8043 Motorized Excavator - major modification

Continuing from my previous 8043 minor modification, I therefore follow Jurgens instructions. All rights and ideas belongs to him.

Rebuilding the engine

It takes a bit time to follow the instructions and below is the complete one. It uses
1x XL motor
5x M motor
3x IR receiver
3x IR controller

Battery box not shown

The control is much faster and better now, idea by Jason Railton. Left and right (red & black) controllers (4 controls) are following the US standard SAE controls.

The smaller bucket reduce stress on the linear actuators (LA). If you know what I'm scooping, each big bucket full weighs about 220-250 grams (7.8-8.8 ounces). Sometimes it really takes effort for the LA to scoop or lift up.

Known locally as "biji saga" (saga seed)

If you want to get technical, this is the tree: Adenanthera Ppavonina

I will try with the bigger original bucket soon.

Video ? Let me plan on taking one... but you can view below:

Sayonara for now ...

Summary of 2nd Lego Shopping Guide in Hong Kong (May 2013)

Please read the earlier guide here before continue reading ...

In addition to the previous, I found another street with toys, which include some Lego stuff.

(5) Wan Chai

(a) Tai Yuen Street - exit Wan Chai MTR A3, walk south (straight out across the road). You can also take the island tram which stops directly in front of the junction also. It is a small road, which is for pedestrian only. You will have similiar feel like Petaling Street, but single-aisle and narrower only.

Most of the shops sell other toys, but some do stock up on Lego. Check and compare pricing as well.


I only take the effort to take few pictures:

7th floor, Sogo, Causeway Bay

Toys 'R' Us - The table on the left looks interesting ...

To cut the story short, my first day haul is

10233 Horizon Express
10226 Sopwith Camel
79111 Constitution Train Chase

2nd haul is bigger

10220 VW T1 Camper Van

10230 Mini Modular

7937 Train Station

79108 Stagecoach Escape

40010 Santa with Sleigh

40034 Christmas Train

3189 Heartlake Stables

41003 Olivia's Newborn Foal

41011 Stephanie's Soccer Practise

41017 Squirrel's Tree House

41018 Cat's Playground

41019 Turtle's Little Oasis

... and some spare parts.

Well, hope there will be more trips in future. Bye for now !

8043 Motorized Excavator - minor modification

Last weekend I built the default 8043. Immediately I noticed some flaws.

I changed both the 3L axle to 3L axle-with-stud in the main-boom. Refer the above image, it's the tan gears above.
Before that, after running for sometime, extend maximum and retract maximum many times, the gears will drop out. Now it works fine.

Next, changing the gear selector using yellow-knob-gear, is not that smooth. Sometimes it gets stuck and need to manual push the red-lever.

I changed both to 12-tooth double bevel gear. Now, it is smoother, although sometimes will still get stuck. Probably the M-motor is not strong enough.

Then I upgrade both the IR receiver to V2 models, supposedly able to let more current/power pass through.

Last but not least, swap 2x M-motor to L-motor

Both the L-motor are used to drive the tracks..
Also, it drives the 2x boom-cylinder LA and 1x arm-cylinder LA.

Due to L-motor longer by 1 stud, I have to extend the rear upper-structure.
For width, it is half-stud wider each side, and fits in perfectly.
No changes for motor height.

I will be doing further major mod for this in coming future ...

Lego 9398 - Motorized Rescue Helicopter

Nothing new in this, as per building instruction. The length and width is bigger than Unimog & Crawler, mainly due to the main-rotor. Height wise, lower. I did not put on any stickers ... yet.

I don't know about others, but my winch is very tight. Due to the grey-pin bush with friction below. The motor can't turn this, so I replaced with a 5.5 axle with stop. BTW, I use my own longer string. However, when I disengage the gear for winch, it is free fall when something is on the hook.

I may need to sacrifice some spare bush-pin and sand-down some of the friction on the pin. Or research more for other solutions.

I do not have the power-function motor set (8293), so I take the parts from other vehicles to try here:
- M-motor
- Battery box
- IR receiver
- Remote control
- 8-tooth gear
- 24 tooth gear with clutch (white)

All works fine, after the above fix for the winch. Here is the video with the winch, rear-cargo door, landing-wheels and rotor.

