Basically I rebuild it with more backlash every two days and I get 10-20 miles before it starts heating up like crazy and more importantly it does not free spin nearly as long as the other one. The bearing(which you can see damage on) is making scratchy noises from time to time so I’m wondering if the bearing is blown and that’s what’s causing the heat?
The odd thing is that I can rebuild it and get it to spin with the same efficiency as the other gear drive, but after 10-20 miles it will start dragging on something, I’m not sure what, and the only solution I’ve found so far is to loosen the backlash(to the point of the photo seen which seems like way too much) but even running it like it shows in the photo, it had much MUCH more drag than the other wheel when both were free spinning, even after letting the drive cool down to room temp again.
Once the problem starts, it requires a rebuild. I JUST DONT KNOW!
I get that more information would help but I would give it if I had it.
I could probably start by learning how to check motor and VESC temps on the VESC app because I used to run METR but Im not sure my newest VESCs have METR because it won’t find a Bluetooth signal.
Anyway I know it’s overheating by feel. Every few miles I’ll check by touching both gear drive casings. Additionally, there is extra friction in the system causing one wheel to slow to a stop much faster than the other(while free spinning). So I figured it out by picking up my board and giving enough throttle to get the wheels spinning then watching one stop 1-2 seconds before the other.
I know it’s not the motors because when I take the casing off, the gear drive will run smoothly again.
Lastly I don’t really have symptoms to tell, I’m not sure what it’s supposed to sound like so I don’t know what noises are odd, I haven’t run the setup long enough to have any knowledge of when(specifically) on my ride the gear starts heating up excessively. And reality is that 10-20 miles after rebuilding my gear drive, it starts to build excessive friction in the drive.
The bearing runs freely, seems ok. BUT, it’s brand freaking new and is already making scratchy noises like it’s dried out. Best I can explain it, think about a regular skateboard bearing after 500 miles
The motor is heating up a little bit but not a noticeable problem, to me, it seems to clearly just be working harder to overcome the geardrive. Detection went fine.
The geardrive housing is heating up a LOT, whenever the issue returns, I keep speed slow, but the first time I discovered it, the drive was easily over 120F.
Kevin got back to me super quickly and we figured out that the O-rings are designed for the helical gears(I assume) when I have the strait cuts.
The O-ring I need has a circular cross section and I was sent square cross section rings. Surprisingly, one drive hasn’t had major issues(like the one in question), but Kevin said the square O-rings cause axial loading on the system and boom, that’s the issue!
Hopefully when those O rings arrive, I can report no more issues!!
