I realized that most people have recommended that any sort of lift, especially a DR4B be rubber banded. But is such a connection prone to losing force over time? Such as how rubber bands loose tension over time. I’ve realized that in my past years of doing FLL, that when a system is rubberbanded that it makes the motors imprecise and requires constant tuning. Is it something which would have to be replaced frequently?
The rubber will of course lose tension over time as it is constantly being strained. That being said, I have rarely experienced a significant loss of tension with the exception of fresh rubber bands having much more tension than a rubber band that has been used for 5 minutes.
Most of it will depend on the type of rubber band you have as certain ones are simply not suited for VEX and lose tension over break incredibly quickly
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Do you simply use the rubber bands which Vex provides?
many people do, but you don’t have to.
Do they last longer, and more consistant with the amount of tension which they have over time?
That entirely depends what rubber bands you are comparing them to. Generally speaking, vex rubber bands are standard quality and you’d have to be getting bands advertised to be more consistent or stronger to really feel the difference. Do make sure whatever you buy fits the rules, as there is a section in the rules about rubber bands.
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Also keep in mind that rubber bands are cheap and disposable. Some teams will switch to fresh rubber bands before every match. This is a little excessive, and you probably won’t notice any difference in performance if you switch them every 5 matches but every match guarantees optimal elasticity.
Rubber bands are meant to boost performance, but make sure everything works without them. They can’t be relied upon to cover up shotty build quality or make up for excessive friction.
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