DISCONTINUED: Bane Bots RS-550 Planetary Gearmotors

[Ice Berg]

Last year, my team used a Bane Bots RS-550 planetary gearmotor (256:1) to power the main joint on our arm. We used the same motor and gearbox all season and they took a huge beating. I was looking on the banebots website, and they've discontinued the most powerful line of gearmotors:

http://banebots.com/pc/MP-42nnn-550/MP-42256-550

I would love to be able to use these gearmotors, or analogous ones this season, so I was wondering if anyone had any info one when banebots would get these back, or had any suggestions on replacements.

[BJT]

well, maybe that motor isn't in the kit and it doesn't matter.

[Stuart]

Im willing to bet the motor not in the kit . . just have that feeling.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Ice Berg

Last year, my team used a Bane Bots RS-550 planetary gearmotor (256:1) to power the main joint on our arm. We used the same motor and gearbox all season and they took a huge beating. I was looking on the banebots website, and they've discontinued the most powerful line of gearmotors:

http://banebots.com/pc/MP-42nnn-550/MP-42256-550

I would love to be able to use these gearmotors, or analogous ones this season, so I was wondering if anyone had any info one when banebots would get these back, or had any suggestions on replacements.

Wow, that motor probably isn't in the kit anymore. Thatz what Bill proabably meant. The CIMs are staying but the Rs-550's are going away. Man that motor was powerful. Eh, atleast AndyMark is coming out with some solid Planetary's. Only a speculation, but it might just be true.

[MrForbes]

The motors are not being discontinued. They are redoing the gearboxes.

In the past, you could use the kit Banebots motors with whatever gearboxes you wanted.

The sky is not falling...yet...wait two weeks and we'll know for sure!

[Jonathan Norris]

Originally Posted by squirrel

The motors are not being discontinued. They are redoing the gearboxes.

In the past, you could use the kit Banebots motors with whatever gearboxes you wanted.

The sky is not falling...yet...wait two weeks and we'll know for sure!

and it looks like this time they will not be made in Colorado... not Asia like the last ones... I had some bad experiences with these gearboxes back in 2007, the quality of the materials used was atrocious for a gearbox with such a high reduction. I have hope we could see usable high-reduction planetary gearboxes from BaneBots in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by Jonathan Norris

and it looks like this time they will not be made in Colorado... not Asia like the last ones... I had some bad experiences with these gearboxes back in 2007, the quality of the materials used was atrocious for a gearbox with such a high reduction. I have hope we could see usable high-reduction planetary gearboxes from BaneBots in the future, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think everyone had that experience, we had to take other teams broken gearboxes and then we mix & matched to make ours work. The single CIM gearboxes worked fine though. The dual CIM ones did not work so good.

[EricVicenti]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Wow, that motor probably isn't in the kit anymore. Thatz what Bill proabably meant. The CIMs are staying but the Rs-550's are going away. Man that motor was powerful. Eh, atleast AndyMark is coming out with some solid Planetary's. Only a speculation, but it might just be true.

What Bill meant by what? What are you referring to?

[AdamHeard]

These gearboxes can take any 540/550 sized motor (sometimes a little modification is required if the shaft is too long).

Banebots discontinued the current line, but has an improved line they plan to release before this season, this was confirmed by phone last week.

I'd recommend thoroughly testing the new ones before planning on using them.

[R.C.]

Originally Posted by AdamHeard

These gearboxes can take any 540/550 sized motor (sometimes a little modification is required if the shaft is too long).

Banebots discontinued the current line, but has an improved line they plan to release before this season, this was confirmed by phone last week.

I'd recommend thoroughly testing the new ones before planning on using them.

Adam I am pretty sure the reason why they made a new line was due to the problems. Also as Cory pointed out in another point they used cheap parts. But i would test them.

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by rc_cola1323

Adam I am pretty sure the reason why they made a new line was due to the problems. Also as Cory pointed out in another point they used cheap parts. But i would test them.

Banebots hasn't publicly said that (I think), but I'd venture to say the same thing.

I've used many of the gearboxes in many applications, and the originals were terrible quality; terrible screws, terrible casting on the plates (often there were pockets in it), holes not always tapped correctly, etc...

I hope the new line is substantially improved and reliable, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I'll wait and see.

[Travis Hoffman]

They've got a message posted to their site RE: availability of new 42mm transmissions.

http://banebots.com/

I wouldn't fully trust that 1/10 availability (they don't either, yet) - they are at the mercy of their tooling suppliers. But it does look like they should be available sometime during build season.