Major mechanical problems....

[quickie25]

Hello all,

Well here it is less than a week befire the ship date and we have everything done and completed....until last night. Our robot will not move more than 10 feet without blowing the 40 amp fuse to the drill motors. We worked throughout the night to try and find the problem to no avail. After continual testing with our trusty voltmeter we gave up and summized that somewhere along the way we must have gotten metal inside the motors and this was causing the brushes to arc and short out the motor. So we replaced our standard kit drivetrain powered with two drill motors and the standard gearbox to the CIM motors in the same standard kit gearbox configuration. Now we have great power and sustained voltage as long as the bot is off of the ground, but the minute we put it on the groud, we blow fuses again.

Now assuming that our problem is that the motors are being ask for too much power and are blowing fuses, should we assume that the problem lies within the gearbox and the transfer of power between the output (motor) shaft and the wheel shaft and try the CIMS in a direct drive config without a gearbox?

Maybe we are overthinking things in trying to solve the problem.

We are very interested in any opinions that anyone has on possible problems/solutions. We have everything wired correctly and in working electrical order.

Any information/suggestions are greatly appreciated,

Sincerely,

Team 1380 - The Steel Dragons