My teams lift has some wiggle in the gears, we cant get our lift to stay in the same spot without it sagging. We switched to HS axles thinking it would help, but it still doesnt.
Do you use shaft collars to hold them in place? Or do you have them tightly fitted with nylon spacers?
Also are you talking about up and down slop or side to side?
Hint: lock bar…
(20char)
Edit: old, but still relevant thread…
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like up down and we use spacers.
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Ok I feel really stupid asking this but what exactly is lock bar?
Can we see some pictures? Make sure both ends of each shaft/screw is secured to the structure.
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https://store.robotmesh.com/vex-robotics/structure/vex-drive-shaft-bar-lock-8-pack
There is some wiggle in gears and metal with traditional securing methods, so people use these to ensure there’s no wiggle room
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Are you using a bearing flat anytime your shaft goes through a piece of metal?
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Another idea to think about is restricting the number of gears you use to the bare minimum required. The fewer gears meshing, the fewer instances for slop. I recommend using screw joints whenever possible, as well as making sure your bearing flats are present and screwed on tight. I’d also make sure none of your gears are missing any teeth, and consider screwing on lockbars to some of your larger gears.
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For high strength shafts, you’ll need high strength lockbars. https://www.robosource.net/38-high-strength-lock-bars-1x1-angle
These are also good to reinforce gears so that the hubs don’t break.