allanp

The main problem is the dual actuators that lift the boom. The performance of this function is sometimes very poor and can weaken the motor due to over stressing it. Other than that there are some other, more minor problems such as long geartrains to the other LAs sometimes causing reduced performance of the other functions of the digging arm, one track not operating as well as the other, clutches (function switching) not fully engauging and possibly not slewing that well, but I could be wrong on that last one.

Sweeeeeeet, haven't seen that before!

There once was a man who had an uncle in very bad health. They tried everything to bring him back to health, from doctors to chinese remedies to old wives tales. They even tried rubbing lard on his back, but after that he just went down hill very quickly! There was another man in a shopping mall. He heard the sound of a dog in distress, he, being an animal lover, went to investigate. He followed the noise to what could only be described as a blind man swinging his guide dog around his head. He asked the blind man "what the heck are you doing?" to which he replies "i'm having a look around!". Not that I would buy a guide dog or anything, have you seen how many of there owners go blind!

I would probably do something like a domino placer thing that places dominos in a line so you can knock them down. I know you could do this more efficiently with good ole mechanics but it would be a cool challenge I think.

You know, I was unaware of that......interesting. Well for a supercar it's hideous still freaking awesome for it's time though. Ok, for anyone interested the tally of people stating a set as being their number one set(s) so far is: 8868 = 5 8480 = 4 8880 and 8448 = 3 8855 = 1 8297 = 1 8485 = 1 8479 = 1 8043 = 1 8460 = 1 8258 = 1 8265 = 1 8865 = 1 8285 = 1

Could that be because it's not a supercar

8868, 8480, 8880 in equal first, best of all time. 8258 in second 8448, 8466, 8421 in equal third 8094, 8865, 8459 in equal fourth 8275 in fifth (but only for introducing those tracks and PF system, without those this would be last!) This years 8043 is almost at the bottom of the list for me.

I also needed another answer. "I intend on skipping this set completely, even after all the problems have been sorted" But then I guess that doesn't really answer the question asked!

That was a great review, nice one This set is great, me being a tech head I love all those working features. It even comes with two motors and those rare pieces are awesome. I do miss the old school packaging where you could lift the lid and it's such a tease to see all those shiney new pieces, especially the very important pieces (VIPs?) in the special parts tray. Excellent review.

I suppose they could have used a finer thread (making it even slower and cause problems when using an old one with a new one in tandem like in the 8043 and the wheel loader ), added lubrication (posibbly making it more expensive ) or used all metal parts (which would deffinately make it more expensive ) I would, don't mind losing an LA, but I decided against buying the 8043. My guess is it will look the same. I'm sure I read somewhere that it will be all four. I somehow doubt it will be a swapping from one material to the other (weather it be metal or some other, tougher plasic) because in one e-mail posted in this thread, they said they had re-designed the LA. So maybe it's a finer thread (increasing the gearing down so to speak) or allowing a bigger tolerance for lubrication, or perhaps adding somthing like a PTFE washer inside the bottom to reduce friction as it turns. Hmmmmm.

Ahhhhhhh now I get it. Thanks

The drum should be lightweight and rigid enough to be supported easily by standard axles, the 40 tooth gear at the front could be used to drive it if you were still worried but it should be fine. I did think about putting a turntable at one end to make use of the hole in the middle, would have been a nice touch but i'm not sure if the friction would cause the drum to twist just slightly, making it's rotation jerky. You could also try adding a flex tube running up the middle in a spiral, mimicking the spiral blades in the real thing used to empty the drum when running backwards.

To an extent but it depends on how far the LA is extended. There is a fair amount of axial play in the top. The actuators I use at work, particularly the smaller ones, are precision engineered all in various different steels, hardened and lubricated, there is no noticeable play at any level of extention, and they are very expensive to buy and to produce and there range of movement is not as big as the lego ones considering their length.

NNNNNEEEEEEEVVVVVVVEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!

Well the larger tyres on supercars are there to give more grip. I know that in theory increasing the surface area reduces the pressure applied to each square unit of area meaning the amount of friction should stay the same but i'm not sure how well that theory transends into the real world. As far as I know the LA's are not lubricated. Aquaplaning only really is a problem on wet roads. So would increasing the surface area only work if lubrication is added?

Well it shouldn't be doing that but I think it's a quite common problem with this set. It could be the design of the gear train to the track or it could be the motor that powers that track has become weakened by driving the LA's in the other mode. One thing i'm wondering as it is not clear in this thread (or I have missed it) but the track that is not driving as it should, is it the track driven by the same motor that drives the pair of LA's that lifts the arm?

Sweet! I'de love to see it when it's finished!

This sounds like you are entering your dark ages. Most of us have one but I was one of the lucky ones. I have not got rid of or sold a single piece of my collection ever. Unless you really need the money I advise you do the same otherwise you'll really miss it. Beside the beauty of lego is that, unless new parts come out, you don't really need to buy more, just build something new with your imagination with the pieces you have. I told my girlfriend about my hobby on our first date when we was talking about our childhoods, I said something like "I loved lego as a kid and I guess I just never grew out of it, I still have it all but hey, there are worse pastimes you know haha". Any girl worth holding onto will not find it a turn off. In fact mine thinks it's sweet

This is great, I love the compactness of it. So many functions in a small space. Love it!

Just quickly designed this to give you some ideas, hope it helps.

Wouldn't increasing the area increase the friction? Like increasing the width of a car tyre to get more grip.

I wouldn't say the LA's are "devective", the quality seems up to Legos usually high standards. I'de say they are just inefficient, especialy under load due to the internal friction. Maybe adding grease would help for a while but not sure how best to solve the problem long term, unless you remove the screw thread, add a few seals and ports and make them a bit longer!

Sorry, you're right. It is an excellent resource for sure.

Those are some good suggestions. One feature I would like to see is being able to view a parts inventory of your entire collection.

Thankyou for letting us know. These problems sound pretty inherant to the whole design of the excavator (and if i'm honest, I expected these problems from the very first pics of the excavator) like there will be no quick fix. Those long gear trains are needed to get power to the LAs, adding XL motors is probably not feasable and adding more reduction could make it painfully slow. For the sake of everyone who bought one I hope TLG can offer a satisfactory result. It's a good job we are dealing with the Lego group though because I doubt you would get the same excellent customer service from most other companies. A two week turn around for a product with problems as dug into the design as this is also quite impressive, must have lots of people working on it.