My team and I are currently trying to speed up our drive train which uses rear mounted motors with chain to drive the front. Our main issue is that each side is the exact same dimension-wise and the sections of chain are the same size but one side is looser than the other causing teeth to skip. Are there ways that I could fix/ troubleshoot this?
Send pictures we can’t help without
(Maybe code as well? Probably not that necessary though)
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Chain always has a constant battle with tension. Either it’s too loose and it skips or it’s too tight and will flex shafts or put a lot of drag on motors. The best solution to fix this problem is making what I call an active tensioner. This is a very simple build, you make a little level arm that pivots off your drivetrain on one end and on the other end of that lever it has an idler pulley. Make sure the idler is aligned with the chain and the pivot can move freely, next you need to tension that lever arm with a rubber band or even pneumatic piston is an option.
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That looks like you have quite a bit of slack and could remove a few links. Another option could be to run the bottom portion of the chain over that standoff across the middle. We use standoffs to add tension to the chains when removing links aren’t an option or if we have to run the chain through some weird angles.
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Run a 1x beam from the plate that holds the wheels to the one above it. then use a 3x or 4x standoff as a guide. The idea would be as the chain comes off the orange sprocket use the standoff about where your thumb is as a tension device to hold the chain down.
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I tried a simmilar method of tensioning chain and I had a large loss of torque.
@Vibots_702b , just make sure that the chain isn’t too tight when tensioning and watch the wrap angle of the sprockets (more about that here) Anyways, good luck!
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I’ve tried tensioning with support bars and removing links but even removing one link made it too tight and the bar got grounded down a little due to friction so we just fixed it by changing the motor location and drive train speed
If it’s too tight and creates too much friction that can happen. From your picture you have a gear on a shaft with lots of pieces, not just a single shaft. The OP was looking for a way to help tighten it and get some extra wrap to engage more teeth.
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