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Bernard Hopkins
England
Durham/Darlington
Unspecified
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Ok so I’ve just got hold of a reasonably decent original 1992 copy of Loopin Louie but I have my doubts about the condition of the motor. Since I’ve never played the game before, I thought I’d explain its huffing and puffing to some people who may have. Here are my comments regarding its behaviour:
1. As Louie spins without being hit the motor isn’t a constant very smooth whirring, it’s more like a whirring with 3 or 4 very slight increases in power per circle. Like rrrrRRRrrrrRRRrrrrRRRrrrr.
2. It is virtually impossible for me to hit louie all the way around to the person to the left of me. After about 50 attempts I’ve just managed to get it passed the person opposite me about 3/4 times never mind reaching the last player. How would it be possible for me to beat that person if it was just me and him or her left?
3. When I give Louie a reasonably hard hit to try give him some distance, as Louie rises in the air the motor doesn’t seem to have the power to keep Louie flying high at a constant speed, the motor seems to struggle and Louie stalls, loses all momentum and comes down at about 2 o’clock my perspective.
4. If I do need a new motor is there anyone here with electrical skills who could give me a few tips on changing it? I have zero knowledge of even what type of motor I'll need.
Thank you all.
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Ken Van Pelt
United States
Greenwood
Missouri
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I have seen three LL games in my experience and they all differed slightly on power. Your description is the worst case I have heard and I think you have a "spent" motor or used batteries. Try new batteries and I mean fresh out of the package. Then if that fails to improve performance take it to an electronics store like Radio Shack, near by they can help you with the motor.
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Bernard Hopkins
England
Durham/Darlington
Unspecified
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lionsden112002 wrote: I have seen three LL games in my experience and they all differed slightly on power. Your description is the worst case I have heard and I think you have a "spent" motor or used batteries. Try new batteries and I mean fresh out of the package. Then if that fails to improve performance take it to an electronics store like Radio Shack, near by they can help you with the motor.
Thank you for the reply. Yes, they were fresh batteries from the packet that I used. I don't have a Radio Shack near me, I think there is only one in the UK and that is in Scotland. I'm having trouble finding an electronics specialist near me in the North East of the UK.
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Michel van Peenen
Netherlands
Rijnsburg
Zuid-Holland
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You could also try at the specialist shops for model railways (replacement motors for modeltrains) or specialist shops for RC models (replacement motors for RC cars or planes).
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Bernard Hopkins
England
Durham/Darlington
Unspecified
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Ok so I’ve opened it up to see what was going on and I noticed what may be causing some of the problems. The white piece that is arrowed has a hairline crack running probably 1/3 of the way up. This makes it pretty loose and is what is probably causing Louie to stall mid air as it is not gripping under stress. I’ve bought a new motor which looks exactly the same and fits nicely in the old motors slot. I’m not sure if the RPM changes among motors of this size but it only cost £2 so I picked a new one up while I was out today.
The problem now is the little white spiral thing I’m not sure what they’re even called? The good news is it just slots on and off so it won’t be too hard to change it if I can get hold of one. Does anyone have any advice regarding this?
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Brian Dysart
United States
San Jose
California
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The white piece is a worm gear, used to change direction and torque of a rotation, and to disallow rotation to pass in the other direction (e.g. the round gear can't turn the worm gear). You might be able to find a battery and worm gear combination online that'd be about the right size (the gear being more important than the battery). Alternately, check eBay or other sites for someone selling a broken set, and hope you get one that had a burned-out motor rather than a broken gear.
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Bernard Hopkins
England
Durham/Darlington
Unspecified
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briand wrote: The white piece is a worm gear, used to change direction and torque of a rotation, and to disallow rotation to pass in the other direction (e.g. the round gear can't turn the worm gear). You might be able to find a battery and worm gear combination online that'd be about the right size (the gear being more important than the battery). Alternately, check eBay or other sites for someone selling a broken set, and hope you get one that had a burned-out motor rather than a broken gear.
Thank you, very helpful!
Does anyone know if the new edition has this exact same worm gear and motor? I'm sure a new edition would be easier to come by broken and cheap than the older 1992 edition.
Could somebody confirm this? A photograph of the open motor compartment of the new edtion would put my mind at ease if I'm going to have to buy another copy.
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Bernard Hopkins
England
Durham/Darlington
Unspecified
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I’ve now found another slight crack in another cog, I’m guessing at some point Louie has been stopped from flying by a human hand and the motor and cogs have been overloaded with stress causing parts to fail. Good news is I’ve replaced the motor and tightened down that worm gear a few mm closer to the motor.
I then put it all back together and played a short game, it is running loads faster and smoother! It is now possible to hit the person at 9 o’clock from you and Louie has stopped stalling! I’m very pleased with the situation but I’m still on the lookout for a replacement worm gear and cogs if anyone has an old motor they’d like to sell?
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