42055 - Bucket Wheel Excavator - MODs and Improvements

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Wrong thread, sorry.

Edited September 13, 2019 by Ngoc Nguyen

[DrJimbo]

SO, I got round to rebuilding this, using @jb70 's smooth version. 

I never found this build tedious, and the kids (big and small) love playing with it.

As I had used much of this set building 42042, BWE now gets a (not-super consistent) re-colour. I like the black & orange combo. I also added in Buwizz power, and ludicrous mode speeds up the slewing and digging. Movement still seems slow. I kept the PF battery box as a counterweight. Also added some powerfunctions lights.

Buwizz easy to integrate. In this setup, the lights are powered from the lego battery box, but these can go Buwizz too.

Doing what it does best. These pasta shapes rarely clog on the belt. The bucket wheel does sometimes get stuck, mostly just needs a slight nudge. So satisfying to play with (that's what the kids say!).

[pkueting]

@Imanol BB: Amazing MOD! Do you have a final lxf-file und a corresponding manual/instruction for the 42055?

Thanks in advance!

[dlee98]

@Imanol BB: I reconstructed the base of the model using IMANOL's LXF file to use 2 PoweredUp/Control+ motors, seems to work well.  However, the 8:1 reduction using the worm gears to 8 tooth makes the base a bit slow.  Has anyone tried less reduction in the base? Is there still enough power to move the model at 4:1 or 2:1?  

I also used more L motors (poweredUp) to run the other functions and it works pretty well.  All being controlled with Brickcontroller 2 connected to X Box wireless controller:

2 L: Base for tracks:  Left + Right trigger for forward, backward, Left and right shoudler for turn left, turn right

1 L: Bucket wheel + Upper Belt: Y button to turn on/off (brickcontroller used to set the speed)

1L: Lower Belt: B button to turn on/off (brickcontroller to set speed)

1L motor each: Left stick:  Up/Down to tilt the bucket wheel up/down, left/right to swivel entire bucket wheel left/right

I did not motorize the swivel function on the lower belt

 

[pleegwat]

55 minutes ago, dlee98 said:

I reconstructed the base of the model using IMANOL's LXF file to use 2 PoweredUp/Control+ motors, seems to work well.  However, the 8:1 reduction using the worm gears to 8 tooth makes the base a bit slow.  Has anyone tried less reduction in the base? Is there still enough power to move the model at 4:1 or 2:1?  

I know back in the day I did a motorisation with PF motors and if I remember correctly I used four 5:3 geardowns, definittely no worm gears.

[Ngoc Nguyen]

Can anyone suggest a simple mod to increase power or speed, like adding a motor somewhere?

[m2fel]

3 hours ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

Can anyone suggest a simple mod to increase power or speed, like adding a motor somewhere?

Hi, Ngoc Nguyen. If the BWE needs to run smoother I suggest the mod of jb 70. The mod also speeded mine up as It is not as jerky as it was anymore :)

[astyanax]

4 hours ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

Can anyone suggest a simple mod to increase power or speed, like adding a motor somewhere?

At the time I added a 2nd PF XL motor and a switch (to reverse it). No additional parts needed. It ran faster and more powerful, by getting rid of the 24-tooth clutch gears (at own risk of course).

IIRC the 2nd motor placement and corresponding gearing was shown in a YouTube video. 

However, it didn't really improve driving. When the machine goes faster, the top starts wobbling, making the driving rather jerky.

Edited January 28, 2023 by astyanax
Clarifications

[Ngoc Nguyen]

26 minutes ago, astyanax said:

IIRC the 2nd motor placement and corresponding gearing was shown in a YouTube video. 

Can you find the link?

[astyanax]

42 minutes ago, Ngoc Nguyen said:

Can you find the link?

Yes found it. The idea came from this vid. But besides the 2nd motor and switch I only used parts from the set itself, and positioned the battery box more cleanly. I literally didn't have anything else -- the BWE was the first set I bought after 25 years of dark ages...

 

[Lego Tom]

On 1/28/2023 at 7:53 AM, astyanax said:

Yes found it. The idea came from this vid. But besides the 2nd motor and switch I only used parts from the set itself, and positioned the battery box more cleanly. I literally didn't have anything else -- the BWE was the first set I bought after 25 years of dark ages...

 

I reversed the order of the gears, putting the two small black gears where you put the larger tan gears and the tan gears where you put the black gears. The ratio sped up the drive, but not as fast as your placement. IMHO, it looks more realistic, moving faster than the stock build but not as fast as your modification.

[karmi]

On 3/4/2017 at 10:53 AM, Ngoc Nguyen said:

ULTIMATE MOD for 42055 B model (or so I believe).

The mods include:

1/ Improve the short conveyor belt
2/ Increase chute shaking rate without removing clutch gears

without using too many extra parts.

...

Excellent work on the improvements! The image links in your post are dead though, would you happen to have the originals still somewhere?

[Ngoc Nguyen]

21 minutes ago, karmi said:

Excellent work on the improvements! The image links in your post are dead though, would you happen to have the originals still somewhere?

I dont keep them anymore sorry