Reker1000000

So, funny story... I looked at the brochures inside my sets, and the originally sealed copy of 7859 actually has that brochure! The motor and remote are both dated from 1985, so it makes sense. Is that brochure particularly rare? I see some listings on Bricklink.

Hi Eurobricks, I just released a review of 7725 Electric Passenger Train! This 12V starter set was released in 1981 as a supplement to the existing lineup, and is pretty common today. I was able to get a copy from Denmark in very good condition complete with a Scandinavian box variant, which I'm super excited about, as Scandinavian boxes are rare and this is my first one. Check out the full review below!

I wish! That's why I started collecting 12V, the electric accessories are so unique. Hey thanks for the comment! Yep, the decoupler has instructions for the transformer - it's actually a booklet that has instructions for every supplemental set (transformer, signal, points, etc...), I have another of those booklets. I think it was more of an advertisement than actual instructions. Yep, 7861 was clearly from after 1985 (and maybe even after 1987, since it has the newer cable types), but it does have the old box variant. The 1989 box variant of 7858 is actually a super late release, both the remote and motor are dated from 1992, and the service brochure inside is from 92 as well. I never new about that advertisement with 7838 - but makes sense, as 7823 was released in 1986, so there should have been 7838 displayed in 1985. Interesting! I'm going to try and order more of the brochures, I love looking through them.

Hey Eurobricks, It's been a bit since I posted - I've been super busy and haven't had much time for content creation. However, I've made some great purchases recently including a 7725 with DK/S/SF box, a 7760 in near-new condition, a rare poster, and recently, several sealed accessories from a US seller! I got them from eBay for good prices, not much more than used prices for these sets on Bricklink. I bought a set of points (7858 + 7859) for $60 each, a lighting set (7861) for $40, and decoupler (7862) for $140. I opened them recently on camera and learned some more about part variants - specifically, the copy of 7858 I got was the later box version, and after opening it I saw that it was a super late release of the set, from around 1992. I've opened two sealed accessory sets before - 7862 and 7860 - and it was awesome to open some more! Check out the full video below. I'm working on reviews of the train sets as well, so hopefully those will be posted soon!

Thanks for the nice comments! Nice! Do you still have the box as well? I think that may be more expensive than the set...

Hello EB, Recently I got a few more vintage train sets, and in particular I'm quite excited about 7727 and 7815. These are rare ones from 1983, and I got them both boxed! Check out the reviews below.

Hello Eurobricks, It's been a bit since I made a post, I've been focusing on school for the past few months but now it's summer and I have time for 12v! Recently I ordered a boxed 7727 for a very good price from a trusted 12v seller in the Netherlands (link to his shop in video description), but the box was in used condition with previous glue and tape repairs, and no plastic foil in the outerbox. I bought the set because I thought I could repair the box, and I'm happy to say that I've been successful! I present to you the full restoration video about this rare box. You can repair any big 80s box with these techniques but not the 70s boxes (such as those for 7740, 7750...) since those have styrofoam. Hopefully some of you can use this on your older boxes if they're in poor condition! Never throw vintage boxes away...

I need to make a spinoff of this with "It's 12v. Thanks for watching."

Looks nice, I like the layout design! Which trains will you run?

Ok, here's another idea I might try. @HoMa you're right, I realized the axle on the Blue Era motors wouldn't be long enough to power both sides. But, I found an excellent thread (linked in one of the recent 12v motor posts, I think) here about motor repair. The last post in the thread is about buying a new DC motor, taking the commutator off, and then putting it on the original Lego motor shaft. It looks like a fair bit of work and would require some tools and dexterity, but I think it could be done. This would work if the commutator is meant for the correct axle diameter (I think 2mm) and is meant for a 3-pole motor, like the Lego motors are. I will (at some point) buy at least one of these and try my hand at replacing the commutator on one of my 2 motor blocks with burnt-out commutators. I've found some potentially suitable replacements on eBay, so I will see about getting one or more of them to test.

This is a very interesting and useful thread for everyone (including myself) who repairs 12v motors. I never saw brass gears on the axle in any opened motors, including the 3 opened ones I own (2 type 1's and a type 2). One thing to mention is, if this leads to manufacturing replacement gears, how are we to get them on to the axles? I haven't been able to get the original gears off unless they've been cracked (which has been the case with a few of mine). The axle has grooves in it which lock the gear in place - the gear can't slide off the axle and it can't rotate on the axle. I will have to take a look at my motor parts later and confirm measurements for the gears. I know they changed the gears in the motors from type 1 to type 2 motors- the type 2 motors have thicker gears to mesh with the worms better.

I've been looking for a suitable replacement 12v DC motor for the Grey Era train motors since I opened 2 of mine and found that both had broken commutators, and haven't found anything so far. However, today I had an idea. Has anyone opened up one of the 12v motors from the Blue Era? Those were also manufactured by Buhler and ran on the same voltage, and I was thinking there might be a possibility that they could be used to replace the ones in the 80s motors. I may try this myself if I can get my hands on one of those motors. Thoughts? Or, if anyone has opened this type of motor, does it look like it could be swapped?

Excellent! I'm sure that will be helpful for some 12v users. I will have to try this for myself if/when one of my motors needs this repair. Thanks for contributing to the 12v pool of knowledge!

The motor cases inside have "Buhler" engraved on them, so I'm fairly certain they were. I also saw on Eurobricks that Buhler produced them. Unfortunate that any remaining products were probably destroyed...