We need help cleaning our colsons. If you have an idea or a pre-existing method, please share.
Like a nice shower? Or maybe a deep cleanse with a facemask?
More seriously, I’ll assume you are talking about removing the film often left on wheels by the Fuel this year. Running the wheel at a low RPM and carefully pushing a paint scraper / flat blade against it has worked well for us. Just hold everything firmly and don’t push so hard that it cuts into the wheel.
I thought about placing a brush on the shooter so it’s barely touching the fly wheel so as the fly wheel is spinning it’s always cleaning. Somewhat of a self cleaning mechanism. Not sure how well it would work though.
Back in 2015, we used alcohol to clean up the colsons every few matches. I guess it was effective? I can’t recall too much, but it can’t hurt to try that for starters.
We’ve found that running the flywheels and briefly running a file on it will remove any residue, and make the wheels very grippy.
We use brake cleaner to clean our colsons wheels. You will want to use it in a well ventilated area. I would not recommend trying to use brake cleaner in a pit area. Many people find the smell objectionable.
Darrin
Programming Mentor
3452 GreengineerZ
Rubbing alcohol does the trick nicely. If that weird waxy coating shows up (e.g. from shooter wheels), use something like 120 grit sandpaper, carefully.
Will the rubbing alchol break down the film left from the balls this year?
We only tried this briefly but it does not dissolve the plastic from the balls. Most solvents that do will also damage the wheel. It does reduce dirt and dust from the surface which seems to make sanding off the plastic easier.
When sanding, go across the length of the wheel for best results (along the axis of rotation).
Our of curiosity, would anyone know if dirt/oil on drivetrain Colsons affects robot performance in a significant way? We have never really looked into cleaning our wheels.
Yes, especially on smooth surfaces (like last year’s outer works and batter). Less so on carpet, but it seems that most things which will stick to a wheel will reduce its CoF.