Our team has a slight problem. When we were testing our ball collector mechanism, we burned out the Banebots 550 running the collector. It was connected to a Banebots gearbox (1:16 gear reduction, I think). We kept the motor and gearbox off the robot so we could get a new motor and replace the motor and gearbox at our competition as part of our withholding allowance.
Now here’s our problem:
We got the motors yesterday, but they don’t have the drive gear on them (which is expected). We had another mentor that mentors for a few teams that we think was the one who attached the gear to the previous motor.
We want to know how you would attach the gear to the drive shaft. We can guess how, but we want to know how to do it correctly.
Use an arbor press or a good quality mill vise and press it on. Be sure it’s aligned and straight, and go slow. Also, be sure to support the back end of the motor shaft, so you are pushing through the shaft, rather than on the motor can or terminals.
If you have a gear puller and the gear is in good shape, you may be able to remove the pinion from the old 550 and reuse it. Just be careful not to damage the teeth in this process and you should be fine.
When I assembled our Banebots planetary to work with our Vexpro motors, I used a bench vice to attach the pinion gear onto the motor output shaft. Although I probably wouldn’t recommend a bench vice, if it’s what you have available, then it’s probably your best option. A arbor press is most likely the best method for a task such as this.
Remember when you’re pressing the gear onto the shaft that everything is level and straight, and that you are supporting the end shaft.
Just be careful you don’t press the pinion gear on too far, just put it on far enough so it’s fully on the shaft end, but not all the way down.
There’s a little video on a similar gearbox from banebots, I used it as a reference.
As for taking off the other gear, I would recommend a gear puller, or if you don’t have access, two screwdrivers to pry it off. Just be careful not to mess the gear teeth up.
Nothing wrong with using a bench vice, I’ve used one many times at competition when needed Of course, an arbor press is a much better tool to use when you have access to one!
Of course, an arbor press is a much better tool to use when you have access to one!