TV Spaceman repair

[Mechanic robot]

Hi, I just bought a non-working TV Spaceman and thought I might be able to get it working again. Nothing happens when I put the batteries and antenna into its head. No sound of the motor. Nothing at all. I tried patting it on the back. Any suggestions as to what it might be and how to go about repairing it ?

Thank you

[robothut]

There are many posts about repairing the Alps TV robot here on Alphadrome with lots of inside pictures and helpful hints. You might have to do some searching to find the threads.

[Joe K.]

As John has said, there are lots of threads on trouble shooting this robot. Here's a good place to start:

http://danefield.com/alpha/forums/topic/14420-alps-television-space-man-v3-help/#comment-130913 

[SH MIKE]

I would first try and get the motor to turn.  look through some of the posts and see where the pinion gear is.

sometimes a little push will free the motor. For best results, try and get a drop of oil on either side of the motor shaft.

even if it starts by itself.  When I first find a  Robot and it does not work, I place it on it's back in a box on a towel

and put fresh batteries in it and let it alone.  sometimes the thing starts all by itself.  I put it on it's back and in a box

so it does not go anywhere.  I once bought an expensive robot and put it on a table. I then put a cheap robot behind it.

the cheap robot did not work even thought I put fresh batteries in it.  The expensive robot worked fine and was just

on the table waiting to be put away.  I went into the kitchen and about 5 minutes in, I heard noise from the living room.

I went to investigate and just as I got in the living room, the cheap robot was pushing the expensive one off the table and

on to the floor.  I caught it in mid flight.

 

The most common problem with this robot is the screen not changing.  You will see a space

scene but it is stationary.  It should move.  It is a paper scene (see the top of this page) and it

repeats as it rolls around and around.  the problem I have had is that the 2 inch roller that is

the same height as the screen comes loose from the shaft it was put on and the shaft will rotate

but the rubber roller will not move with it.  the rubber separates from the shaft and just sits there.

MY "FIX" was to place a drop of super glue on the shaft and let it run down into the hole

so the rubber would stick to the shaft again. you have to be careful not to get any super glue

on the paper or the outside of the rubber or it will ruin it.    GOOD LUCK  ! ! !

[Racerxc70]

I took one of these apart once and this is what I found :

1. The solder connection to the head switch was loose- that was an easy fix

2. There is a flexible linkage shaft that is connected to the motor, this linkage both spins the "mouth carousel" and spins the "googly eyes", this flexible shaft was "frozen with rust, I cleaned it using a  combination of a stainless steel brush on my dremel rotarty tool and WD-40.

I can't remember if their are two flexible shafts , it's been a while and I didn't take any photos.

[Mechanic robot]

Mike, Joe, Hut, Racer, thanks for all the great advice guys but it still won't start. I removed the front of the body. I noticed that the wires that connect to the motor have some rust around the points where they are soldered to the motor. Maybe that's the problem ?

 

Yes Racer there are two flexible spring shafts.

I also noticed that there is electrical tape wrapped around two wires that go fro the motor connecting them to a green wire that is soldered and I can;t see where that goes. Was the black electrical tape originally there from the factory or did someone do it as an afterthought ??

[SH MIKE]

I made a tester with a 3 volt DC adapter.  I Put Alligator Clips on the ends of the wires.  I would put the ground wire

on the frame of the toy  or where ever I thought Ground was.  I then touched the positive end to each lead going  to

the motor.  This is a good way to bypass the rest of the circuit and see if the motor is still good.  A good thing also is to

wind the pinion by hand to make sure there is nothing jamming the rest of the gears.

[robothut]

Back when this robot was produced there was no plastic electrical tape only thick cloth and tar type electrical tape, so if the tape is the common PVC "plastic" electrical tape then the toy has been worked on before. I do not recall there being any electrical tape in side any of the TV robots I have repaired in the past. You can get to the motor drive gear and the sqreecher box with out taking the robot apart "left leg opening" but you know that now that you have it apart. Feel free to add pictures of your work so that others might use them one day as well. As SH Mike has said  the best thing to do at this point is to connect a 3 volt source of power to the motor to see if it runs. Do not use more than 3 volts as the light for the moving pictures could and will burn out. You can buy two cell battery holders at most hobby stores that will have wire leads on them if need be. Or if all your Radio shacks in your area have not closed down they have them as well.

[chilli]

Get a bulb in a wire circuit , power it from a remote battery source and use it to find which connections work and which dont. It soon sorts out which connections are a problem.

Turn any gear that you can flick with a screwdriver while you have batteries in the back of the robot, sometimes half an hour is about the time it takes before the rascal kicks in to action. And then sometimes not.

These robots always come back to life, either a loose connection or stuck motor.

Cheers

Chilli

 

[Mechanic robot]

Hi guys,

I got my TV Spaceman robot to work by, as you suggested, using a two D cell battery holder bought new from Radio Shack. The motor works fine, the eyes turn, the kaleidoscope mouth light comes on, the chest space scene lights up and moves, and the little fella walks. So, I think the problem is the connection either between the battery compartment and the motor, or between the antenna and the motor. Do you I have to take his head apart now ?

Thanks again.

[Racerxc70]

yes,

this is where the on/off switch makes its connection when the antenna pole is pushed in, I'm thinking it just a broken solder connection.

take photos of all the insides and add them to the website.

does the mouth color wheel turn?

[Mechanic robot]

yes Racer, the mouth color wheel turns. To my pleasant surprise everything turned, worked and lit up when I had the leads from the battery holder touch the motor connections as I had it lying on its back. When I have some time on my hands, I will carefully pry the head apart and take pictures of all its innards and post here. When I bought the battery holder from Radio Shack, I also bought a good soldering kit, solder metal and an unsoldering kit.

 

The solder wire is clear flux solder. Do you think that will work to hold the loose connection together ?

 

 Thank you for your help, you and all the other guys here.

[Racerxc70]

I would recommend that you look at a YouTube video on soldering, to sharpen your skills and remember the fumes are HIGHLY toxic  so do it in a well ventilated area.

add a video of the finished item if you can.

[Racerxc70]

The order of removal for the head should be:

push down and pull forward on the top of the clear mask to release the large plastic tab, remove the mask

release the 4 light blue tabs behind the eyes that hold the light blue shell head

you might be able to wiggle the shell loose, if not you will have to release the other 4  tabs from underneath inside the body 

I used a very very small flat end screwdriver and needle nose pliers to straighten and flatten the tabs

I can not over emphasize how careful you must be with these tabs 

Good luck