Lego Technic 8479

[kancs3118]

Hi all; Just managed to pick up a Lego Technic set, 8479 at a great bargain price. The owner is migrating and everything goes on fire sale - including his house . At first, i thought i found gold (a 1997 vintage set) but upon closer inspection, there are few kinks to iron out. Unfortunately, the following parts are missing; 

 - all the 4 wire cables (item no; 5306bc015, 5306bc020, 5306bc036, 5306bc046)

 - 9v Mini motor (item no; 71427c01), and

 - User Guide for Technic Code Pilot Reader (item no; 4111545), and 

 - one of the two Flex Cable (Stud Measure) 20L (item no; bb08c20L) - broken!

I have been surfing online for all the parts (and its modern day equivalent). Interestingly, Lego has come up with Power Functions Extension Wire (20cm) (item no; 8886) which i suspect can be used in-lieu of the 4x cables above. Unfortunately, someone (in the forum) mentioned that this cannot be used to power up the 9v mini motor.    Don't know how true is that. Can anyone comment on this?

https://shop.lego.com/en-US/LEGO-Power-Functions-Extension-Wire-8886

If the 8886 does not work, can i just buy the longest of the 4 cables and just cut them to the required length?  

Also, is the user guide for Technic Code Pilot Reader available on-line? Just wanna download it.  

Additional twists: 

Even though the set comes with the 2x sensors (item no; 879) - given the age of this item - how to check if they worked? 

Also, one of the two Flex Cable (Stud Measure) 20L (item no; bb08c20L) is broken! For this, can i just go to the hardware store and get hold of an equivalent plastic cable? Or just use "super glue" to join the two ends together? 

Thanks in advance. 

Edited April 18, 2018 by kancs3118

[bonox]

the PF extension cable is one direction only. You can connect a PF battery box to a 9V motor, or the other way. You're after a cable with a 9V connector at both ends. In other words, the conversion between old and new is at one end of the cable only.

You can remake or shorten the cables, but you'll find the insulation on the old rubber ones will perish and fall apart, creating short circuits. You can replace the wire with new stuff - I ended up soldering mine. The connectors can be a little tricky to get apart without breaking them but it can be done. Once pulled apart, the 'how' should be quite obvious.

Checking switches can be done using a lamp/light, or with a continuity meter or multimeter to check resistance falls to nothing when you push the sensor button.

The flex cables are tricky. They have a notch in the end - gluing them together probably won't work, but you might get lucky. If you buy a bit of plastic, you'll have to make the notches yourself which will take some care, but go for it.

[ColletArrow]

Hmm. From what I can tell, none of those have suitable modern, still-in-production versions. The 8886 cable will only work in certain situations, as described rather well by @bonoxabove. I don't see what would be wrong with getting a longer version and just wrapping it around something to keep it tidy inside, but don't quote me on that.

I, unfortunately, am not an expert in this field. For more advice, we could ask to get this topic moved to the Technic sub-forum though . Especially since many of the people who will have better answers than I do rarely leave that sub-forum, it seems.

As for the User Guide, just search for "LEGO 8479 instructions" or similar; some sites will append the user guide to the end. The first one I found was Bricks.argz, and I'm sure there are many more versions out there too. I think you can download them as .pdf from that site, but you'll get the whole instruction booklet.

[kancs3118]

OK...can someone ask the moderator to move this thread to the lego technic sub-forum?

[MAB]

You already have the bricklink parts numbers in your post. Is there any reason that you cannot just buy the missing / broken original parts? I didn't check them all, but the ones I did seem relatively common. You can even get the booklet. It is probably better to get the original parts rather than modern equivalents that need modifying.

[kancs3118]

Hi all;

Need to ask for some help. Having difficulties sourcing for this part in Bricklink.

5306bc046 : Black Electric, Wire with Brick 2 x 2 x 2/3 Pair, 46 Studs Long 

I don't know but can i just STACK the end connectors for both of these two wires to make it into 46 studs and replace the above?

5306bc020 : Black Electric, Wire with Brick 2 x 2 x 2/3 Pair, 20 Studs Long 

5306bc026 : Black Electric, Wire with Brick 2 x 2 x 2/3 Pair, 26 Studs Long

Or can i just use this wire and just use a wire binder to bind the excesses? 

5306bc046 : Black Electric, Wire with Brick 2 x 2 x 2/3 Pair, 162 Studs Long

Edited May 21, 2018 by kancs3118

[zux]

Both cases would work.

[bonox]

read forward in the instructions first so you know if there's room to put the middle 2x2x1.3 'brick' in the middle of the first case, or the lump of wire in the second. This model is probably fairly forgiving in that regard - the 8480 wasn't.

[kancs3118]

Hi all;

What is the difference between these two 9v motor?

71427c01    Light Gray Electric, Motor 9V Mini-Motor, older heavier weight 

vs.

 43362c01 Electric, Motor 9V Mini-Motor, newer lighter weight??

Also, can 43362c01 be fit into 8479 model?

 

Edited May 23, 2018 by kancs3118

[zux]

3 hours ago, kancs3118 said:

Hi all;

What is the difference between these two 9v motor?

71427c01    Light Gray Electric, Motor 9V Mini-Motor, older heavier weight 

vs.

 43362c01 Electric, Motor 9V Mini-Motor, newer lighter weight??

Also, can 43362c01 be fit into 8479 model?

 

I don't have both motors, but @Philo does, and had some details shared on his website:

Motors compared characteristics

Motor (43362) internals

My understanding both motors would work, but cannot promise you it actually will.

[mwyns]

I can confirm that both motors have the same physical dimensions and fit well in the 8479 set.

 

[Philo]

Yes, both motors are almost completely equivalent, though performances of original 71427 motor were slightly better.

[kancs3118]

Thanks for the replies. Since I am getting either one from BrickLink, which one is more reliable and less prone to damages ?

[mwyns]

43362c01 is less prone to damages.