We are a group of students at a high school and we’re building an AL5D robot arm and the mechanical dampening panels happen to have very small holes. Our other class mates had small holes but were able to force a screw in. We tried to do the same thing and the hole was so small that the screw couldn’t go in all the way through and ended up breaking our screw. Is there anyway we can fix this problem? Or can we get new mechanical dampening panels?
The issue often comes up when the mini cutout for the end of the tapping screw is not aligned, or no pressure is applied. Note that it needs to be the tapping screw as opposed to the machine screw. There should be many spare tapping screws in the kit if you broke one. If the hole is too large now, you simple need to pierce two more and try again. Note that you need to remove the plastic sheet from either side of the black Lexan parts.
We bought 11 kits, I personally tried it in 10 and it worked in all except for this one part. Would it be possible for you guys to send us some spare parts free of charge? We have a growing program at my school and we will continue to buy kits from you guys in the future.
For parts like the Lexan, we can certainly include some spares in the next order. When you place your next order, feel free to first contact us via the support center and indicate if anything you have is not working correctly, or if there are some small items you’d like us to include (screws, nuts, etc). Larger items like servos or brackets will be determined case by case. We’re certainly here to help and support you and your school.
What can I do in the mean time? This is a Project Lead the Way project and we can’t wait until the next order. How would we be able to get our parts. I’m running a class and I need these robots running. This is a PLTW class and we need this robot done.
You should be able to use a really small drill to pierce new holes. You should have many spare screws in the kit.
The purpose of the screws is only to keep the two plates at the same height, so you are free to use other screws, provided they don’t protrude out the back and scratch the mating bracket.
Can you upload a photo or two showing the two Lexan parts?