Lego 8480 wire replacement (69 to 162 stud)

[vaxlt]

Hey all,

I just acquired LEGO Shuttle 8480 from eBay but it came will all wires completely rotten. I found replacements for all of them, but it looks like 69 stud wire is way too expensive for my liking. But I found out that 162 stud wire is a lot cheaper. I never built this model, so I wonder if I replace 69 studs with 162, is there a place to hide the excessive length or will it slack awkwardly around the model?

[allanp]

Space is quite tight, except for maybe right behind the engines or somewhere in the cargo bay. I'm sure there's somewhere you could coil up the excess wire. If not, it is possible to shorten the wire. I'm pretty sure the wires are just pressed on to some metal spikes inside the plug, which itself can unclip apart. So you would just have to unclip the plug open, pull the wire of its metal spikes, clip the wire to length, press the wire firmly back down onto the spikes then clip the wire back together.

[niknarjc]

I bought this used about two years ago and just last month put it together.  I ran into the same issue with rotten wires.   I bought replacement wires (162 Stud) at the local Lego resale shop, They are really long, but work.  I had planned on closing some of the void space in the wings to fill in the model when complete any way, so this worked out great to conceal the extra wire. I also replaced the short motor wire myself.  It was difficult to get the connector brick about and did have to alter it just a little to get it apart.  but its an A to A, B to B, connection so easy enough.  I used white wire for this one since it shows on the top side of the Shuttle.

[vaxlt]

19 minutes ago, allanp said:

Space is quite tight, except for maybe right behind the engines or somewhere in the cargo bay. I'm sure there's somewhere you could coil up the excess wire. If not, it is possible to shorten the wire. I'm pretty sure the wires are just pressed on to some metal spikes inside the plug, which itself can unclip apart. So you would just have to unclip the plug open, pull the wire of its metal spikes, clip the wire to length, press the wire firmly back down onto the spikes then clip the wire back together.

It's actually a really good idea. Since I need two 69 stud cables, I could easily get one 162 stud cable and cut it half, it will save me a fortune. Other ones are quite cheap so I would not bother I guess

[mortenm]

I've had success replacing the rotten wire with new wire bought on ebay. It's not that hard to disassemble the connectors, but I couldn't manage to fit the new wires in the spikes, so I had to do some soldering. 

[Lira_Bricks]

Is there any non-lego wire that can be used instead of the "technic flex cable", that does not damage the lego tubes? And if not, is there any non-lego flex-cable-and-tube-combination that is somewhat compatible with lego (around the same size) that people are using?

 

Edit: another question: How are these types of cables called in other fields? With just "flex cable" I cannot find anything...

Edited January 15, 2021 by Lira_Bricks
Second question

[mortenm]

25 minutes ago, Lira_Bricks said:

Is there any non-lego wire that can be used instead of the "technic flex cable", that does not damage the lego tubes? And if not, is there any non-lego flex-cable-and-tube-combination that is somewhat compatible with lego (around the same size) that people are using?

 

Edit: another question: How are these types of cables called in other fields? With just "flex cable" I cannot find anything...

It's a bit off topic. I think you should create your own topic. Maybe try the search function, the topic has been discussed before. 

[Lira_Bricks]

Seems like my question was indeed already answered:

So the answer is: fishing wire with a small straw around it as to not damage the plastic lego tubes

[Tazmancrash]

8 hours ago, Lira_Bricks said:

Is there any non-lego wire that can be used instead of the "technic flex cable", that does not damage the lego tubes? And if not, is there any non-lego flex-cable-and-tube-combination that is somewhat compatible with lego (around the same size) that people are using?

 

Edit: another question: How are these types of cables called in other fields? With just "flex cable" I cannot find anything...

I think its called ribbon cabel. But I don't know the size

[Lira_Bricks]

6 hours ago, Tazmancrash said:

I think its called ribbon cabel. But I don't know the size

I was more thinking about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowden_cable

I realised that bicycles have what I was thinking about in their braking-system, and found the name of the cable that way :)

[allanp]

18 hours ago, vaxlt said:

It's actually a really good idea. Since I need two 69 stud cables, I could easily get one 162 stud cable and cut it half, it will save me a fortune. Other ones are quite cheap so I would not bother I guess

You probably don't even need to sacrifice any of the few remaining good Lego cables. You could use this stuff I found on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16AWG-28AWG-2-Core-UL-2468-Automotive-Auto-Stranded-Ribbon-Parallel-Wire-Cable-/401343208236

It looks like the 22 gauge has a width of 3.2mm, which is the same as the original Lego cable. It may not be original Lego cable, but you can use this stuff to repair the broken, existing cables you already have, you can make any length you want (up to how ever long the reel is, 30 meters!) and you wouldn't need to sacrifice an original cable. 

EDIT: I just ordered a 30 meter reel of 22 gauge for myself. It might take a while to arrive but I'll let you know how it goes!

Edited January 16, 2021 by allanp

[vaxlt]

1 hour ago, allanp said:

You probably don't even need to sacrifice any of the few remaining good Lego cables. You could use this stuff I found on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/16AWG-28AWG-2-Core-UL-2468-Automotive-Auto-Stranded-Ribbon-Parallel-Wire-Cable-/401343208236

It looks like the 22 gauge has a width of 3.2mm, which is the same as the original Lego cable. It may not be original Lego cable, but you can use this stuff to repair the broken, existing cables you already have, you can make any length you want (up to how ever long the reel is, 30 meters!) and you wouldn't need to sacrifice an original cable. 

EDIT: I just ordered a 30 meter reel of 22 gauge for myself. It might take a while to arrive but I'll let you know how it goes!

 

Thank you! I spent ages trying to find a close match to the original cable. I ordered 3 meters, should be plenty for experiments

[mortenm]

Just checked: it was 22AWG I bought and it was aliexpress, not ebay ?. 4p ribbon cable. It's the perfect size when split in two.