Berthil

Video of the Sunday event and test setup where all the black and grey stuff is mine :) The train has a little difficulty to engage the switch to go down because the Lithium battery is already a bit lower but all still works. Like the Japanese I also have a tendency to over engineer but am getting better at simplifying for more reliable modules :)

Could also well be silicone rubber, one of the most expensive synthetic elastomers and very resistant against UV and lower temperatures, typically door seals in airplanes are made of silicone rubber. Probably yours do not contain natural rubber and if so, keep them away from light :) I don't think we have to worry about storing the Rotary dumper with bands in place as long as they are not stretched too much. I only have red bands in place which are almost at their relaxed position.

I am working in the synthetic rubber branche for over 30 years at the largest synthetic rubber producer in the world. I'm glad the LEGO coloured bands are not natural rubber anymore as they loose elastomeric properties under the influence of UV light (polymeric chains break). The black ones diminish over time as no doubt every AFOL has noticed. Natural rubber however is the best elastomer for dynamic properties, property number one for elastic bands. I think current bands are Butyl (IIR, Isobuytlene-Isoprene copolymer) rubber, the next close thing to natural rubber when it comes to dynamic properties. Or it is EPDM which is better UV resistant and better colorable but has less dynamic properties. EPDM is an Ethylene Propylene copolymer (with a third monomer) most commonly used in your black door profiles of your car. What you see in the bands is called creep which below picture shows on stretch (blue line) and release (red line), especially the release. Lots of factors influence the lines but it is certainly also temperature dependant where cold is actually worsening dynamic properties instead of warmth. So we shouldn't store the Rotary Dumper at very low temperatures :) On very good dynamic properties red line comes closer to blue, on worse further away from blue and also not coming back to starting point (which means longer bands after stretch), especially after a long stretch (elongation). So never overstretch the LEGO rubber bands :)

@Doug72, I have the same experience with the elevator and have done about the same settings and tryouts until I found a good equilibrium between all switches and rubber bands. Looking at how everything has to work together, it's surprising it kept working for 4 hours yesterday. Dropping is mostly when train leaves elevator too early before red switch (with the 2x2 slope) can hook. If you remove the 1x1 connector from the 3L pin at the elevator stop switch and set the red locking switch to higher it should work better.

I timed it earlier in my video, from lift entry to lift exit is 22 seconds with Lithium battery for the Rotary Dumper, good quality AA runs faster. Loader takes almost 30 balls in one cycle when Inbox is full. Straight tracks between loader and Rotary Dumper where 5 in total today. Today the loader could manage all balls presented in our circuit so unloading of the Rotary Dumper was also fast enough to keep up with the circuit pace. Conclusion: Rotary dumper keeps up with 1 ball per second in a 4h event, even with slower Lithium battery. On problems with the Rotary dumper the loader fills up quickly but this is no different from any other setup, balls keep coming of you like it or not :)

So I ran the Rotary Dumper for 4 hours today at a small scale event and am very pleased with the overall result. It was an eyecatcher for the visiting public. A few observations of today: rotary timing mechanism at all times in sync! occasionally 3 x 3 thin liftarms do not fall in front of switch bar, half stud room more would be very good there in my setup, I will see what I can to improve without changing the mechanism itself as it works very well. on above mentioned train switch fault the system is easily recoverable with current timing setup, just set train switch manually depending on situation (push through for opposite direction, pullback for second cycle) I used the Lithium accu which ran good for 4 hours but in the end force/speed was declining and sometimes switch of letting lift go down was not engaged because train needs to push through momentarily there. A second train with Lithium pack and switch trains will solve that elevator remains sensitive but working okay during majority of the 4 hours, I made one small adjustment putting the upper stop of the lift a bit higher. I used my own design Lithium pack train with detachable ball container in case I had to switch to the backup solution with the unloader unit that lifts the container. On Elevator problems sometimes container falls of the train while train keeps on running so loader spills all balls over the train (by the way, while we may not like it, the public does). Since the Rotary Dumper works very well I will make a train with fixed container on the Lithium train. Thanks again Doug and Dunes and good luck with the next project!

@Ankoku Douglas focused and came up with a very good solution to make the rotary dumper reliable. I admire that. I've seen the Rotary Car Dumper before but for my taste that's just too big without exiting visuals, although with lots of clever switches and no doubt a challenge to build. Sliding the trains over the 1x4 panels is interesting compared to the orange liftarms Akiyuki is using. I'm curious what will be displayed at Japan Brickfest 2019. Maybe Akiyuki will modify his Rotary dumper with Doug mods and show it in 2019

I don't have constructive feedback, only a question. Where do you see any resemblance to a Classic Mini or a New MINI in this MOC? Apart from the red 'Chile Red' color for MINI's or same color as the Mini that won the Monte Carlo rally in 1964 with Paddy Hopkirk. Or will you put a sticker on it with '33 EJB' when it is finished? The only constructive feedback I have is take it apart and start over again and look at a picture this time.

The passing module was developed by Akiyuki to double the amount of trains on a longer track and therefore higher ball throughput to meet the one ball per scond. I'll test the dumper coming Sunday to see if it can keep up the ball throughput on it's own. The ball throughput in a full circuit is rarely 1 ball per second for a prolonged time, mostly only after a burst when there was a hiccup at a machine in the circuit. If the dumper can't keep up I will use the passing module to use two trains.

