What this gearbox is and where it sits on a line
The GBX1600321383D is a Schneider Electric planetary gearbox from the GBX series, built around a 160 mm external-diameter housing in black anodized aluminium with straight-cut teeth and a C45 shaft, intended to bolt onto a servo or brushless motor in a precision motion axis. It carries a 32:1 reduction, which is what drops motor speed into the low-RPM band typical of packaging, indexing and rotary-table duty while multiplying torque from the mating drive. Status is current production per the lifecycle record, so this is not a discontinued part being chased down on a broker list — it is a catalog line.
Torque envelope and how much load the shaft actually takes
Continuous output torque is rated at 800 N.m and the maximum output torque ceiling sits at 1280 N.m, so the gearbox is sized for steady industrial work with a meaningful peak headroom for acceleration and shock loads without slipping into the service-life derate zone. Maximum radial load is 4200 N at 100 rpm over the 30000-hour life, rising to 6000 N if the duty is trimmed to 10000 hours — applied at mid-distance from the output shaft, which is the realistic worst-case for an overhung pinion or timing-belt pull. Maximum axial force is 6000 N at 100 rpm for the full 30000-hour rating and 8000 N over the 10000-hour rating, so a vertical axis with a screw or thrust load sits well inside the envelope.
Efficiency, noise, and how loud this thing actually gets
Mechanical efficiency is 94 %, which is the right neighborhood for a precision planetary stage and means a 32:1 step at full load loses roughly six points before the next reduction or coupling. Noise level is 70 dB at 1 m on no-load, so on a quiet cell it is audible but not aggressive; once the driven machine contributes its own noise floor this figure is rarely the dominant complaint.
Service life, lubrication, and what never needs touching
Service life is rated at 30000 hours at 100 rpm and 30 °C ambient, and the unit is lubricated for life — there is no grease nipple on the maintenance route, so MRO is limited to vibration checks and seal inspection rather than oil changes. Maximum torsional backlash is 10 arc.min and torsional rigidity is 41 N.m/arcmin, which puts this on the looser end of precision gearboxes — fine for packaging, indexing and conveyor, but a pick-and-place with tight registration should confirm the backlash budget against the application.
Mounting envelope and where the unit installs
Mounting position is any position, which means the same SKU fits horizontal, vertical and inverted installations without derate, useful when a machine builder uses one BOM line across multiple station layouts. Shaft output is sealed to IP54 — adequate for general factory air but not a washdown rating, so food-and-bev or outdoor enclosures need an upstream cover or a higher-IP guard. Moment of inertia at the input is 6.36 g·cm², small enough that adding the gearbox to a servo loop is not a tuning event for most controllers in this frame size.