I would agree with FIRST that this is probably the best kit of parts ever. The motors were greatly improved this year.
The Van Door motor is back! Anyone who participated before last year will recognize them.
The drill motor is larger and more robust. This will hopefully mean fewer blown drill transmissions:D .
Some of you might have overlooked this, but the Atwood motors finally have a real output shaft! No longer do we have to work with that impossible to match set of tapered gears.
The change I was most relieved to see was a different circuit breaker. This one seems more like a switch rated breaker and seems less likely to trip in a hard collision.
Score!! Those 40A breakers will be a help but of course we will find a way to blow the breakers!
Those Van door motors will be a big help this year and the new parts for the atwoods will help. Of course our tranny did not need them, we won the Brunswick Eruption speed contest thanks to our tranny!
Fear our Tranny!
My team isnt opening the kits till tomorrow b/c we didnt have time, so i was wondering if anyone got a chance to take the new drill motors apart? easier, hard, same?
Hi All,
There are big changes in the kit this year and I will reserve judgement for a few more weeks. However, things look very nice on what I have seen so far. The new drill motors look more robust, have larger brush assemblies that can be soldered directly to, but are more open to the elements (i.e. shavings and dropped hardware.) The 120 amp circuit breaker has actual mounting holes, large attachment bolts and at least appear to be less sensitive to shock. Don’t let the 120 amp rating fool you, though. I predict if you had problems with high currents that tripped last year’s breaker, you will still have problems this year. 40 amp circuit breakers for only four of the motors through the use of a larger, prewired, circuit breaker block. Again, don’t expect this to fix high drive current problems. Finally, there is a smaller light assembly, but do not have specs on this part yet. Lot’s of other improvements as well as an interesting game.
*Originally posted by sanddrag *
**The old bosch trannies had 3 planetary gears in each set. These new ones have 5! The shifter is way better too.
Does anyone know if the ring gears are plastic still or metal for the new ones? **
I noticed the 5 gears too. If the ring is still plastic it has to be tougher because of the demands of a drill like that. Although metal would still be preferable.
