So this Toy Hess Truck has been sitting on a book shelf probably for right about 15 years. I think the date on it is from 2005 and this did belong to a soon to be retiring Fire Captain. So with this Tropical Storm/Hurricane that just went through here there was some water damage at the fire hall, and offices needed to be cleaned out for remediation.
Long story short, this truck was slated to be tossed in relation to all the moving but someone at the fire hall has a young boy who saw it and it was given to him.
Slight problem.. the batteries were still in there from 2005 and we all know what happens when batteries corrode. His mother asks me to take a look at this and see if I can get it working.. so a new project appears.
I figure.. 1.) it has blinkies.. 2.) it's a firetruck (I think) 3.) it has a siren.. so it kinda fits here on elb.
So before I start.. you can literally find this thing new on ebay for $15. These trucks have no real $$ value so I was not concerned with breaking it.
But who wants to pay $15? not me.. that's for sure.
so starting off.
Original complaint was no lights or sound from either the mini truck, or the larger truck.
disassembly of the mini truck, figured I would start with the easier of the 2. Luckily not much to do here with just a AAA battery the corrosion was not that severe. 3 screws, a tooth brush, white vinegar, and some contact cleaner and it was back to working again.
Big Truck... Corrosion was much more severe, both C batteries had ruptured and were almost welded together in the battery compartment. Lucky me most of it came out with a rag and some simple green, then hit it with Vinegar and a toothbrush again. I then proceeded to remove all 14 screws.. from the bottom. 14 screws.. some laptops have less screws.
after a few more rounds of vinegar the PCB had some extensive damage, and crappy solder connections.
I had to resolder 3 points, and replace the black wire that came off the battery terminal.
Close up! you can see what I had to re-solder.. lucky me the corrosion came off the Central PCB without much effort.
Re-Assembly and function test.. and it works again!
And finally both big and little trucks back in action and ready to be played with and fun to be had by all.. lol
A couple of interesting things I found about this truck.. the spot lights are independent of each other and click around to shine light.. kinda neat. There are several modes for this truck.. All lights on, flashing lights, and only head and tail lights. There are also several siren modes.. a whelp, a wail, and what sounds like a phaser tone.
I am not so sure that is supposed to be a lightbar on the cab.. and its amber? almost looks like DOT lighting.
Rob
Long story short, this truck was slated to be tossed in relation to all the moving but someone at the fire hall has a young boy who saw it and it was given to him.
Slight problem.. the batteries were still in there from 2005 and we all know what happens when batteries corrode. His mother asks me to take a look at this and see if I can get it working.. so a new project appears.
I figure.. 1.) it has blinkies.. 2.) it's a firetruck (I think) 3.) it has a siren.. so it kinda fits here on elb.
So before I start.. you can literally find this thing new on ebay for $15. These trucks have no real $$ value so I was not concerned with breaking it.
But who wants to pay $15? not me.. that's for sure.
so starting off.
Original complaint was no lights or sound from either the mini truck, or the larger truck.
disassembly of the mini truck, figured I would start with the easier of the 2. Luckily not much to do here with just a AAA battery the corrosion was not that severe. 3 screws, a tooth brush, white vinegar, and some contact cleaner and it was back to working again.
Big Truck... Corrosion was much more severe, both C batteries had ruptured and were almost welded together in the battery compartment. Lucky me most of it came out with a rag and some simple green, then hit it with Vinegar and a toothbrush again. I then proceeded to remove all 14 screws.. from the bottom. 14 screws.. some laptops have less screws.
after a few more rounds of vinegar the PCB had some extensive damage, and crappy solder connections.
I had to resolder 3 points, and replace the black wire that came off the battery terminal.
Close up! you can see what I had to re-solder.. lucky me the corrosion came off the Central PCB without much effort.
Re-Assembly and function test.. and it works again!
And finally both big and little trucks back in action and ready to be played with and fun to be had by all.. lol
A couple of interesting things I found about this truck.. the spot lights are independent of each other and click around to shine light.. kinda neat. There are several modes for this truck.. All lights on, flashing lights, and only head and tail lights. There are also several siren modes.. a whelp, a wail, and what sounds like a phaser tone.
I am not so sure that is supposed to be a lightbar on the cab.. and its amber? almost looks like DOT lighting.
Rob
