Today while cleaning out our work shop I came across some old VEX chain, I haven’t seen a tone of teams using it but its what were looking for for our bot. Its noticeably thinner than the other chain, way lighter, and so for our team it is looking very appealing. It is able to fit inside a C channel unlike the High Strength ones and it’s still legal. Considering what teams will do to remove weight and size I’m assuming there is something I’m missing. It seems sturdy enough for small transfers of speed, it doesn’t need to hold a ton of weight or anything its for a long distance transfer for our intake. If you guys have tried it before please lmk what I’m missing.
1 Like
While its size is definitely appealing I do think that 6p chain is the best compromise for strength, weight, and size. As long as you do double up the chain it will probably be fine. Anything other than that and I wouldn’t be too sure.
1 Like
By all means, test it and see if you can make it work. I would expect it to separate under a small load, especially something chaotic like an intake.
It needs to have a laser straight shot from sprocket to sprocket, any side twist and the links pop off.
I also recommend not using the 10T sprockets, it’s a pretty tight bend. The 15T are much better.
Lastly, it’s great for smooth loads like moving a ball up a ramp. Shock loads are not it’s forte, So if you are planning to reverse the chain to clear a stuck game element, it may not be a happy experience.
Back in the day we used to double these up (sprockets side by side with a spacer for clearance) to get enough strength to move objects. YMMV. (I am impressed they are in stock. A little appalled by the $30 price tag)
1 Like
Are you 100% sure that this is V5 parts or is it IQ because the IQ chains are lighter and smaller/thinner than the V5 I believe. I don’t entirely know but that is what I think.
But, if it is thinner, does it hold the weight of the ring?
I had a team try to use it years ago. They could not get it to stop breaking. Their build quality wasn’t the best, but it still seemed weak to the point of unusable.
Not sure I’d recommend using it to transfer motor power (this chain was designed long before V5 motors were a thing…its discontinued for a reason), but I’ve seen some teams use this effectively at transferring rotation from a wheel to an encoder for odometry.
4 Likes
Alright, thanks to all of you, I will do some testing and see if it fits my need, thanks again.