Something I note (before I do further research on internet), when the rotor rotates, it has momentum and when I stop the motor, the rotor will continue for a while. This can mean disaster for the gears, as the rotor forces the gear to rotate the motor. Hence, a smart design here for the safety mechanism, there is a gear on L-beam which can roll up to prevent gears grinding. 

Also, this means the motor can only rotate the rotors in one single-direction. If switch the other direction, the gears will rotate freely. Which is what a helicopter rotor should be, rotate in one direction for lift. Below is the video of how it works.

All in all, the helicopter is quite complete. There is a stick to adjust the rotor pitch.
One thing missing though, is the tilt (front and back) for the chopper to move forward/backward, in real life.

Lego Technic - 8110 with XL Motor

I re-use the XL motor for this testing. Again, there are a lot of info on the web.

The XL motor is temporary mounted at the rear chassis. I did not put back all the braces/fittings. The space is just fit for XL motor. You may try with the smaller size L or M motor and it will definitely fit.

Wheels rotate as expected, without gearing down, yet. 

Further testing, for the steering, the XL motor is fitted vertically inside the cab, at the back. I did not change the yellow-knobs into gears yet, as this is just a trial. 
Also, both the motors are connected to the IR for remote control.

The result ? 

Yes, it works. But this is just pre-liminary testing. There are many pros and cons which I will list out below (that I can recall as of now):

1) Major: Need to gear down at all 4x wheels, by getting extra gears for it. Otherwise, it may stress the XL motor driving it.

2) Major: Yellow steering knob not effective for turning. Also, the far position of the motor for steering is not suitable. 

3) Major: 8110 steering design fault. Those who have one (8110), will know the difficulty in twisting the black knob above the cab to steer the front-wheel on the ground if it is not moving. Refer the video below by nicjasno (all credits goes to him)

4) Major: Without servo-motor or other manual-way, the steering does not return to centre, like the 9398 4x4 Crawler.

Therefore, these are the things in my mind for to-do list:
a) Gear down at the wheels. Simple mod.
b) Install the servo motor at bottom (lower chassis). Do not use the cab area.
c) Try to fit 2x XL / L motor to provide individual power for front and rear. I think L motor is feasible, if remove the front 4-pistons engine.
d) Modify the front steering mechanism.

Let's see how it goes along in future. I am ordering extra parts and stuff currently...

Lego Technic 9398 XL Motor modification

Recently bought 2x XL-motor (8882), pictured here on top 8110.

Read & view up some MOC ideas... and started my own modification to change the both the motor from L to XL.
Currently, I don't have enough extra parts, hence I make do with a rough-design, and about 60-70% sturdiness, at least for now. There will be future versions.

Angle-view

The chassis expand 1 beam wider on each left & right side, to accomodate the wider XL motor and free-play for suspension.
Suspension remains at same height, but split wider due to expand chassis.

Back-view

Change the gears and affect the ratio. XL motor is about half the RPM of L motor, but with higher torque, hence not much speed improvement. Crawling over objects is slightly better though.
Extra bracing to hold the motor & gears in place. No gears skipping/grinding.

 

Side-view

Notice the taller XL motor, the height is nearly touching the upper portion of the car. Hence, I may need to modify further to increase the suspension by 1 beam.

That all the own testing I've done so far. I know there are many more complete versions/blog/video out there, but this is at my own pace and testing.

