72004 Tamiya Worm Gearbox

The primary feature of the Tamiya 72004 Worm Gearbox from Tamiya’s high-efficiency series is a worm gear, which locks the output shaft whenever the motor isn’t turning. The high gear ratios of 216:1 or 336:1 make this gearbox appropriate for small walking robots, lifting mechanisms, and other applications where high torque is desired.

The low-voltage motors in the worm gearbox run on 1.5-4.5 volts and draw up to a few amps, making them perfect candidates for the Pololu low-voltage dual serial motor controller and the DRV8833 motor driver carrier (2130-POLOLU). Motor overheating can be caused by excessive stalling, even at very low voltages. We recommend that you use stall-detection sensors, or just watch your robot, to make sure that it doesn’t stall for more than a few seconds at a time.

This gearbox has a 4 mm diameter, round output shaft, which works with the wheels that are compatible with Tamiya 4 mm, round shafts. Our 3 mm universal mounting hub also fits on the smaller threaded end of the shaft, although it is not specifically intended to work with this type of shaft (the hub’s set screw could damage the thread on the shaft).

For motor specs, see the Mabuchi motor RE-260 (#2295) data sheet (59k pdf).

Note: The worm gearbox is a kit; assembly is required. To use the kit in robotics projects, you need to connect the motors to your own robot controller.

General specifications

Notes:

1- A theoretical speed of the gearbox output shaft can be computed by dividing this speed by the gear ratio.

2- This is the no-load current of the motor when disconnected from the gears in the gearbox; the no-load current of the entire gearbox with the motor connected will be slightly higher and will vary depending on the gear ratio.

3- A theoretical torque of the gearbox output shaft can be computed by multiplying this torque by the gear ratio.