Banebots 42mm gearbox: Recommendations for use

[Kit Gerhart]

Originally Posted by ZZII 527

That really, really stinks. I have been pulling for these little gearboxes, but I haven't heard any good stories recently. Could you elaborate on the nature of the failure? (Was it the double-D, the twising, the shearing of gear teeth, or all of the above?) My current thinking is that we will continue to use the softer-than-usual plates and just monitor the backlash carefully. At least it is a slow failure mode and I have an idea of how much the plates can handle. If I put in harder ones, it may just doom the next weakest link, whatever that is. Sigh...

Our initial problem with the 256:1 BB was with the double D. We then made an output shaft out of one piece of steel and pressed in the original pins. The pins broke. I think we also lost a gear tooth or two. The bottom line is that the F/P is a powerful little motor, and when you multiply its torque by 256, it is way too much for that little planetary.

We are using the 64:1, 36mm BB's for our roller gripper with no problem, and I suspect the single- or two-stage 42mm would be ok with the Fisher Price, at least if you limit shock load.