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  #1  
Old 05-31-2009, 09:10 AM
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Atomic High Precision Ball Differential

High Precision Ball Differential
DN-005
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Last edited by arch2b; 05-31-2009 at 09:18 AM.
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  #2  
Old 05-31-2009, 09:20 AM
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EGR MART (Atomic RC general online distribution shop [in Asia] for those that don't know) has this listed at $30.30. you can expect that to be slightly more expensive when bought from domestic shops. the shop here does carry atomic rc products as well as another online shop.
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  #3  
Old 06-11-2009, 06:47 PM
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as i reported earlier, this is already available for purchase in Atomic RC's main web distributor EGR Mart.

if your a continental u.s. owner, you'll be happy to know AtomicMods also has this in stock and ready to ship.

PLEASE note, Atomic RC and AtomicMods are completely different business's. people often refer to these places using abbreviations which others misunderstand.
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  #4  
Old 06-12-2009, 12:38 PM
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we'll be stocking these too... i personally want 2 give one a try
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  #5  
Old 06-16-2009, 05:13 AM
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Well, I was able to pick up on of these at my local Atomic R/C distributor today. I'm in the middle of a move, so I won't be able to run it for a while, but I definitely tell you it's a lot more robust and as a result, a lot heavier than the Kyosho diff.
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  #6  
Old 06-16-2009, 11:27 AM
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i think a little added weight to the dnano might not be a bad thing. i look forward to hearing your experiences with it.
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  #7  
Old 06-16-2009, 11:50 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by arch2b View Post
i think a little added weight to the dnano might not be a bad thing. i look forward to hearing your experiences with it.
I agree.

I had to take it out of the package, and in doing so, this diff feels really smooth. I know performance on the track is the ultimate test, but this diff feels just as smooth as the new PN diff for the MR-02. Can't wait to get it on the track.
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  #8  
Old 06-19-2009, 06:01 PM
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Got my two like a week ago...

Haven't run yet but we are running and testing tonight. My 962c is pretty dialed on our track from where I last left the setup so the baseline should be prime for testing.

My first impression out of car is VERY NICE. Usually Kyosho ball diffs I consider to be the gold standard. I love their shim adjuster, etc. but they are simply gritty and spring a bit too tough unless you mess with them a bunch. The Atomic was silky smooth out of the box and the spring is much lighter. To give you an idea of range, you cannot lock down this diff so the spur gear will always turn some. What it looks like is they found a tension range appropriate for the little motors with no torque.

As for weight difference, I didn't bust out my scale but it seems comparable to Kyosho ball diff. The construction appears to be aluminum (pressure plates and adjuster) and titanium (axle and spacers) so it is not as heavy as it looks!!!

One mod I am looking at as I type is Dremeling a small opening in the axle housing to access the adjuster nut. The idea is put a finger on the adjuster nut and turn the wheel to adjust with no tools!!
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  #9  
Old 06-20-2009, 04:19 AM
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Product has some significant problem issues!

Ok, I will try and be as succinct as possible without ripping Atomic too hard since they have a history of making great products. Here is all of the testing and investigation I did tonight and ultimately, it was a waste and had to go back to Kyosho ball diff. I really want to use this diff but I need to do some engineering recon still and I will keep y'all posted.

PROBLEMS:
1) No instructions and this is not a plug n' play product.
2) Spur gear is not round!! - no matter how you set mesh, the molding on the spur is not accurate enough to be considered round in this scale.
3) Gear tooth pitch is not right - unless they are providing an Atomic pinion gear set, these never mesh right.
4) WARNING: There are 6 screws. They are of 2 different lengths! The long ones are for using the plastic hubs and the short are for the aluminum.
5) WARNING: Aluminum left hub needs modification! No matter which screws you use, there was a total bind when the screws were tightened even to the lightest amount where they would back off.
6) Shim may be needed. When all is said and done, there is not enough gap between spur and motor mount... it rubs!
7) The tolerance of knurled adjuster is VERY small inside motor mount and the diff backed out and undid itself! Not sure if it was from this, the rubbing spur, or the tight mesh... but the diff was unusable and felt like constant drag brake at best.

FIXES:
2&3) I have a brand new Kyosho ball diff I am going to take apart to see if ID is the same and if the balls fit. If so, this should solve majority of the problems.
5) The problem was the aluminum Kyosho hub was too long on inner step and diff may have been designed to only work with plastic hubs. There was tons of material on left hub so I got some 600 grit sandpaper on the granite countertop and took some material off the hub where it meets the axle/e-clip/bearing. Once I did this the short screws torqued up nicely and no more binding.
7) I may end up with a round roll of emory cloth to take some material out of the motor mount where the diff slides through. As it stands there is like 0.1mm of space and that equates to 0.05mm per side of the knurled adjuster. If you know about plastic molding... no way this can be perfect in these tolerances. This will be the last thing I mess with though.


