Hello all,
I stepped away from my Lego collection for a while to get involved in other things.
Today I decided to dust off my old 8043 Motorized Excavator to play with it for
the first time in probably 10 years. Unfortunately I left the batteries in the
controllers and they leaked. I was able to salvage one controller, the other
I will need to replace. Not an issue, I have more.
The real issue is the motors are all VERY weak. This unit worked fine (as fine
as an 8043 could anyway) when I last used it a decade or so ago. The battery
box was clean, I had taken the batteries out. Tried new alkaline, nope. New
Lithiums, nope. All four motors are weak. The gear change won't shift gears.
It barely drives on a hard surface. It can't pivot in place on its tracks.
It reluctantly moves its arm VERY slowly.
Sorry for the long post, but does anyone have any ideas before I go trying to
replace all the PF components to make this thing work again?
As an aside, I put some batteries in my 8110 Unimog to try that instead. The
motor was also very weak in it, even with the lithium batteries that checked
out as 1.63-1.65v, but it did work. Are these motors or receivers decaying over
time? Thank you!
Hello all,
I stepped away from my Lego collection for a while to get involved in other things.
Today I decided to dust off my old 8043 Motorized Excavator to play with it for
the first time in probably 10 years. Unfortunately I left the batteries in the
controllers and they leaked. I was able to salvage one controller, the other
I will need to replace. Not an issue, I have more.
The real issue is the motors are all VERY weak. This unit worked fine (as fine
as an 8043 could anyway) when I last used it a decade or so ago. The battery
box was clean, I had taken the batteries out. Tried new alkaline, nope. New
Lithiums, nope. All four motors are weak. The gear change won't shift gears.
It barely drives on a hard surface. It can't pivot in place on its tracks.
It reluctantly moves its arm VERY slowly.
Sorry for the long post, but does anyone have any ideas before I go trying to
replace all the PF components to make this thing work again?
As an aside, I put some batteries in my 8110 Unimog to try that instead. The
motor was also very weak in it, even with the lithium batteries that checked
out as 1.63-1.65v, but it did work. Are these motors or receivers decaying over
time? Thank you!
Also check that the cables are not damaged and causing a short circuit. I've
just had my entire collection of cables crumble in my hands.
Check the voltage at various locations, over the batteries, over the battery
box without cables, over the motor connection and over the motor when switched
on.
USA
France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Netherlands, Groningen