Problem with Parts Cracking

[vadims]

I have four new 24 teeth gear wheels cracked. Only one of them was in use for several hours inside steering mechanism with a very low stress, and the other three gears were not used before, they cracked while building, when I put it on the axle. I wrote to the Lego company about broken pieces, so I am waiting for a response.

I don't understand why it happened Also I have several old 24 teeth gears, and they are ok, they are much stronger and they don't have any cracks, but the new ones (bought in 2015: 42009 set and 8293 set) all cracked(

Edited September 10, 2015 by vadims

[JJ2]

Wow that very interesting! That has never happened to me even when in high stress. Maybe there was a bad patch of plastic that made them brittle.

[RohanBeckett]

I've only ever had the old style of those gears crack, since they have the extra cross-axle hole, which makes them significantly weaker than the current version

[Milan]

I have 15+ of them in the same color, both in use and in never-used condition, and none of them cracked. In fact, none of my 40+ 24gears ever cracked, not even the ones that are almost two decades old.

[GoldVillage]

Basically every thin liftarm xoox and xox are cracked, I bet they make these as weak as they can just to sell more of them.

[LennyRhys]

Sad to see new parts crack like that, especially since they have been redesigned and are supposed to be "stronger" than the previous 24t gears.

I'd say the quality of plastic must be very poor because ABS is extremely strong stuff and there are many of us who have used gears for decades which have never broken. Some of my gears are over 30 years old and still going strong after having been used in many MOCs.

Poor show from TLG.

[vadims]

Today I have received a letter from the Lego company with 4 new gears :classic:

Thanks to Lego I can continue to build my models.

[Kman860]

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5815/21689866228_3abac01dff_z.jpg' alt='21689866228_3abac01dff_z.jpg'>[Bionicle piece by kristiankocjancic, on Flickr

These bionicle parts always used to break on me, especially the light/lime green ones

Edited October 2, 2015 by Kman860

[rocklego]

Looks like others had parts cracking before I found part number 32184 (color of light bluish grey) of my sets suffered cracking.

Then I started finding all sets I own contain part number 32184 to check if there is more cracking of this part.

So far Set 42005/42006/8049 all contain this parts have cracked. Some cracking open is wide enough to be seen with eyes.

Photo link of above mentioned sets

http://bricksafe.com...G/1920x1440.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...G/1920x1440.jpg

http://bricksafe.com...G/1920x1440.jpg

There are 16 parts of 32184 in Set 42009 and 20 parts of 32148 in set 42043 for checking after disassembling.

Edited February 21, 2016 by rocklego

[therealjustin]

Part 32184 is the one I have had the most trouble with and nearly all of them in my collection are cracked. Email or call LEGO if you can and let them know. I would also request replacements as this is unacceptable.

[doug72]

Its good that Lego replace the cracked part BUT they should be finding out why this seems to be an increasing problem and coming up with a solution either by redesign or by stronger material.

[zux]

The shorter version - 6536 - has exactly same issue.

[Samer]

From all this discussion one would conclude that part 32184 needs investigation.

I notice that there is almost absence of complaints about axle holes from these parts:

and only one complaint from this:

If the case is that these are much less prone to the crack issue, I think TLG should know how to take it from here.

[doug72]

and only one complaint from this:

If the case is that these are much less prone to the crack issue, I think TLG should know how to take it from here.

I have many of these cracked mostly yellow ones - if only a small crack then repair using a tiny drop of ABS glue and consign them to parts of a model not under stress.

Also have many grey 6536 & 31184 connecters with cracks - black ones are less prone to cracking.

I think part of the problem is fatigue if parts are assembled and dis-assembled many times.

I now don't pull models apart but carefully ease out axels and pins etc. using a thin blade or an axle to seperate connected parts & pins.

[grum64]

I've got parts cracking on my 8674, mainly around tbe suspension.

I've just noticed that my 8461 has got the same problem.

I know the parts are under a certain amount of stress from the springs and the weight of the models but it doesn't make it any less annoying.

As I now have somewhere to display future builds it makes me wonder how they'll fare once they've also been sat on the shelf for a while.

[Jay Psi]

I've had exactly that piece (yellow axle connector w/ axle hole) crack on my 8674's front suspension as well. Thankfully nothing else has broken on this or on the other F1 cars I have.

Because it's come apart in the same way as yours has it's not really salvageable either.

[rocklego]

http://bricksafe.com...PG/1280x960.jpg

Take a closer look at the photo (above link) , then you can tell materials used between top three cracked parts found in 42006 and bottom three without cracking ones found in 42043 .

I think TLG have solved the light blueish grey part 32184 being easily cracked on the both axle hole end with a strong material.

One question : Does anyone know meaning of three-digit number (8-11 / 2-11 / 3-11) imprinted on three connectors with a black axle inserted ?

Edited February 21, 2016 by rocklego

[Dafgek81]

I have 4L cv joints cracked at the edges of the axle holes, but since the aren't used in newer sets, I don't have a big problem with that.

The ones I have and have cracks, been replaced by TLG.

Now they use the 3L ones.

[2LegoOrNot2Lego...]

Seeing parts broken which I never was able to break... :laugh:

[AFOLegofan66]

wow I never had any cracked parts and I have made a lot of lego MOCs

[mostlytechnic]

I've had zero cracked parts (that weren't 20+ years old) until just this week. I took a 8297 Technic off-roader apart and found about a half-dozen of the blue 3 long pins cracked.

[N-4K0]

With cracking, I mostly experience the perpendicular pin/axle connectors as in post #84 cracking, and sometimes pins, usually the 3L blue ones.

I don't really check up on assembled models, so I don't know if I still have any cracked parts.

Speaking of cracked connectors, I'm not a Lego purist, so if connectors that has a pin hole in them cracks, I usually keep them and modify them to pin bushings.

[mattnz]

I have noticed this problem occurring on my assembled lego architecture sets with the tan pieces cracking overtime. They are all kept in a dark room with no sun exposure. So is a concern. Have contacted lego for a solution. But would be interested to know if other people have had problems with these sets.

[Rudivdk]

I have this on lots of older parts, mainly on the axleholes. Some bent liftarms (green ones from bar code scanner truck) even broke completely. Can't be bothered too much though, some of that stuff is almost 30 years old. I'm not as solid as I was 30 years ago, let alone some plastic... ?

 

Edit: never had this on new parts, that would bother me actually

Edited February 12, 2017 by Rudivdk