kage28

Eurobricks Vassals
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  1. kage28

    Chinese 88000

    Yes, no issues with them. They work normally as we would expect from 88000.
  2. Thank you, I couldn’t and wouldn’t have have gone ahead without your valuable input on this, so my thanks instead! Absolutely! Especially considering the fact that I’ve never got to use it at all during its original life cycle! Honestly, given the God-tier levels of expertise on these boards regarding what had been done modifying existing battery packs for LEGO, I couldn’t believe the fact that I could not find any video or article about anyone replacing the cells for 8878 as of Jan 2022. I’ve always wondered if it was mostly because the God-tier customisers already made their own solutions for battery units, eschewing 8878 altogether? Or maybe the ones who have the skills are also the ones who have taken better care of their batteries, hence no need to perform such a “surgery”. Either way, for the people who have the same problem as I had (or will have, in the future), your 8878 CAN ( previously only theoretical, but now with empirical proof) be given a new lease of life after the stock cells expire, as they will, inevitably. Just err on the side of smaller dimensioned cells.
  3. Hi all, to all who might be interested, especially @Toastie , who had been a great help, an update on the 2S-cell replacement for 8878. After a couple of months since Jan 2022, with the help of friends in China, I have finally received my replacement cells to start my project to overhaul the 8878 that I have never got to use. I've received the cells on the 22nd March 2022. 2 days later, I found some time, and gathered all the necesary stuff and headed to the place I've scouted beforehand to do the necessary de-soldering of the old wire stumps and to solder on the new cells. Unfortunately, I underestimated the actual size of the cells and the measurements are a little too big (length by about 1.5- 2 mm or so, width just a hair wider than 30mm, and some trimming of the plastic will be necessary to fit the new cells into the compartment. New cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr New cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr Af course, before that, got to charge and test the battery: Prior to charging, I wanted to see it it powers on at all. No problems there. New cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr Using a 5V-12V converter with min 1amp current, I've started charging it. Red lights blinking....which is normal (even with the spoilt old cells).... the real test is whether it stops blinking and become solid red, which means fully charged. After about 20 mins, solid red...... SUCCESS! Charging by Kj Toh, on Flickr After disconnecting it from the charging cable, I've connected it directly to a train motor to test if it can run (previously was a no-go, even with the battery directly connected to the charging mains)....I turn the battery on, and then the dial......SUCCESS! Now, I haven't really done any form of heavy testing (I only bring out trains from storage for my boys... and myself at the end of the year), but I have little doubt that it will perform like new, or at the very least, close to it. Now, the only thing left to do is to fit it into the battery compartment.... and discharge it slightly for storage til the later part of the year.
  4. Pictures of the connections between the cells in 8878 8878 7.4v battery cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr 8878 7.4v battery cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr 8878 7.4v battery cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr 8878 7.4v battery cells by Kj Toh, on Flickr QR Code/ link to the 703048 1S cell page (many products on the same page)
  5. Happy to to that, though I have to ask: How do I do that? With a multimeter? I have one arriving tomorrow. Where do I probe? I assume I can do that even after I detach the wires/ cells from the main PCB. Edit: Misunderstood the question on 1st pass. No prob, I’ll separate the pouches and see what kind of circuitry/ PCB is between them. For science! Got it, thanks! Not at all, thank you for guiding me instead!
  6. Yes, this is the LINK to the family of products on Taobao. Note, site is in Chinese, and you may need a friend within China to help to ship it internationally.There might be similar ones in Aliexpress, l'll probably try to look for it later. Thanks for the tips... I "drilled" using a screw driver and pull out the plugs limiting access to the screws. Sucessfully opened.... Behold! The cells in all their glory..... or not: Looks like really bad news.... and it seems to me that I better cut them loose and properly dispose of them as soon as I can! Given my lack of tools, can I simply just snip off the 3 cables one at a time? Lets take a look at the PCB: Looks ok to me.... nothing looks fried.... and it shouldnt, since they have pretty much never been used. Pardon the small pictures... but EB limits me to only slightly over 100KB overall uploads per post.
  7. Thank you for the very informative guide and explanation Thorsten, very much appreciated! Looks like if everything else was working ok, this replacement cell would be the one to get, and a swap would pretty much be enough: However......the bad news... I did the testing for this: 1. Direct to train motor: No response at all when turning the dial either way 2. Via the IR receiver and then to train motor: no response, and the LED on the receiver doesn't light up as well. Set up the above to the standard AAA battery box (88000), all was working as expected, so it is clear 8878 is the problem. Looks like I have to get my hands on a hand drill pronto, to see whats really going on inside the battery pack, and maybe a multimeter as well.
  8. Thanks very much for the information! Regarding the “load test” I’ll have to test it come morning (it is 1:30am where I am) Thanks again!
  9. Hi Thorsten, The answers to your questions: 1. I used a 12V power source, after reading your research that using adapters between 9v to less than 20v are fine. 2. Yes, during “charging” it turns on, but goes dead as soon as the plug is out or wall power source switched off. 3. Nope I have not opened it yet, don’t have a drill yet to remove the plastic covering the screws. Also, the truth is… embarrassing. I have bought this battery way back around 2011, and totally forgot about it and keep it in storage until…. Recently. Yes… 10 years unopened. In other words, no, I have never actually used it ( I know I know……what an idiot!) and since I have read that people have only left it in storage for months before encountering a similar predicament as I have, I conclude the cells are way beyond salvageable. So thought I’ll do this somewhat as a learning project and see if I can rescue this from the ditch and learn a thing or 2, plus, can’t hurt to have another usable battery pack for my growing train collection! My main concern is actually the wiring, since LEGO uses a 2S cell with 3 wires. Not sure what exactly the 3rd wire does exactly in conjunction to the PCB and how critical it is to safety or even proper functioning. Also, so far I have not come across any resource or examples of anyone changing the cells. A example of that would really be educational methinks, and I can at the very least to let my appointed solder-er know some potential pitfalls to avoid, or be mindful of certain things. Thank you very much.
  10. Hi all, So I left my 8878 untouched for way too long, thus totally drained and it refuses to charge after numerous attempts, some attempts going into days (just flashes orange, and unable to turn on after unplugging). Looks like the only way out is to attempt a change of the internal cells, and I've went around looking at potential replacements. Since I can read Chinese, I went scouting around Taobao and found a few potential candidates (mainly based on voltage, capacity and dimensions). I was wondering if any of the 3 cells pictured would be suitable replacements? My electronics/ soldering are basically non-existant, and I would probably engage a 3rd party to do the actual replacing. Thank you very much A.) 2 wires output, no connector B.)2 wires output, no connector C: 3 wires output (3rd wire for NTC protection? is it the same as the 3rd wire in 8878?), no connector To refresh, this is the internal circuit of 8878:
  11. kage28

