All the time I have to throw away chain links because they break and they are cheap. Sometimes they are a pain to use because after time they stretch out and have to be replaced, or a link has to be taken out. I want to propose that VEX should make steel or aluminum chain links to help the life span of the chain. The steel chain wouldn’t stretch as easily, wouldn’t break, and would last longer. Any thoughts?
The only problem is that any steel chain is usually greasy…
The reason they don’t do that is for a reason you said, the current chain is cheap. It would probably be a lot cheaper to buy replacement chain than to buy steel and aluminum chain. Not to mention the weight difference of metal chain.
In terms of weight. The VEX chain doesn’t have any issue. If you abuse the chain it might break but that is true of literally anything. Chain is really not that difficult to use correctly but if you try to apply a load perpendicular to the chain it will probably snap.
Metal chain would require actual tools when the current situation doesn’t require them. Would be more expensive and weigh more so few people would purchase them.
If you are transfering so much load that the chain can’t handle it double up the chain.
I do have to agree that aluminum chain would be nice. On the other hand, tabor473 is quite correct. The hassle of having to use tools along with the expense means we won’t be seeing it any time soon. If ever.
One of the major drawbacks from having aluminum chain links would be the amount of friction that is generated between each individual link. Imagine the horrible heat and sound that would be generated by the chain as it passed around a sprocket. After enough motion, it could potentially warp the chain or the sprocket with the heat that it generates. In order to keep it running smoothly, you would need to use grease or oil based lubricants, which, if memory serves, are not Vex legal. I would say that there won’t be any release of metallic chain, both because of cost and inefficiency.
I agree the weight of the chains would be impossible for scissor lift. For a robot to hold 3 cubes on a scissor lift it takes allot of tension and at least 4 motors ratioed down. So with aluminum, this would be almost impossible.