OleBM

I hope you're right Paul Boratko Because a couple of years ago, it almost seemed as if TLC discontinued pneumatic parts, replacing them with the linear acutators. Prices for pneumatic pieces shoot through the roof on bricklink (among many other sites), because they were currently not being used in sets. But then suddenly, they appeared again!

After seeing the last sets that TLC has released the last years, I can't help but ask; are we looking at an end for studded pieces, specifically technic parts? It would seem that studless building is the big O these days, and I see many advantages with this tecnique, but also many disadvantages...

That's just a matter of building things right. If you mount them on a single axle each, instead of wheelhubs/turntables, I agree that they get a bit "woobly", but it's all a matter of building things rigid enough. But I have to agree that I like 3rd party tires much better!

Thank you for your answer CarrollFilms! This was relly helpful, as I wasn't aware that the 9V has the potential to overheat. Power functions it is then

Love the HEMI!

Thank you for the reply @hoeij! Maybe PF would be the best then, seeing as the 9V is ridicously expensive..

Hey people! I'm kinda new here on this part of the forum. I was browsing the gallery of bigbenbricks.com, and suddenly got the urge to built a train in the near future! And on that matter I was wondering; which of the lego train motors are most efficient? The 9V, or power functions? (I'm planning to make it battery powered). I've read somewhere that the rc motor is rubbish compared to the other two.. Looking forward to some answers

I have the micro-motor, and the torque on this one is not powerful at all. I must say I don't like the idea of incorporating the motor into large mechanics, since I consider this motor to be light function capable only (turning details, turning fake steering wheels etc.) In this video, you can see how the micromotor performs under stress (it pleas for mercy!) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iXkTfnEtk4 But I'm recommending you to buy one, so you can see for yourself what little marvel that motor really is

If I am correct, you should be able to connect 9V elements to your NXT with this cable: https://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemPic.asp?P=x1676 I'm not into NXT myself though, so I'm hoping that someone with the experience will confirm what I'm saying here

Wow, that looks really nice! Can't wait to see them being used on what I hope will be an awesome supercar! Talked to the owner of Chrome and Engrave again yesterday. He has received my gears, and they've now begun the process. Will post some pics when I get them

Check out LPEpower's one-way clutch solutions: http://www.lpepower.com/content/one-way-clutch-instructions These work extremely well, and is very simple :-)

As me and spitfire has sorted out; the rechargable one has a speed control, NOT the regular AAA box ;) haha ;) Both have the same size though.

Oh, my bad, sorry. I thought he was reffering to the rechargable :-)

What you're saying is completely wrong ;-) The rechargable battery box has a speed-control (current-wheel) that controls speed. So Takanuinuva, you will not need the IR receiver in order for your train to go at different speed becuase the speed is controlled directly at the orange dial on the battery box.

Yeah he said that he recently sent 16 kg (!) of parts for chroming, so I guess that's out of the window. But I got myself a deal with the owner of Chrome and Engrave! http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=bricks4all Excited to see how this turns out!

I did indeed speak with him yes, and he said that he could add the piece I need in his inventory. But not in 6-8 weeks.. Thank you for this link! Just sent the store an e-mail, so I guess we'll wait and see. Seems quite impossible to get specific gears chromed..

I'm glad I found this topic, cause I was meaning to ask about something similar; Does anyone know of any places (bricklink stores, non Lego related resources, whatever) that deals with custom chrome-jobs? I've contacted both of the stores that Sariel is mentioning above, and didn't quite get the answers I needed.. I have two of these gears which I very much would like in silver chrome to a project I have going on. http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?P=87407

Just for information; this set cost minimum $164.93 on bricklink ( http://www.bricklink.com/search.asp?q=3804 ). Even in used condition. If the set is complete and looks fine, I would definitely go for it, just for the sheer price of 40 bucks! :-)

Linear actuator-speaking; I don't think the Lego standard ones would be the best alternative. If you're looking for actuators with long extension capacity, and don't have the room for the motors driving them, you should look into these: http://store.firgelli.com/SearchResults.asp?Cat=1822 These would come in handy for you, especially if you're gonna use NXT. I've recently ordered a couple of these myself, not for robotic use though, as my strong side is vehicles :-)

I sure hope so ;-) I figured out a way to "test" if the current being drawn is higher than acceptable. I simply added PF lights to the same outputs as the motors, to see if the lights started flickering.

Did you have one PF motor for each output, or did you split the outputs in several? I currently have 3 PF light elements mended together in one output, and I'm planning to have an old style 9V engine on another, and I'm also waiting for two firgelli actuators to have on the last output. I'm also planning to split one of them and add a PF XL-motor. So total: 3 PF lights, 1 9V motor, 2 firgelli actuators, and 1 XL PF motor.

I'm currently building something that I will control with my Lego Control Center 2, and then I read about the overload protection in the power functions battery boxes that will kick in if the attachments draw to much current. I'm assuming such a thing doesn't exist in the Control center piece, so I was wondering if anyone knows the maximum amount of motors/lights/stuff that the control center is capable of powering? The control center is quite rare, and I recently bought one on bricklink in new condition. Don't ask about the price.... bah.... So I would rather not be overloading it with too many motors and stuff connected to it ;-)

Nice grabber! Your project reminds me of the old barcode truck that Lego released in 1997; http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItem.asp?S=8479-1 Though this one grabs tires and mostly round objects and tilt them backwards, it should be worth looking into for some inspiration. There's plenty of ways to elevate a grabber up and down, and I would think that a forklift solution as you say, or some linear actuators would be the most sturdy and accurate way to go.

Thank you for the answer! :-) So if my english is right, (and I'm not assuming it is ;) ), his article says that the servo motor will only work with power function components?

Hi people! I'm new to this site (registered in hope of getting some answers!) I recently bought a Power functions servo motor from bricklink in new condition, which I was planning to use in combination with my old Control Center 2 piece. However, it doesn't work. It doesn't work at all. I've tested several other power functions elements with the Control Center piece (which utilises the old 9V system), and they all work. However, I don't have the IR receiver, IR remote, nor a power functions battery box at my disposal, so I have no way to test if the servo motor actually work at all. So my question is, is the servo motor solely designed to be used with the IR-pieces, or is it compatible with the 9V system, and mine is simply not working? Looking forward to get some answers on this, 'cause this frustrates me greatly!