    Beware of BlueBrixx Double Crossover

    I had a similar experience with a replica 7996. Returing was not an option for me, so I had to attempt a fix, or it is $$$ down the drain. In my case, the mechanism was not working as intended due to the sliding adjuster interacting with the springs wasn't in the correct position. Prying open the back cover and re-sitting the catch of the sliding adjuster between the 2 prongs of the internal spring did the trick for me.
  12. This is a real thing in China, though the days of this ancient way of fishing are probably numbered.
  13. kage28

    Oxford World War Series - WWII Planes, Tanks

    I have the Panther, Tiger and T34/85. As mentioned, the hips and the torso can't be interchanged with LEGO, There are 2 extrusions to make sure it doesn't happen though the pegs would most likely fit. The torso prints are ok, though the iron crosses are way oversized. The head print designs might not be to everyone's sensibilities, so i'd recommend swapping them out. The tanks themselves are very nice. in my opinion there are 3 major and legitimate brick Tank providers: Brickmania (more a boutique than general actually i guess), Cobi and Oxford. I also like that it comes with german MG34s and US M1919 machine guns. In terms of aesthetics, these doesn't lose to companies like Brickarms. In terms of design, Oxford is 2nd only to Brickmania, and their offerings are comparable in scale (about 1/32 - 1/35). However, being a general product for kids, the design emphasizes sturdiness over accuracy, thus we have in inaccuracies like the straight side skirts insted of sloped ones. Cobi is also very good, but in my opinion 9again)suffers from using too many specialised pieces, no doubt looking more like the real thing, but in doing so, loses some of the "LEGO charm". Also the scale is bigger as well, around 1/28. In summary: I would buy more Oxford military!
  14. kage28

    LEGO Ideas: 21310 Old Fishing Store (Fall 2017)

    Nice! I was rooting for (though not expecting) this one! loved this the moment I saw it in ideas