NOTE: it would be one thing if I was a rookie writing this up, but anybody who knows me in the Mini-Z community (or r/c community in general) knows I am fast and have a good mechanical clue This product needs to get a rev2 before re-releasing and I kind of expect Atomic to make good on the product without sticking me for more money.
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  #10  
Old 06-20-2009, 08:44 AM
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wow, thanks for the insight and review. for the less mechanically challenged folks, this will save them time and money to wait for v2. atomic, like pn has a good record for revisions. i'm sure once they get enough feedback they will do some rework.

does thier website still have a forum? if so i would highly suggest copying your review and posting it there as this is a very new product and obviously very flawed.
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  #11  
Old 06-22-2009, 02:14 PM
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Originally Posted by arch2b View Post
atomic, like pn has a good record for revisions. i'm sure once they get enough feedback they will do some rework.
Yeah but I think both of them suck for gouging early adopter customers to pay hard earned $$ to pay for their mistakes. If there is a performance improvement, sure I will be happy to pay. But when there are clear mistakes, they should provide the "fix" parts to customers on a case by case recall basis. Example: PN 94mm LCG motor mount. The part is awesome but hold down screw set up for the upright is a joke and well documented. They fixed it in next rev and expect everybody to pay another $40!!

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does thier website still have a forum? if so i would highly suggest copying your review and posting it there as this is a very new product and obviously very flawed.
Neither Atomic nor EGR have forums unfortunately


So I tried the Kyosho spur gear swap last night.

~~The good news is the Kyosho spur gear ID fits on the Atomic ball diff.
~~The bad news is the Atomic spur has bigger balls and holes.
~~Once everything is bolted up in the Atomic diff, there is too much of a gap to make up so the diff rings will meet the tiny diff balls used by Kyosho. My next solution that will likely work fine is to make a spacer to take up the difference. I am thinking of taking one of the Kyosho diff rings and gluing it to the back side of the Atomic diff ring to get the tolerance back "in the zone". I will report back on this as I test or if I resort to some other shimming technique.

I think the unfortunate part and the reason that the Atomic diff is so smooth is because of the bigger balls. Though the diff rings are better chromed material so there may be some adopted benefit. However the lighter spring tension range and adjustabillity may make this project worth it.
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  #12  
Old 06-22-2009, 02:41 PM
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i agree it sucks to have to pay for an updated/fixed part but in 10 years mini-z's have been around and parts made, this is the way it's been. to expect anything else is unrealistic. the ONLY time i've hard parts replaced were due to manufacture defects such as screw taps are missing and or at odd angles, etc.

the risk you assume in being an early adopter of anything is that you are the ginuea pig. what would be nice is if they would offer spare parts for order. PN is doing this for many of their latest stuff. Atomic usually sells spur gears seperately as well. this would at least make getting revised parts cheaper than buying the entire ball diff.

3racing has a forum and i'm sure it's only a matter of time before they get into the game. maybe even gpm but i have not heard anything positive from them in a long time. i've had good experiences with 3racing forum responses.
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Old 06-22-2009, 06:59 PM
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i agree it sucks to have to pay for an updated/fixed part but in 10 years mini-z's have been around and parts made, this is the way it's been. to expect anything else is unrealistic. the ONLY time i've hard parts replaced were due to manufacture defects such as screw taps are missing and or at odd angles, etc.
This is a defect, and a lot of them at that. Not only have I been around Mini-Z from the start, I have been in the r/c game since the late 70's. I can't see this any other way than sensible customer service responsibility is to make good on what was promised. I will not accept excuses even though I am an engineer and can come up with workarounds as good, or better than the next guy. I am not sponsored by any of these folks, nor do I care to be so when I pay out of my own pocket... I get to speak freely If my company tried to get away with that, we'd be out of business in a heartbeat. Come to think of it, we have shipped some very buggy releases in the past and boy did we have to spend a lot of time and money to scramble and make it right

Quote:
Originally Posted by arch2b View Post
3racing has a forum and i'm sure it's only a matter of time before they get into the game. maybe even gpm but i have not heard anything positive from them in a long time. i've had good experiences with 3racing forum responses.
3Racing is "ok" but their quality has never been top shelf. That said, I have run a few limited 3Racing parts. I would rather use a stock Kyosho part or a Frankensteined Atomic part as first choice

The last I heard of GPM, they were disolving or at least getting out of the r/c biz.


Oh and one other thing... my fastest and best functioning dNano... uses stock gear diff. HAHAHAHA!!
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  #14  
Old 06-22-2009, 07:58 PM
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i agree with you again, but it's been this way for 10 years. it's not something new nor is it likely to change. i've been around since the begining of z's too and never been sponsored, nor car to be as well. every couple years you run into this same argument and you will again in. yes, it sucks.

3racing at least listens to feedback and provides a means to do so. i agree i would rather buy other stuff before theirs but they listen and there is some value to that.

many make the same argument for the mini-z as well :0 another debate that will last as long as they are available.

thanks again for sharing your experience here. it's nice to get seasoned rc vets
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  #15  
Old 06-24-2009, 03:41 PM
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So the diff rings are d-rings which is good but the shoulder is not deep enough to center an additional ring. The only solution I can see right now is to glue a Kyosho diff ring on top of one of the Atomic ones. That _should_ work ok. I will try that next.
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