[Kevin Sevcik]

Just for reference, I'll relate our (on-going) experience with the BB trannies. We're using the FP 1:256 combo to lift our ramps. The peak load at the shaft runs about 250 in-lbs. For those at GLR, our ramps weren't working at all on Friday. They weren't put to use in the first two rounds, in the third round, they failed to work. After disassembly, one carrier was rounded, the other bowtied. Both binding because of it, both clearly showing the shaft was only half engaged. Our quick fix was to have the shaft TIG welded to the carrier. This actually worked surprisingly well, but the weld bead and alignment issues are too much of a concern to run with it permanently. For LSR, we've hardened* 2 more carriers and will machine the ring gear to improve engagement. All that said, I remain convinced that the actual lifting of the robots had less to do with the failure of the plates. My hypothesis is that, instead, the plates were initially damaged during systems integration when the lifts were being tested and were stalled several times. We'll know better after a full regional with the hardened plates and no stalling of the motors.

* This was a 1450*F soak for 30 min, a quench in warm brine, then an immediate temper at 900*F for 2 hours. I was working on the assumption that this was W1 as suggested by ZZII. Yes that's a really hot temper. The chart I found suggested that would give me RC 35-40. I'd really rather have another bowtie than a fracture. I'll be running them by a Rockwell tester on Monday so I'll update with what I've actually managed to do to them.