Master Links

[Madison]

Originally Posted by imdunne8

Our team is having a dilemma over the strength/durability of master links. Please tell me about any good or bad experiences you have had using master links.

What are your alternatives?

[gurellia53]

Originally Posted by M. Krass

What are your alternatives?

Assemble the chain without a master link by using normal links. I have been working on other parts of the robot, but somehow we were able to push the pins through on normal chain links.

Some people on our team do not like master links for whatever reason and insist on not using them, but it seems impractical to not use them.

[IndySam]

4 years of FIRST and I have never had a master link fail. Properly installed they are not any problem.

[ducttapedude]

Originally Posted by IndySam

4 years of FIRST and I have never had a master link fail. Properly installed they are not any problem.

That depends on the situation and the size of the chain.
There are also different quality/materials used in making master links.

If the chain isn't twisted at all, master links should hold up fine, but we all know in competition things can happen that aren't supposed to be possible.

I know there are some chain breakers that push the pins back into the chain avoiding the use of a master link but a regular chain break and a master link usually holds up just fine.

[Fred Sayre]

Originally Posted by gurellia53

Assemble the chain without a master link by using normal links. I have been working on other parts of the robot, but somehow we were able to push the pins through on normal chain links.

Some people on our team do not like master links for whatever reason and insist on not using them, but it seems impractical to not use them.

Seriously?! I have serious doubts that the strength of a chain that has been broken and reassembled with the same pin/links would be anywhere near as strong as a master link. As soon as you pop that pin through I imagine you are not going to ever get the same fit as the pin has when the chain is first manufactured/assembled. Maybe (maybe) if you had a technique to expand the ends of the pin to re-fix them to the outer plates of the chain, but even then I am skeptical.

I would be very curious to hear an explanation of how/why people are not using master links. I think it might be in your best interest to investigate how the chain is installed on your machine if no master links were used