Sonic Shifter - recent feedback?

[aldaeron]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

BoilerMentor,
Also, a cantilevered shaft with the proper bearing spacing behind it is a perfectly legitimate design strategy especially with the cantilevered gear so close to the external bearing face.

It is a legitimate approach, but will have more deflection than if the end of the shaft were supported. Is the difference in deflection sufficient to cause a problem? Sounds like it was in a few cases.

Based on your reply (and the comparison here) it sounds like there were a lot of design changes in the v2 Ball Shifter Shaft. Under what circumstances do you recommend teams replace this shaft? We just bought the upgrade, but have not installed it.

[Paul Copioli]

Originally Posted by aldaeron

It is a legitimate approach, but will have more deflection than if the end of the shaft were supported. Is the difference in deflection sufficient to cause a problem? Sounds like it was in a few cases.

Based on your reply (and the comparison here) it sounds like there were a lot of design changes in the v2 Ball Shifter Shaft. Under what circumstances do you recommend teams replace this shaft? We just bought the upgrade, but have not installed it.

I would use the upgrade. The upgraded shafts are much better and allow for the use of the ThunderHex bearing without any additional machining.

By my math, the deflection difference is not enough to cause their problem. I believe it was related to a loose fit between the hex and shifter shaft in the v1 version of the ball shifter shaft combined with their increased load case.

[waialua359]

Originally Posted by Paul Copioli

I would use the upgrade. The upgraded shafts are much better and allow for the use of the ThunderHex bearing without any additional machining.

By my math, the deflection difference is not enough to cause their problem. I believe it was related to a loose fit between the hex and shifter shaft in the v1 version of the ball shifter shaft combined with their increased load case.

I bought several v1 Ball Shifters Transmissions when they first came out which are still unopened. We have yet to use them in our drivetrains, and used some of them instead for other robot features such as our winch for the ball launcher in 2014.
I better have them checked to possibly get the upgraded shafts.