Here's a better video. This is as far as I will go with the train system because these modules can be put in a circuit with other GBC's. The orange train runs on the Lego Lithium accu pack, the yellow on the standard 6 AA batteries pack. Although the orange train has less power, I like it that the orange train runs smoother than the yellow one. I hope it can run one full event day on the Lithium accu pack so it can charge at night. I had to limit the amplitude of the train switch. If it gets pushed too far by the loader the dumper cannot get the hook in front of the switch bar and the train keeps rotating. There one on the loader and the dumper. Here some more pictures of the dumper:

Excellent! You have more balls in the circuit than Akiyuki :) @dunes, thanks for the LDD files, very helpful when building the mods of Doug.

Nice layout @Doug72! Greetings to your wife being so kind to let you build up your circuit I've implemented almost all your improvements, thanks for you hard work! It seems to work very well and easy to time. Here a first tryout, transition lift to dumper I already made smoother, it's fine tuning lift height before it stops without falling down. Most important improvement I made was locking the grey gear because it ran out during my tests, probably because there was a too high force for a short time during testing but nevertheless. Behind that I made a construction to also connect the bottom technic rectangle better to the frame. I had to redesign the catch tray because your timing mechanism is 1 stud wider and it touched the tray but it's doing very well now with maximum amount of balls. Other modification I done is connecting the front ring on it's four corners to the carrier, the bottom left one is visible on the picture. It makes the whole carrier a bit more rigid so the front ring is following a bit better. I'm also using the Lego lithium battery instead of AA batteries, train weight is 1/3 less but let's see how long it runs. I have also rebuild the train, the Akiyuki version uses a 24 gear directly on the motor instead of 8 gear as in the reverse engineered train of Courbet. So that's why it's faster I by the way just used a seven axle to drive the train because the 2l connecter between the 4 and 4 L axles with stopper was touching the bottom of my motor. I will test the setup coming Sunday for 4 hours straight at an event and report back here. Thanks again for all your hard work Doui!

There are not many balls in the Akiyuki video :) May be try a membership of a LUG (LEGO User Group) and see if you can get the balls through the LUG.

All eight on the table, more than 27.000 bricks with an average of about 450 lots per modular.

Thanks! Probably more than EUR 500, especially with rare parts. Luckily I already had 70% because I bought discounted sets with suitable bricks over the last 3 years. Germany, Netherlands and U.S.A. okay to Bricklink, getting parts from other countries will add even more costs. To minimize shippings costs I Bricklinked all eight together. Bike Shop was second for me when it comes to building pleasure so good choice. Boot Black I enjoyed building the most, so many clever interior details. I however replaced the trouser and sweaters on the glass top floor with an indoor garden, seemed more logical :) The Orange facade of Havana Cafe is different, well recognized. I replaced the Medium Azure details with white because I dislike Medium Azure if too much is present :) Same for Olive Green, I changed the left part of Old Town Pub to Sand Green.

After 3 months done with the 8 Brickative modulars. Very high quality and fun to build. Here and there I made some changes to my liking. Finally printed the decals and made the below 20 minute video with lots of details of all 8 modulars. Index in the video description. Flickr album with mor details: https://www.flickr.com/photos/r53/albums/72157698690928321/with/43186107535/ BTW, also got all Creative modulars so total 21 now. Next up are the Construction Site and LEGO shop from LEGO Ideas that got 10.000 votes but didn't make it as a set.

Excellent, thanks!

@dunes I have to look in your bricksafe Akiyuki train folder to find the .lxf of the rotary dumper right? I'm looking for the final version that works best, preferably with shock absorbers but if the rubber bands work better I take that one. Am I too impatient, you still need to upload or am I looking in the wrong place? Nice buggy MoC by the way!

@Doug72 that's right :) I'll take your improved and excellent working rotator and implement it in my build and add other improvements you have identified if needed. I intend to use the shock absorbers as I have them already build in unless the rubber bands work better. Thanks to you both and I will of course make a video of the end result before going to LEGO World.

It's also possible to load the LDD files in Stud.io and export a bricklink wanted list or even publish it directly into bricklink as a wanted list from Stud.io I can recommend Stud.io

I had this too with one train and turned out the motor was on it's way out, after some time no reaction at all anymore.

@Stonehenge I use original hoses as the ones I need are not so long. But for other projects I also use 3-rd party hoses from Modulor in Germany, the ones with 3,2mm outer diameter. In the U.S. McMaster-Carr has them. The ones from Modulor are more shiny and harder which makes them harder to bend and keep a bended shape although you can also use their brass insert in the right diameter (1,5mm). For straight use they are better than the Lego ones. Good luck.

Forget it and let go of it or get hooked and pay for many sets or Bricklink orders. There is not one or two sets with which you can fulfill your MOC dreams with.

Just wanted to say I'm following your work with great interest and hope all problems are solved resulting in a digital file from dunes so I can replicate before it is October as I intend to show this at Lego World in Utrecht the whole week (so has to be reliable). With almost 100.000 visitors in one week it is the biggest LEGO event in the world. Really appreciate it. I will try to fit it in the setup I have with combined lift and rotator.

@McWaffel Thanks. The LEDs are running on 3V and don't get hot. I have them all in parallel with one resistor after the 9V plug that lights all LEDs