Tinman Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I purchased this Roto Robot at a toy show today and was wondering if anyone had some repair advice? The major problem is the connection of the torso to the legs. On the inside of the battery box is a plastic plug that came with the robot, but is doesn’t do a proper job in holding the two parts together and pops off easily. Is there something else besides this plastic piece that holds the torso on; can anyone provide a pic or suggest a replacement part? I’m also looking for a replacement orange foot; the left one was broken by a probable repair attempt from a previous owner. In the current condition the robot is a bit unstable but works electronically. I think it would stable out of the torso was fastened properly and had some weight in the battery box. I paid $100, which seemed like a good price for its overall condition; any thoughts on how well I did? If anyone has a spare orange foot for a Roto Robot I'd be happy to hear from you; I believe the parts are the same for the right and left foot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechanic robot Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Hi Tinman, Nice buy. At which show did you buy it ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morbius Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Excellent price for this robot Bill, a great buy for sure. It's absolutely beautiful. They're so flimsy very similar to a U.S. beer can and I've always wondered how they're able to be held together at all! Looks like a toy that may have broken slightly and was put away, I don't see any wear on it. I did a lousy job fixing my first one...the one that got me into robots to begin with. I found him at Goodwill for 25c in 1975 in great shape but dropped him going out the door and snapped his legs nearly completely off. Then a bad repair. These are fragile beasts. Best of luck with your repair I'm sure someone with those skills will chime in with a solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 MR, the New Castle, DE show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Thanks Mike, these robots always seemed a little cheesy to me, I guess because they were the transition between tin and plastic and weren't made with the quality of the past. I'm glad to hear I did good from a price point of view, it'll display well once I get the pieces together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SH MIKE Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 That piece that comes off looks like it has a crack in it. It might have been held tighter to the shaft in the center. The upper half is supposed to rotate around. you might try and superglue that piece to the shaft and see what happens. you could also fill the gap inside with epoxy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Thanks SHM I'd like to not make any makeshift repairs permanent buy using superglue or epoxy; I was hoping to get some input from someone that has this robot regarding what it supposed to look like inside the battery box. To me it looks like this robot's torso spins whenever it's walking and doesn't necessarily stop spinning pointing forward. I do like the "slip-ring" method of getting power from the battery box to the legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Here is a photo of mine and it looks like that piece is pressed in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 The plastic nub piece is a press on that holds the body ON, if yours is cracked then thats why the body fall off. The robots body rotates all the time that it is powered ON if working right. there are a lot of videos of the robot in operation on youtube, here is just one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 Thanks for the information guys. My robot's torso is held on fairly well with the plastic nub but it doesn't take a lot of force to pull them apart. I'm also not understanding why the robot always wants to fall forward, all of the leg mechanics are connected and in place but it's right leg seems a little dead when the batteries are installed. The locking mechanisms on the rear wheel of both feet seem to be working correctly...I'm not sure why it's doing what it's doing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirk Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Congrats Bill - a nice purchase. I would prefer to take the battery compartment off and replace it to the leg section first. ... a drop of clear epoxy should do it.... Then you can check easily without the Body, if he runs correctly - and have a free view to the rotating contacts underneeth the battery compartment. Please checks the wheels and inside legs correctly - and use not so heavy modern batteries... Replacing the Body section later on is a bit tricky...but not too difficult! Good luck! Will upload a short movie for you.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roboto Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Great to see what goes on inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinman Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Thanks for the information Dirk, its much appreciated. My robot doesn't function as smoothly as yours because of the right leg, I'll have to give it a more thorough inspection to figure out what's going wrong although everything seems to be connected properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toborthegreat Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 Hi Guys: Just want to ask a quick question. I got a Roto Robot Horikawa off EBAY for $120. Very nice shape, does not work at all which is fine.Is there a way to remove some parts or the body as shown in the video above without removing the pin in the battery box that holds the torso on the leg section. I never worked on this guy before and hate to screw things up since it is in nice shape, no rust. Only on the mouth and eyes which I usually remove the rust with a fine sand paper or navel jell. Thanks Guys, Victor toborthegreat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atomic Robot Girl Posted November 5, 2015 Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hi, what an interesting post, I also have a lovely Roto robot but sadly he falls backwards (I am assuming the arrows on the feet point forwards), but he appears to be spinning around fine. I am wondering if I should just leave him alone or get right in and try to repair him. I have no experience with toy repairs but I really want to be able to repair my robot and any other ones in the future. I have to learn this! I have a cheap repro star strider from eBay arriving any day that I brought to take apart and I am thinking that I should wait and open that one first? What would you do? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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