Problems Ordering Pistons

[kmcclary]

Originally Posted by fatjoe3833

Our team ordered our three free pistons from the Bimba website two weeks ago. We have not yet received our pistons and decided to call Bimba today. The representative told us that there was no record of our order. We inquired about ordering pistons over the phone and was told that we must use the website. We tried to order again and still have not received an acknowledgment of our order. Now we have to scramble to finish our robot without these pistons.

Have any other teams experienced similar problems?

No. We received our pistons just fine.

Some suggesions, and notes:

1) The website order only generates an email to their order department. They still have to enter the order into their system on the next business day.

2) You can use the order tracking link above to verify it was entered into their order system in a timely manner. Use your team number as the PO number, and the Ship-To zipcode you gave them at the time of ordering for the zip verification entry.

3) IMPORTANT: If you do NOT specify "overnight" shipping (and give a billing account), it ships via ground. This can take quite a while to arrive, so I highly recommend providing an account. Note that given a credit card, you can CREATE a FedEx billing account on the spot via the web, and then immediately use it for this purpose.

4) Please note that BIMBA does NOT stock cylinders! When you enter an order, it goes into their manufacturing queue! Therefore, even if you specificed "overnight", it can still take a couple of days for it to be made, THEN it ships overnight. (The alternative is them to take a few days to make it and then it goes via GROUND, so don't think "overnight" is a waste!)

This year, we found Bimba's backlog during the build ran between 1 & 3 days, so most of my teams had their "overnight" cylinders within four days from data entry. IMO, that's not too bad of a response for a manufacturing-to-order operation!

5) IF you need it sooner than that, AFAICD your only option is to find a local Bimba Stocking Distributor (use their site to locate one near you), and PAY for one. Note though that the larger cylinders aren't cheap! AND, you have to be sure that it is EXACTLY the same part nuimber as listed in the back of the 2007 FIRST Pneumatics Manual, or you can't use it!

(It MUST be one or more of: [M]-04xx-DP, [M]-17xx-DP, [M]-31xx-DXP, or PT-017090–[M], where xx is one of the OFFERED stroke lengths on the coupon, and [M] is the optional "Magnetic" version of the part number. There's a maximum of ONE "PT" rotary cylinder per order, and it MUST be that EXACT part number.)

6) When ordering EXTRA cylinders (beyond the three free "coupon cylinders"), don't forget to also order the matching clevis & pivot brackets (and sensors if magnetic)! The three free cylinders provided to FIRST teams INCLUDE those accessories, but any extra ones ordered DO NOT. You have to order, and pay for them as well. (Teams often forget about that!)

Personally, I'd wait for the free ones.

-----

Here's some "cylinder substitute" tricks I've used over the years, while waiting for our cylinder order to arrive:

A) A slotted 2x2 (ripped from a 2x4) and a dowel, with hose clamps to keep the dowel in the slot. Cross drill holes in the far ends, and use nails or screws as a "pivot" and "clevis pin".

B) Drill a long hole down a ripped down 2x4, and slide the dowel into it (it helps if you have a long "wall penetrating" wood auger bit, or a drill bit extender in your toolbox... I like slotting better - more accurate).

C) Cut up and use a pair of cheap yardsticks, with holes drilled in the ends of them. Use Zip Tie loops to hold them together.

D) make a clip pair for a retractable steel tape rule. Something pivots the tape rule case, and the "extendable part" is your "piston". Tape it to the thing you're actuating, and you get measurements as it moves, to help you select the right cylinder!

E) Three dowels of same size - two are hotglued (or normal glued) together to form the "body", and the third slides along them. A short chunk of dowel is added as a "stop" on the bottom end. Loose zip ties hold the third dowel in the "track" formed by the other two.

7) Two scraps of aluminum tubing (or box channel, tubing + dowel, etc) - anything, as long as they can nest into each other.

What I use to simulate a cylinder is highly dependent on what I find in my "junk box" today... (I'm sure you can come up with more...) The key though is anything that can slide across another, and cross holes for pinning it to whatever mechanism normally takes the cylinder.

I hope this helps!

- Keith McClary
Chief Engineer, Team 1502 "Technical Difficulties"