Vintage Lego electronics content

[mjg]

Figure this might interest some people here - some 30 year old Lego Technic, with electronics in need of some TLC.

My partner works at a charity, and they have a big 2nd hand Lego sale to raise funds.  I'm helping out by checking some of the kits before they are ready to sell, and came across this one:





It's got connections and controls for 3 motors, and you can program in a sequence of movements to be replayed later.   Pretty neat for its age. 

The heart always falls when you pick it up and can feel the weight of 30 year old batteries still inside. Sure enough, the batteries had leaked and corroded, all over the place. This is usually not something we can sell, especially when they have leaked this badly. This will usually have ruined circuits underneath.

One of the 'C' size culprits:



Some of the damage:




However, I have to admire the design of this controller - the battery bay was almost completely sealed from the other circuitry, with only a tiny amount of leakage getting through to the back of the PCB. The front of the PCB has no damage at all.  There's a little Motorola chip doing the work. 




Hot wiring the controller to a 9v supply shows that everything still functions.  Success!  (Yes, that's my pedal tester doing the heavy lifting, lol)



I managed to pull the battery contacts out and cleaned them off with a small flat screwdriver, and some vinegar. Once I got the corrosion off, it became obvious that the metal has been eaten almost through. You can see daylight through some bits. This isn't going to be useable with these contacts. 




I've ordered some new battery contacts and will put them into place once they arrive. The kit will then go to some lucky person at the sale (it should sell for $200 or so we hope).

Usually we don't have to go to these lengths for a kit, but it was worth it for the potential value vs the fix (and my time, but whatever, I'm having fun).

[Willybomb]

Mate, if you get that up and working, I'll give you guys $200 right now.  Who does your missus work for - Vinnies or Salvos?

[jimilee]

How awesome, me and my daughter love lego(s).


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[mjg]

Mate, if you get that up and working, I'll give you guys $200 right now.  Who does your missus work for - Vinnies or Salvos?

It's not Vinnies or Salvos, it's a local charity in Canberra.  They do re-homing of kids clothes, prams, car seats, toys etc to families who need it.

The Lego sale they did last year was fricken amazing.  There was 3 to 4 tonnes of loose Lego, and they also had hundreds of box sets donated to sell. 

Have to say, I didn't know that sitting in a bathtub and getting buried in Lego up to my neck was on my bucket list, but it's ticked off now anyway.  Have to take these opportunities when life throws them at you. 

[Betty Wont]

That is super cool! I remember using that kit in technology class in seventh grade in the 90s in Arizona.