ghiamia2k Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 Hey folks, new to the forum. Perhaps it's been covered b4 but I've got a perfect working blink a gear except it only blinks when upside down!!! Took off the front of body and now I'm wondering how much further I need to go to find the gremlin. Any advice would be very much appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Welcome to the board, Richard. Sounds like the electrical contact needs a little attention. If you post a picture of the open robot I'm sure the experts here will narrow down the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAL Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Hi Richard, Worked on one of these recently. The photo below shows the internals. The silver disk, with red and green panels, and two notches, spins anti clockwise when the robot is in operation. The brass strip (indicated by the yellow arrow) acts like a switch by contacting the silver disk at the non-notched sections and completing the circuit to the lamp. If either the brass strip is not contacting the silver disk or the wire connection to the brass strip is loose the lamp won’t light up. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Gil Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Welvome to board of fellow robot nerds! Note - the blink function is somewhat different than the lighting function. I forget now which robot has which feature - but, the mechanical "blinking" is a movement of the eyes, without lighting. If that is your robot, there will be a linkage rod from his eye control down to a connection somewhere near the top / front area near his left leg. I had similar issues with one several years back. I was able to carefully reach that rod while holding the robot in different angles - (to get the linkage arm.to move freely). Examine that and see if that might be it If that's the case, you could be able to get ahold (it has a little bend on the end) of it and guide it to it's home. Then find a little crimp washer of some sort and lock it up. To get it to meet up, you might need to run the ronot for a second or two to make the distances correct. I did all.that without any disassembly of the robot - just patience, holding it differently to allow gravity to help - run the robot for a few seconds and see if you can see the linkage. If so, it only a matter of dexterity and patience to connect them. I did mine ime with regular needle nose pliers - if you have an offset pair, that would help. This is only for the true "blinking" function tho, not the lit eyes, to be clear. If it is the lit eyes, Sal has you covered. Cheers, and good luck - if you run ito more issues, let us know. If it all works out, share some pics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Gil Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Taiyo's naming of these robots helped crate some confusion about which is which - and what eyes should light, move, etc... For better clarity - if your robot has the "geared" chested robot, it's the Blink-a-Gear - it has lights that should flash on and off in the way in which Sal explained. Here is my old Blinker, with one eye bulb non functioning. Here is my old Wheel-a-Gear with the mechanical eye movement - it's subtle, but they move up and down. If I still had it, I would share pics - I'll take a look later and see if I have any saved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghiamia2k Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 9 hours ago, SAL said: Hi Richard, Worked on one of these recently. The photo below shows the internals. The silver disk, with red and green panels, and two notches, spins anti clockwise when the robot is in operation. The brass strip (indicated by the yellow arrow) acts like a switch by contacting the silver disk at the non-notched sections and completing the circuit to the lamp. If either the brass strip is not contacting the silver disk or the wire connection to the brass strip is loose the lamp won’t light up. Hope this helps. Sal thank you robot rock stars. After reading your info I'm thinking what's underneath the fiber board is related to the blinking power flow .. yes? This blink a gear is a bit diff than yours.. Oh yeah, Taiyo not daiya. I'll let u know what happens ok? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghiamia2k Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 4 hours ago, Martian Gil said: Welvome to board of fellow robot nerds! Note - the blink function is somewhat different than the lighting function. I forget now which robot has which feature - but, the mechanical "blinking" is a movement of the eyes, without lighting. If that is your robot, there will be a linkage rod from his eye control down to a connection somewhere near the top / front area near his left leg. I had similar issues with one several years back. I was able to carefully reach that rod while holding the robot in different angles - (to get the linkage arm.to move freely). Examine that and see if that might be it If that's the case, you could be able to get ahold (it has a little bend on the end) of it and guide it to it's home. Then find a little crimp washer of some sort and lock it up. To get it to meet up, you might need to run the ronot for a second or two to make the distances correct. I did all.that without any disassembly of the robot - just patience, holding it differently to allow gravity to help - run the robot for a few seconds and see if you can see the linkage. If so, it only a matter of dexterity and patience to connect them. I did mine ime with regular needle nose pliers - if you have an offset pair, that would help. This is only for the true "blinking" function tho, not the lit eyes, to be clear. If it is the lit eyes, Sal has you covered. Cheers, and good luck - if you run ito more issues, let us know. If it all works out, share some pics Thank you rock robots! Just reads all info and I now believe my gremlin exists under a fiberboard. Thanks MG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Gil Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Right on! Sal's advice will get you where you need to be! Cool! Also, your leg joints look to be in good shape as well. Those are a frequent failing point in these begg fellows. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghiamia2k Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 Found it right in front of me! Thanks folks! Brass strip alignment... duh!! Blink!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghiamia2k Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 10 hours ago, SAL said: Hi Richard, Worked on one of these recently. The photo below shows the internals. The silver disk, with red and green panels, and two notches, spins anti clockwise when the robot is in operation. The brass strip (indicated by the yellow arrow) acts like a switch by contacting the silver disk at the non-notched sections and completing the circuit to the lamp. If either the brass strip is not contacting the silver disk or the wire connection to the brass strip is loose the lamp won’t light up. Hope this helps. Thanks Sal... started thing like a robot... simple brass strip alignment without further excavation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAL Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Oops sorry, got my blink a gear and wheel a gear mixed up! Glad it got sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghiamia2k Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 4 minutes ago, SAL said: Oops sorry, got my blink a gear and wheel a gear mixed up! Glad it got sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Gil Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Right on! Love when an old toy gets some love! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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