The V-Wheels on my Farmbot Genesis v1.6 are degrading rapidly. It seems like every week I’m replacing one or two wheels. They crack and fall apart unexpectedly, and I’m trying to figure out the cause.
Here’s what I’ve ruled out:
No extreme environmental exposure: I live in Southern California, where the weather is consistent and mild.
Tracks are meticulously maintained: I keep them exceptionally clean.
Tension levels are optimal: There’s no excessive tension that could stress the wheels.
Tracks are aligned and leveled: The system is set up correctly, without any noticeable misalignment.
Minimal daily movement: The Farmbot’s daily operations are light, so wear from overuse doesn’t seem likely.
Given all this, I’m left to suspect that the material quality of the wheels might be subpar.
I’ve searched for solutions and insights but haven’t found any recent discussions on this issue.
What is a reasonable life expectancy for these wheels?
At $8 per wheel and with 30 wheels on a Farmbot, the cost of replacing them annually is significant. I’m hoping to find a more durable solution or at least understand if this level of wear is normal. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!
You are unfortunately not the first one to be having this problem. Some kits in the v1.6 and v1.7 production runs had V-wheels with too small of inner diameters. When the bearings were pressed in, internal cracks formed due to this tolerance error. These cracks are sometimes benign but in some cases can grow (especially with higher thermal expansion and contraction) until the wheel breaks apart. Here you can see the difference between a wheel with the correct inner diameter and one that was too small:
We have slightly revised the tolerance of this part to hopefully resolve the issue going forward, and just yesterday we received a new batch of 1,000 replacement wheels with the revised inner diameter. I have made a product on our online shop that you and others may use to order free replacements: V-Wheel (Free Replacement) — FarmBot Please inspect the wheels on your FarmBot for cracks like shown above and order as many replacement wheels as needed. If they are the only product in your cart they will be shipped for free.
