Neo Planett always says wait

[LaughingJim]

Japan... LOL, sorry, I don't know where to purchase these motors. I imagine that you would have the best luck buying them from the dealer, or buying a similar scratch and dent machine.

I am not sure about silicone.

The bearings are usually "Ez-Glide" nylon coated sleve bearings, or traditional high grade steel and collar bearings, (Rare, those are the noisy ones.)

Stepper/servo motors are not like a normal motor. you tell them to go to a position, and they will exert as much force as is needed to get there. Normal motors have less power as they are further from thier push/pull source, and usualy require more care.

I am sure that a little dap of lube once in a while is fine, some people don't know what a "Little dap" is, and end up lubeing it up like a bike chain. (I say that you should just buy a can of compressed air from radio-shack, ones made for cleaning electronic components.)

You may be able to use a little alcohol on the end of a q-tip, to free up debris. Then follow that quick swab with a jet of air. The alcohol wil vaporize almost instantly. I think that the sleve bearings normaly prefer graphite lube when manufactured. Plastic is now manufactured with lube now inside it, it lubes as it wears, and is highly heat resistive.

I think that graphite lube uses water as the transfer medium, which will evaporate and leave the fine graphite powder behind.

NOTE: Don't assume it is a weak or dyeing motor until last... Try the other resolutions first, where possible.

One last unmentioned issue, (Major long shot here...) An underrated transformer which can not supply enough peak power may not be able to handle the higher demand that the servo motors are calling for. You can test for this by unplugging all the internal lights, sound and wait until you get the spin-up that starts one wheel at a time... That spin-up will "Wait" less, since each individual wheel is getting full power. As opposed to power divided by 3, as all three wheels try to spin up at once.

SOLUTION: You need a new, or higher rated transformer. (I don't reccomend doing that yourself, as it involves 120v wires to be connected to it.) You may have a 4amp when you need a 5 amp transformer... or a 3 amp when you need a 4amp transformer. You may also just need better ventalation, if this only occurs after an extended period of play time.

[LaughingJim]

Recap: I am in no way saying that lube is WRONG or IMEDIATELY BAD. I am saying that it is only a temporary solution, (Which works), but may end up leading to a need to oil the unit monthly.

If this is a plastic (nylon) coated bearing, then oil based lubes are bad, oil is a plastic-solvent. It will break it down and gum it up, leading to sticking and wheel wobble, as it errodes the bearing.

If this is all metal bearings, you will not be in as bad of a situation, but you are not removing the gunk, only adding oil to the gunk, making sludge. Oil will evaporate, leaving behind sludge that will collect more dust.

Sprays like wd-40 and stronger penetrating fluids will remove sludge, and leave oils behind, but also melt the thin varnish coating on the wires in the servo motor, which will eventually short out, leaving a weak motor behind, or a dead one. (This will happen faster than the above mentioned methods of lube.)

[Mental]

So how long is considered Normal for the reals to spin up or I should say how long does yours take. How long does it play the music and do the "wait" thing?

[LaughingJim]

I will time it now... BRB...

[LaughingJim]

It takes about 1.5 seconds with all three wheels going at once. The bottom of your first wheel should indicate, with a count-down progress bar, how much longer you have to wait. When all the bar segments are gone, all the button lights should be lit, and you are ready to spin.

If the bar runs out, and you still have the "Wait", then you have one of the above mentioned issues. Same if your bar counts down real slowly.

Try the power solution first. Remove the twist out lights, turn your sound volumes down to "0" and see if they spin up faster.