So our team was dealing with minor base problems due to unwanted friction that caused the PTC in our base motors to trip. We tried to find out what the problem was and we saw that due to VERY minor bearing misalignment, the shafts inside of the bearing started to rub at the inner holes in which the bearing was mounted. We were curious if anyone else experienced this. [attachment:56ce219602455]
Yes, we have experienced this. Once in Toss Up, we cut all the way through to the next hole down. After that year, we have used washers and nylock nuts to lock everything down that doesn’t need rapid dissasembly. While it makes building a little more time consuming, it helps keep everything together.
If it’s an axle with a high load on it, make sure the bearings are tightened down with screws on both sides of the axle and they shouldn’t move.
Do you see how at the bottom the axle cuts into to plate, but has space at the top? You can loosen the screws, push on the bearing to center it, and re-tighten the screws so that nothing touches the plates. That’s what we did and reduced a lot of friction from it.
Our team actually went ahead and did this to reduce the unnecessary friction. We saw minor bending in the shafts that were digging into the rim of the inner hole. The back side of the bearing actually had a silver tone due to the aluminum shavings staying on it. Expensive and bad paint job if you ask me.
I started to experience it on my flywheel. The bearings had worn down, gone out of alignment and had started squeaking, so luckily we stopped it before states. Just make sure while screwing in the bearing that the axle floats in the center of the square hole.