Fyredog

Great looking Module. This one is definitely on my list. I am working on 2 Akiuki Modules, hoping to have them ready for August. So did you have any issues while building it? It looks to run smooth. I really like the Blue!

I plan to follow the plan I used when I reverse engineered the 8043. I will try first using technic hubs with L motors. If that fails I will resort to trusty power functions. The movement and speed of the 8043 was acceptable to me. So if I can get the same movement and speed out of the 42215 I will consider that a success. We have to remember we are limited to what Lego gives us to build with. I build GBC modules now, one thing I have learned is there are several ways to accomplish the same outcome. Some are better some are worse. The 42215 is too expensive IMO, but with more $$ and some work it can be a great working model. Technic models can always be improved, and I think that's why I enjoy them the most is because we can improve them over and above what Lego gives us. We can share what we have done to improve them here for others to try on theirs. I enjoy seeing ideas that others have. There are very smart people here. I wish Lego would learn here and improve on their end giving us more diverse models. The cars are starting to get old. we need more variety at Technic from Lego. anyways - if you are interested here is the thread to my 8043 if you are interested.

I bought one for $300.00 on marketplace locally. I feel it was an OK deal, cause I wasn't really interested at $430.00. I plan to RC it using the newer Technic hubs and L motors. I reverse engineered the 8043 way back in 2010. If you are interested I have put the link in below of that thread. I like the 42215, but I feel the value is not worth the price. The 8043 had good value with good price and was easily converted over to RC. I feel the 42215 will be great once conquered and is able to operate more like a real one. I may pull my red one out and do some updates as well. I plan to put the drive motors, the cab rotate motor and a hub in the bottom section much like I did with the 8043 R. From what I can tell the 42215 has more room to play around with. Although I have many GBC modules planned, I may have to squeeze this one in.

YAY!!!!! BRAVO - Welcome to The Ball Factory Club!!

Lets talk about the ball picker first. I had this issue as well - what I did was took the white elastic band off and found a slightly smaller one, put that one on and my issue went away. Your bucket emptier - What I notice is that the buckets wobble a lot! and when they wobble they won't set down flat, which causes the bucket to hang up on the emptier frame. I also notice the contact points - they are not even on the front as opposed to the back. The bucket emptier should have the same contact point on the front and back at the top ridge of the bucket. You talked about a mod you did to the bucket emptier - I would revisit what you did, or go back to the original design. I only made one change to the bucket emptier which I pointed out earlier on step 276 leaving the 2x4 plate out.

Here is a pic of my spiral lift currently - I experience NO jams with an overloaded input box of balls. They do recycle along the backside of the lift if they get pushed through. BRAVO on your quest! I do see only one thing, which is minor because it doesn't seem to harm anything. The buckets entering the shifter - they seem to push back slightly before sliding. You may want to put a thin 1x3 lift arm on the far side - I think that would eliminate it, or add a bushing. Otherwise, time for testing - let it run and run! So I had some time on my hands between projects and cleaning up the shop, that I decided to pull the beast out and fix an issue that has not happened yet. I have over 30 hours on the L motor, and who knows how long it will actually last?? But instead of taking 30-60 minutes to swap it out in it's current state I decided to make it easy to get to and a 5 minute swap. It took me a bit to get it figured out because that sub-assembly sits a half stud off from the frame from side to side. I'm super happy with the result, and now I think the beast is show ready for an event at the end of January. I did a few support mods to make the transmission structure a bit more sturdy. I also included a photo of it in it's transportation box.

Do you have a photo of the inbox and the spiral lift? I had many many issues with the spiral lift from the get go. Did you modify it at all? My modifications seemed to fix the jamming of the spiral lift.

From your video Here is what I'm seeing: 1. Your bucket picker now appears to be picking the buckets up right in the center of the bucket - Perfectly. So whatever you did it worked. 2. Your bucket slider has 3 issues that I see. 1. When the buckets are slid into Bob, you can see that it is putting quite a bit of pressure against Bob, sliding too far into Bob. 2. Same for the bucket emptier. The buckets are slid too far causing the tilt when the bucket is raised. 3. The buckets appear to stop for a moment then are pushed into the slider from the conveyor then slightly pushed back before sliding over. So a trick I use is to take the tubing like on the spiral lift and slice one ridge or whatever length I need and use it as a spacer or bushing. On your bucket lifter I see a small gap between the bush and the connector. I believe I used a spacer there to keep it in place. Plus you are keeping it Lego with a modified lego tube! Go back and watch BH's Video and my video. I must have watched BH's video at least 50 times. I solved quite a few issues along the way watching his video. Anyway, clearly from BH or my video you can see the bucket slides into the pusher from the conveyor with no pause. then slides over. I would also replace the connector of the pusher with a thin 1x3 lift arm on the right side of the bucket as it is pushed into the emptier. that will give some room and can help the buckets to not tilt. I think you need to take a small bit of amplitude out of the slider when they are sliding into Bob. That could also maybe solve any issues with Bob and bucket placement back on to the wheel. I would suggest looking at the timing of your chain drives that drive the slider. It looks like the timing is off. I had someone tell me that they timed everything to Bob. Your motor sounds pretty good. It sounds like you have eliminated a lot of friction. You are getting close and closer. Keep going - you will get it!

I had a lot of issues with the bucket emptier and buckets turning on their sides and jamming. I played with timing quite a bit trying to solve this. I finally determined that the bucket needed more room when being returned back to the slide table. I removed one of the Connectors and replaced it with a 1x4 thin arm and a bush. This allowed the bucket to be placed flat. This would be the one to the right of the bucket while in the jaws of the bucket emptier. That solved my issue - which looks to be exactly your issue as well. Also, The bucket lifter, I can tell you that you need it to slide more into the bucket. Your amplitude is not enough, It will drop buckets back on to the wheel when balls are loaded, which causes Havoc. I'll need to watch Bob more - but if you had a video of Bob dropping the bucket, that would be helpful. Also you need to load it up with all 21 buckets. Before you put any balls into it, be sure the bucket system is working perfectly first. You are close my friend!!!!!

I made that tilting ramp even on that side - but yes I had that same issue. I made my own exit ramp system, I wasn't in love with the tube style exits. I also made the lever to that 4L lift arm a straight shot instead of that modified one that is supposed to clear all of that on that side. That's the beauty of GBC, you are able to make your own mods based on your needs and experience, and share with others.

Your bucket Emptier has the same problem mine did. I fixed it by leaving the 2x4 plate out on step 276 (Part 3). That 2x4 plate causes the 2x2 modified tile inverted to catch on the emptier frame, causing that jerky movement.

Your Bucket Picker looks GREAT!! It is simplified and looks to run super smooth. Along with modifying mine to easily replace the drive motor, I will upgrade my bucket picker to match yours! GREAT JOB!!

Pole Dancer is reliable....BUT needs serious work on the motor clutch system. The stopper on the differential makes for some serious binding. Also needs technic bricks added to the intake to keep the steppers aligned properly. Once that is all figured out the pole dancer can be a rather reliable module. Congrats on your behemoth module!! I think I have seen the videos of it. Great job. How on earth do you transport that sucker?

I'm planning to make a Mod that moves the motor to a place that can be easily removed and replaced. I have 30 hours on this motor and during a show I want to be able to swap motors rather quickly. I'll post pictures once I complete this MOD.

I had posted this on Page 16. I am very happy that I added this into the build. It comes in handy more than once. Yes to adjust spiral lift timing to ball picker. How are you coming along with yours?