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The boxes work well with one exception. The worm is a press fit on its hex shaft and can work loose and slide back and forth. This generates quit a bit of backlash in the box. Additionall when the worm has moved all the way to the side, not its intended position, very few teeth on the big gear are engaged. I'm sure this impacts the maximim torque capacity although we never broke one. Once we observed this problem our solution was to machine a custom spacer to keep the worm properly centered on the big gear. This spacer should be a part of the kit.
'My main issue with this gearbox is the two bottom mounting holes which are impossible to work with.'
5 Stars
I am usually satisfied with Andy Mark parts, but after using this gearbox in competition this year, and after hearing other horror stories from fellow FRC teams, I would highly recommend not buying this product. The Wormbox is made of nylon and aluminum. Lightweight - yes. However, this product is made of such non-substantial materials that it really should not be used to provide even modest torque to a robotic part. This year we replaced the nylon gear THREE times in two competitions, as the tension pins that transmit torque to the shaft tore right through the weak plastic. What's more, there is plenty of play in the Wormbox, and it should never be used on a part that needs to be rotated to a precise angle. Finally, this lightweight gearbox is a surprising $120.00. This is simply outrageous, considering the cheap material composition and relatively simple design. Overall, the Wormbox is incredibly unreliable for most robotics applications, and is handsomely overpriced.
We are sorry this gearbox did not work for your application. The intent of this gearbox is that it is a light, quiet, low torque gearbox.
Alot stronger than I thought it would be. Smooth running.