|
|
Post by dchan on Nov 27, 2018 1:27:54 GMT -5
Has anyone else had a problem with Valga from the Rebirth Century line not working properly? I got a pre owned but unbuilt one from Mandarake, and put it together over the weekend. The wind up motor seems to get stuck: once wound up, it won't unwind, though I know the coil spring has lots of tension built up. If I wind it forward (counter clockwise) slightly, it will run for maybe a half or whole cycle, then stop again until I manually advance it forward. Has anybody else run across this problem? I was very excited after seeing videos of it in motion and hopefully there is a way to improve this problem. Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
|
Post by cougan on Nov 27, 2018 6:31:43 GMT -5
I have a problem with an unbuilt one i put together too. It worked one time, than it seems that the motor still works but the gears don’t have a grip.
I tried to repair it several times but i have no solution yet.
Cougan
|
|
|
|
Post by Darth Escargot on Nov 27, 2018 13:43:22 GMT -5
Unfortunately, faulty Valgas aren't all that uncommon. I've built two and both worked, but I guess I just got lucky. My only advice would be to take it apart and reassemble it, but if it's the motor now working correctly, my guess is you're SOL.
|
|
|
|
Post by Maethius on Nov 27, 2018 15:20:33 GMT -5
Mine works (it is the Helic version) but just sits and quietly displays itself.
|
|
|
|
Post by dchan on Nov 28, 2018 0:38:13 GMT -5
Thanks for the input guys... guess I'm out of luck here. It's too bad too, I'd think with such a tricky mechanism the issue would be the moving parts, but after breaking it down I think it really just is the coil spring itself not working properly. Oh well, I'm sure I can mod it in some way.
|
|
|
|
Post by dchan on Dec 9, 2018 1:19:57 GMT -5
Unfortunately, faulty Valgas aren't all that uncommon. I've built two and both worked, but I guess I just got lucky. My only advice would be to take it apart and reassemble it, but if it's the motor now working correctly, my guess is you're SOL. Funny enough, it was your blog post in part that encouraged me to go out of my way to get one. Ah well, at least I can apprecite it vicariously through your video.
Which led me to the discovery of another 80's-era, biomimicry inspired, scifi toy line: the short lived "Robogoron" by Gakken. Apparently others have drawn comparisons between Valga and their designs. Behold:
There's a couple other designs as well. From what I've seen, it seems nearly impossible to find any of them in working condition. The guy who made that video has recreated his own replacement parts and talks about it here: I just thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share-- not strictly Zoids related... but did in some indirect way make me feel better about my Valga not working perfectly.
|
|
|
|
Post by Darth Escargot on Dec 9, 2018 14:37:30 GMT -5
Wow, that's really cool... looks even more "alive" than the Valga for sure.
|
|
|
|
Post by Leon35 on Jul 29, 2020 14:11:13 GMT -5
Bumping this old topic. Im at the end of my Valga build and my motor keeps jamming. Same exact issues you all described above
|
|
|
|
Post by Leon35 on Jul 29, 2020 15:12:25 GMT -5
1 hour later and I have opened up the wind up motor, naively believing myself capable of repairing it Before I could take a picture of the layout, all of the gears fell out. thankfully, nothing is broken but I sadly did not have enough time to snap a picture of the motors internals. HELP  The motor is now completely broken as the spool as come undone. Today went from a really good day to REALLY bad, very quickly. I have been perceverating as to how I would get a DC motor inside the case to power the zoid but I was never cut out for engineering and to be honest, I have all but given up. I dont even want to rebuild it because....it is never going to MOVE. I wish there was a DIY service for people who are good with that type of stuff. As a mathematics teacher, I am ashamed at how poorly I do with building and crafting solutions to problems. |
|
|
|
Post by Darth Escargot on Jul 30, 2020 7:18:37 GMT -5
Uugghh.... sorry, man... I wouldn't know where to start with fixing a windup motor...
|
|
|
|
Post by dchan on Jul 30, 2020 11:25:07 GMT -5
Oh man, I'm sorry to hear that... especially since I had the exact same experience. It felt so deflating and sad when I realized it wasn't working. In fact, I have looked into replacing the windup part with a battery motor and have been making a test prototype with a Command Wolf to see if it would even work. I replaced the windup coil with the motor and gotten the legs to run while free-floating, but where I've gotten stuck is getting enough power to actually walk on the ground bearing its own weight. I've tried several motors, and even a fancy $7 Nerf gun modding super motor doesn't have enough power. So I think it's hard to generate enough force without a clever gearbox, which is a little hard to problem solve for since basically this would have to fit inside the chassis of the Valga itself.
|
|
|
|
Post by Leon35 on Jul 30, 2020 11:34:43 GMT -5
What about switching from that standard lithium battery over to several of those circular batteries in series (the name escapes me)? They are flat and enough of them could maybe produce more current than a single D battery? There are also dofferent varieties that seem to come in multiple sizes.
I remember years ago that someone got a D-Style Gustav to have a working motor thanks to a Hexbug, so maybe those batteries have enough power? They also seem very small for what they can do.
I greatly appreciate those images by the way. I had reassembled my gearbox all wrong haha.
|
|
|
|
Post by Snowflake on Jul 30, 2020 18:27:32 GMT -5
Very first zoid I ever built was a grade-up, and I was amazed they made me build the gearbox (I didn't realize I was only building the grade-up port box). It felt very beyond me, and my dad had to help. I can't IMAGINE the difficulties in rebuilding an actual motor...
|
|
