Subject:
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Re: Hey Brad! Why not rerelease an *unpowered* monorail set?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.dear-lego
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Date:
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Thu, 17 Jan 2002 17:59:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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2565 times
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Tim Courtney wrote:
>
> "Larry Pieniazek" <lpieniazek@mercator.com> wrote in message
> news:Gq1s8E.9JL@lugnet.com...
> > In lugnet.dear-lego, Benjamin Medinets writes:
> > > In lugnet.dear-lego, John Grubber writes:
> > > > Hi All,
> > > > From what i have heard, the main problem with the monorail sets is • that the
> > > > motors cannot be made anymore. Why not re-release it unpowered? There • are
> > > > enough smart folks here that could likely jury rig something if they
> > > > wanted to,
> > > > and share the how-to with the rest of us. And i would rather have a • push
> > > > monorail than none at all.
> > > >
> > > > Heres the problem i see though:
> > > > - the track- if i recall, has teeth on its raised center bar, that mesh • with
> > > > the motors teeth, allowing it to crawl along. The would prevent the • easy
> > > > sliding of the set, unless the section where the motor would have
> > > > contacted the
> > > > track is slightly modified (a wider opening or something?).
> > > >
> > > > The lack of electronics/battery pack etc. may even be able to bring the • set
> > > > price down.
> > > >
> > > > Thoughts?
>
> > Count me in. The question, as John said, is what to do in the • motor/gearing
> > area. All the rest is no problem. The gear is part of what keeps the motor
> > on the track correctly aligned, I think.
>
> Ondrew (a fellow NILTC member) and I have had this thought after examining a
> monorail motor.
>
> Why not have the base of the motor part - the gear, the rollers, possibly
> the switches, and create a socket for a Technic motor to fit in the
> orientation where the axle points downward and clicks into a slot attached
> to the gear? Its mounted to the truck (motor base) with studs or pegs.
> Somehow power runs from the battery box through the switches on the base and
> then to the motor.
>
> A little complex, but not too far-fetched. It might be a solution to the
> monorail motor problem. And if the motor burns out, easily replaced, so
> long as the style Techinc motor it uses is readily available.
The motor itself is highly unlikely to be the issue. As I have mentioned
before, every LEGO motor other than the micromotor I have had the
opportunity to look at looks the same shape and size, and I've seen
non-LEGO motors with the same shape also. I would be amazed to find out
that LEGO motors are customs, they are almost certainly standard.
Cool information - Buehler who makes every LEGO motor I have seen has
facilities in the USA in Cary NC and Kinston NC!
Here's a page which has some drawings which give you an idea of the
shape:
http://www.buehlermotor.com/cgi-bin/sr.exe/standardmotorstartus
The hard part is the gear train.
I also suspect that a push monorail would be very unsatisfactory. For
one thing, my experience at shows suggests that the monorails are very
tippy and hard to man handle.
All we can really hope for is for TLC to decide the monorail has enough
potential to basically redesign it from scratch (and hope they try and
duplicate the current one, but I wouldn't count on it).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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