First off - the good news. I recently purchased a set of Aluminum Legs from a member of Astromech.net. FULL legs - all pieces parts aluminum. There are a number of parts that I already have, but there were some key pieces that I did not have.
What I did not have :
- Aluminum Legs
- Aluminum Booster Covers
- Aluminum Battery Boxes
- Aluminum Center Ankle
- Aluminum Radar Eye
- Aluminum Utility Arms
Yes, so I am comletely jazzed that the parts have arrived - I received one box last week, another on Saturday... and one more is on the way and will be here on Monday. The box that did not arrive was the one with the actual legs in it. Quite literally, the center of all things in the leg universe. Unfortunately, I can not take off R2's current PVC legs until I get the third box. Patience......
I believe the seller said the droid that these parts came from was about 10 years old, so these parts are from the old-school runs. The "non-diet" versions. All solid aluminum, and heavy. If ever a row breaks out at a gathering, the booster covers alone will suffice as clubs - they are rock solid, and weigh a ton.
Here are a couple of photos of what I did get :
Aluminum Center Ankle. Again, this guy was used, so there will be a little reworking involved. It is interesting to see how some of the newer parts have "evolved" as other members offing part runs put their own tweaks and improvements into the design.
Aluminum Booster Covers. I think these things weigh as much as the PVC legs alone.
Steel Outer Feet. NWT on these guys, a little sandpaper and a repaint, and they will be good as new.
Left : New "diet" Horseshoes from Guy Vardman's recent run.
Right : Old School solid horseshoes.
Flip the horseshoe over to see what makes these parts "diet". You can see that the excess material is milled out to save weight. Reminds me of an old mountain biking article that I read years back, it quoted a Public Enemy song :
Everybody sayin' it
Everybody playin' it rollin on the scales
'Cause everybody's weighin' it
They were comparing the weight savings of lightened components on the overall weight of a bike at the time. Back in the 90's, it was all the rage to produce the lightest bike ever known to man.... I assume it is the same now, but I have been absent from that game for a good long while now.
I can see the weight savings on these parts, and all told, I am sure the overall weight savings may add up to quite a bit.... but when you are rolling around a astromech, what is the difference in 210 and 230 pounds total weight ? :-D
Another shot of the new horseshoes, cause they are just too pretty.
Center foot assembly complete with caster mounting bracket. I am happy to to be able to review the wear and tear on the Uniball casters. In a previous post, I replaced these Uniballs with regular swivel casters on my center and outer foot mounts. After seeing these used parts, I know that was a good decision. These casters simply do not wear well. One of the casters below is stuck - it would not roll even without a load on it. I will most likely use this mounting plate with the swivel casters.
My current nemesis. On Friday, I got the periscope riser all assembled and running without a hitch. I ran the small board to switch the lighting modes outside of the periscope housing, and then all heck broke loose. When I put everything back together, including the dome and dome lights.... something went horribly, horribly wrong.
A little blue smoke, and then the Electro-Gremlin set in for a long winter's nap. I have no idea what is going on, but certain things started dropping out on the body when I enabled the periscope riser. I would lose 1/2 of the dome lights, or the lights on the Data Port on the front of the body would go out. No consistency to the problems at all. Resetting the power on the entire droid would resolve the issue..... for a moment, then things would start dropping off. Now, one of the power distribution boards is dead to the world. The input shows a good 12 volt signal, but all of the outputs are disabled. Damn - that is the whole reason for the board : distribute power.
Back to the drawing board for this one... as I am at a loss. I will have to check each of the components, along with the continuity of the wiring to see where the problem lives. I know this is a setback, and I have to deal with it. My inexperience with this is truly showing at this point. I think dumb luck has been with me up to this point - as everything I have hooked up in the electric supply realm has worked without a hitch. Ultimately, I know that this will further my understanding of the power scheme, but I am bummed that it worked well for a day.... then nothing.
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