Summary of Lego Shopping Guide in Hong Kong (March 2013) I'll concentrate solely on Lego and ignore other types of shopping (shoe street at Fa Yuen, other non-Lego figurines, Sogo/Hysan, etc.) Let's start with the regular places, and suggested walking directions in orange: (1) Mongkok (a) Richmond Centre - exit Mongkok MTR D2, walk east along Argyle Street until junction with Sai Yee Street. Before reach here, should see the building name. Just a few shops inside. (2) Yau Ma Tei From Mongkok, either take MTR or walk down Sai Yeong Choi Street (South) towards CTMA centre. (a) CTMA Centre - nearest is Yau Ma Tei MTR A2 or walking directions above from Mongkok. Few shops inside also. (b) Sino Centre - walk out CTMA, it is behind it. Go south to Dundas Street, then back to main Nathan Road and walk north. Also few shops inside here. (c) Last for this area, is walk back south towards In's Point (or exit Yau Ma Tei MTR A2). Only two floors here, 1st and 2nd floor up the escalator. This is the heaven with quite a lot of shops selling Lego at attractive prices. Make sure do proper price check before buying. Also, all small-shops here deal in cold-hard-CASH only. Make sure you bring enough cash, as they don't accept credit card, charge card, debit card, cheque, etc. That's all for Mongkok/Yau Ma Tei area. I did not spend much time here anyway. Toy's R Us - Ocean Terminal at Tsum Tsa Tsui. I did not go there, so can't comment much. (3) Causeway Bay. Below is the suggested route: (a) Sogo Causeway Bay - 7th floor. Quite a lot of selections here. Price is similiar RRP like Toy's R Us and not as cheap as other HK small-shops. (b) Brickstime - Hysan Place 5th floor. This is a new building, directly opposite Sogo along Hennesy Road . There is a shop here also. (c) Toys "R' Us - Windsor House, Causeway Bay. From Sogo/Hysan main traffic-lights zebra-crossing, walk east along Great George Street. You will pass Wellcome supermarket before you see Windsor House. Go up and there is quite a range of Lego here as well. Basically, prices are the same among all Toy's R Us. Availability, I would say most outlets are similiar but prices are not competitive with outside small-shops. Toy's R Us : 9398 4x4 Crawler = HKD1989.90 (~RM800), I bought at In's Point for HKD1500 (~RM600) Toy's R Us : 10197 Create Fire Brigade = HKD1598.90 (RM640), somewhere else should be cheaper . Toy's R Us : Current Friend's polybag = HKD48.90 (RM19.56), cheapest I found is HKD38 (RM15.20). Some selling HKD40-42 (RM16-17). Toy's R Us : Lego City - train tracks Toy's R Us : Lego City - tanker Toy's R Us : Various base plates (32x32 and 48x48) (d) Red Mall - Jaffe Road. Trace back towards Sogo, and then to Jaffe Road. There is another Lego store here. (4) Kennedy Town (North-West of HK Island) High-level map Zoom-in map (a) AA Place - Kennedy Town Praya/Centre. No MTR here. Take the "Kennedy Town" Tram towards west, from anywhere in HK island (that is available, of course). You can board at Causeway Bay and the ride will take 45-60 minutes. Else board the tram at Sheung Wan will be faster. Make sure board at the West (W) stops. (E) will go eastward. Flat rate HKD2.30. Don't take the rest as it will stop earlier at Shek Tong Tsui or Whitty Street Depot or worse, goto Happy Valley.  Get down at 98W Kennedy Town Praya stop.  Just 50m and go in Kennedy Town Centre. Only one shop here (with 2-3 shops by same owner). They have a wide range and many bricks/parts for sale, some of which are not on display. If you have anything in your list, ask them directly. To go back, walk to same Tram area, wait at 03E Holland Street station. Summary: * Don't ask me how I dig out few extra places, although it is not new. * Go on your own expedition, you may find something that I did not find. Tips #1: Be alert on every aisle on every floor, make sure you have imaginary building walkway in your mind. Some shops are in secretive corner. Tips #2: Be alert inside the shop. Many minifigs/parts. Sometimes some small parts are put in boxes at the counter. You can find heads, guns, weapons, parts, etc. Some prices taken from a shop: Minifig, super heroes Pick a brick, R2D2 = HKD1488 = RM595.20 (This may not be cheapest, go shop around) VW T1 Camper van price drop = HKD980 = RM392 (This may not be cheapest, go shop around) Watsons / Mannings (Guardian): 18x Duracell AA = HKD39.90 = RM15.96 = RM0.89 per piece. Energizer is cheaper about HKD33-35 , GP Alkaline is even cheaper at HKD26-29+. I don't think can get such prices for branded batteries back in Malaysia.  Ikea/Tesco brands are cheaper, but I'm using equivalent Duracell for comparison. Also, free luggage-lock for my extra bag to bring Lego back to Malaysia =.=" During my trip, the currency conversion rate is about RM40=HKD100. Or RM100 = HKD250 Just divide by 2.5 to convert to RM. So, before I end, here is my haul (yes, that's a single-bed): 8110 Unimog @ HKD1500 = RM600 3185 Friend's Summer Riding Camp @ HKD850 = RM340 41017 Squirrel's tree house @ HKD38 = RM15.20 41019 Turtle's little oasis @HKD38 = RM15.20 9398 4x4 Crawler @ HKD1500 = RM600 That's all for shopping in Hong Kong. Go for your own hunting !!! Edit: 2nd shopping guide added here.