I recently ordered 10 T-Dash 2.0 chassis. Well they came in the other day and I thought I would give my opinion on Dan Cashmer's new product. I am no expert, but here's my dime's worth. If you're interested then read on...
First I got 10 chassis for $10 each... I think an excellent price point! If you ordered less, then they were 11.99 each which is still an excellent price considering, as of this review, the Aurora NOS chassis are going for $20.
Let's talk about the facts first... The new 2.0 chassis and it's parts are Aurora T-Jet compatible. It is made of Delerin. Delerin is durable and has some lubricating properties much like the original Aurora chassis. The chassis came with a guide pin.
The chassis has longer shoe hooks which keeps the shoes from falling off which was notorious with the 1.0 version. Based on my experience I really don't think it was a chassis issue on the 1.0 version as much as it was the pick up shoe issue... anyway this was also addressed in the 2.0 version... we'll talk about that later.
So let's get down to measurements.
The chassis is flat when measured with a tech block.
Let's talk about the facts first... The new 2.0 chassis and it's parts are Aurora T-Jet compatible. It is made of Delerin. Delerin is durable and has some lubricating properties much like the original Aurora chassis. The chassis came with a guide pin.
The chassis has longer shoe hooks which keeps the shoes from falling off which was notorious with the 1.0 version. Based on my experience I really don't think it was a chassis issue on the 1.0 version as much as it was the pick up shoe issue... anyway this was also addressed in the 2.0 version... we'll talk about that later.
So let's get down to measurements.
The chassis is flat when measured with a tech block.
The gear plate is also flat both length and width wise.
By the way I also checked how the top gear plated matched up with the chassis... no complaints on the ones I checked. A note here concerning the how the gear plate sits on the chassis. On the 1.0 versions the gear plate seemed to sit about 1/64 of an inch above the chassis. I am not so sure that this was due to the magnets being just a smidge thick. However on the 2.0 with the latest magnets this does not appear to be the case. The top plate fits nicely on the top of the chassis.
The armatures out of the box are consistent. I measured the three stacks on one of the arms at random and the readings are as follows: 16.8 ohms, 16.8 ohms, and the last stack fluctuated between 16.7 and 16.8 ohms. Not too shabby!
Dan equipped the T-Dash 2.0 with a set of his new gears. They were quiet and smooth right out of the box! Much better than the 1.0 version.
Now let's talk pick up shoes. On the 1.0 version they were a tad too thin which I believe is what caused the issue of them not staying on the chassis. I say this because when I replaced them with Aurora NOS shoes I never had another problem. That said, Dan has beefed up the pick up shoes and also designed them with a more prominent step on the shoe which is closer to the Aurora NOS shoe.
The mold parting line no longer goes through the brush holes, this results in smoother up and down brush movement without getting 'hung up' or in a "bind" on flashing inside the holes. I did check for this and could not see the parting line on the new chassis. I also noticed that the quality of the chassis rivets were improved.
T-Dash 2.0 is still using the same design with com brushes. Dome and grove to help prevent brush rotation.
The Dash 2.0 chassis also comes equipped with new wheels and tires. I found the wheels to be an improvement but the tires seemed a little hard. However Dan indicated that Vincent wheels and tires were interchangeable. Put some Vincent tires on and there was considerable improvement. That said, how many of us ever leave stock tires on our runners. :-)
According to Dan Cashmer, the plastic pieces are now solid delrin, not a delrin/glass fiber mix as in the 1.0 version. Delrin doesn't have the moisture absorption problem of nylon, it has a lower coefficient of friction, a higher density and better wear than nylon.
He has stated "In the past we used a delrin/glass fiber mix to control shrinkage and maintain Aurora compatibility. Unfortunately, adding glass fiber weakened the delrin. The new molds were made larger to allow for the shrinkage of Delrin and the glass fiber is no longer needed."
He has stated "In the past we used a delrin/glass fiber mix to control shrinkage and maintain Aurora compatibility. Unfortunately, adding glass fiber weakened the delrin. The new molds were made larger to allow for the shrinkage of Delrin and the glass fiber is no longer needed."
At first blush, Id say Dan Cashmer hit this one out of the ball park with the T-Dash 2.0!!!! :-)
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