund.
After mounting two (along with a gas spring) the carrier plates quickly distorted after regular use at 10 N. The gearboxes experienced no "shocking" due to the gas spring that was assisting.
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10 N with what moment arm? Or at what point in the gearbox? I would have guessed that they'd give you a torque specification, rather than a force specification. (Force times moment arm equals torque, which causes torsional stress, which breaks gearboxes.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by EnderWiggin
We called Banebots and they are refusing to provide us with a refund, saying that other teams are running them with loads in excess of 10 N. They obviously have no concept of customer service and were demanding that we sent them pictures of our robot to prove that we were using their gearboxes appropriately.
This is all after spending thousands of dollars at Banebots over the years and I'm happy to say they will never see any of our money again; and I'm hoping not through FIRST either.
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Didn't Joe Johnson report that BaneBots was out over $30 000 (USD) in dealing with this issue. It may not be great customer service from your point of view, but I can imagine that with unexpected short-term expenses like that, they're pretty exasperated about it as well. I'm not saying that you're wrong to stop dealing with them—indeed, that's what disgruntled customers are supposed to do—but it might be worth reconsidering the situation in a few months, after this issue has blown over, and everyone is under a little less pressure to perform (BaneBots and FIRST teams, alike).
My guess is, they want our business, and will know to perform and publish a more detailed engineering analysis for next time, to ease fears that this might reoccur.