I have a some neo motors that have cut shafts. Can they get replaced with new shafts, and what shafts do I need for these motors?
Unlike Falcon 500s, Rev NEO motors do not have replaceable shafts.
Is there any way to make them longer?
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Not legally. They will likely work well in a versa planetary and possibly other gearboxs with a short shaft,
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We cut out NEO shafts like that to fit in a VersaPlanetary gearbox. I think that’s probably why they were cut in the first place. Either way, that’s rlly the only use you have for them.
Iirc they can be replaced? It’s been a while but a few years ago I stripped two motors with opposite issues -melted windings and gooked up magnets, and a galled shaft- and was able to mix and match the parts. I want to say the shaft is just pressed into the rotor. You probably shouldn’t do that but it’s not impossible.
Might also be possible to swap the complete rotor assembly, that’s definitely a doable job. I’m not sure if those are paired to a specific stator though.
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They can be replaced. Replacing the shaft is not too difficult. To do this, remove the spring clip that is around the shaft on top and remove the three small screws around the outside. Then remove the outer casing and pull the bell off. That is where the shaft connects. There are 2 small set screws that hold the shaft on the bell as well as a firm press fit. You are going to need something like an arbor press or a vice to press the shaft out. It slides out the front. Now, finding a new shaft is the tricky part because to my knowledge, REV does not sell individual parts for the Neo to service it. I’d imaging its because FIRST has some pretty strict rules when it comes to opening up electronics. But in my unimportant opinion, This is a maintenance procedure and serves no added performance benefit.
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This is pretty firmly in the repair exemption to the rules on modifying motors IMO. You’ve installed a replacement shaft without changing the “performance and specifications” of the motor. I would hope no inspectors would fail a team for fixing something that they already had instead of paying $50 for a new motor and leaving the old motor as e-waste.
As for why REV doesn’t sell replacement shafts, I suspect it might not be viable for them to stock them between them taking space in the warehouse, having to order a run separate from the motors themselves, and having to provide support for shaft replacement instead of leaving the end users to just deal with it. At this point, there also isn’t as much utility for replacement shafts anyway since modern gearboxes (Sport, MaxPlanetary) are designed around not having to cut down the shaft.
As someone who has taken apart many neos to add press fit pinions or on one occasion shift the shaft of a motor whose shaft was miss aligned with the armature, taking the can (bell) off a Neo is not an easy task. We bought a hex key specifically recommended for removing those tiny screws and at least 80% of the motors we disassembled had at least 1 screw strip and get drilled/ground off. It’s totalLu possible to take apart a Neo, but having a pair of mentors with engineering degrees and 15 years of FRC build experience still resulted in a very high damage rate for my team. We have run the motors without all their cover screws on competition robots without issues though.
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Perhaps these could be used with the input andoutput stages of the MAX planerary kit with no gear modules? One of the challenges we face is putting a hex shaft intended as direct drive NEO. The base kit input and output stages marry up alright but the NEO motor shaft is too long. A short shaft may do the trick…
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