Lynxmotion Quadrature Motor Encoder V2 (w/Cable)

Ive had mine for around 10 years. It was plastic then. I read a few reviews so if they was metal it was before 10 years ago. I did have to put a small drop of glue a couple spots to hold them. But it works as should.

After assembling and installing the first encoder I decided to assemble and install a second encoder. I can't emphasize enough that the circular Lexan base must be flush to the back of the motor. That means notching the bottom of the base to clear the motor power terminal bosses and flattening the raised lettering on the back of the motor. If you do this your encoder will mount perfectly flat to the back of the motor. US Digital states that the encoder disk should stand off of the encoder detector by 0.070 in which is hard to accomplish without the alignment tool they provide in their kit. All I can say is place the encoder disk on a flat, hard surface, align the motor shaft with the hole in the disk, and with reasonable pressure press the motor shaft into the disk until it bottoms out on the hard surface. Now find a tool, like a nut driver, that can slide over the motor shaft and CAREFULLY begin to push the disk towards the encoder detector constantly checking the clearance. You might try to eyeball the correct spacing and be successful. I used a caliper, a magnifying glass, and came within 0.01 in of the correct spacing which worked for me. Take your time and you will prevail.

I received the US Digital quadrature motor encoder in the mail today and found that the installation instructions, on the Lynmotion website, are sorely lacking in relation to successfully installing the encoder on the back of the motor. I knew this already so it was no surprise. The spacer ring used to mount the encoder assembly on the back of the motor initially did not fit flush to the motor back surface due to the spacer ring sitting on top of the motor power terminal bosses. Filing clearance dimples in the bottom of the spacer ring edge solved that problem. The spacer ring is now gluing to the back of the motor and should be dry by tomorrow morning. I can then attach the encoder assembly to the mounting ring followed by the encoder wheel. US Digital usually supplies a spacer to correctly distance the encoder wheel above the encoder assembly, but was not included in the kit. Guess that I will have to wing it. Once assembly is complete I expect it will function correctly as all Lynxmotion products do.

More difficult to assemble than the first version. Encoder disk is partially made from plastic, while the first version was fully metallic - seems like a downgrade. During assemble, the manual suggest to force screws into the plastic, as the result, the entire construction doesn't sit firmly - I could easily detach it by hand with a little force.