Belt vs. Chain

[slijin]

You should start by removing the extra links, as lemiant pointed out. Chain tensioners are to be added when you can't remove links any more.

Furthermore, changing between belts and chain does not change the load on the motor. Adding countering forces, such as springs or gas shocks are the kinds of things you want to add to reduce torque on the motor.

[sdcantrell56]

Originally Posted by emekablue

What about belts being used not for the drive, but for the arm. We have had quite the problem with tensioning our arm's chain (other tensioners are too large, and we have about an inch of slack), I think because we are over-torquing the motor. Will putting in belts help solve this problem? Or will a simple change in gear ratio do the trick?

Belts definitely won't help. Shorten the chain and use some counterbalancing to take load off the chain, either surgical tubing or gas strut.

[emekablue]

We did both of that probably during week 6. However we used bungee cords as our counter.