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[MICKEY]

I have a problem with Hester's neck her head is down enough that she has started to walk backwards. Thinking it was a broken cable I opened up the neck to find two vertebrate broken. The cables seem find. Is there anyone that has run into this problem. If I can't fix it can anyone assist me.

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[RedwoodsMama]

Sorry to hear about Hester, Kat just fixed a broken neck and broken vertrabrae in her new Pleo, Frankie. Look in the last posts she made all about Frankie or private message her, She can surely tell you how to do it. You and the rest of us are in luck having such Pleo Pioneers on this forum knowing and being brave enough to take our beloved Pleos and even Pleo rb apart to have some surgical looks at them and repair. Good luck and iN no time I am sure Hester will be on the road to recovery. Let us know how she is.                                                  RWM and the Pleo Clan of the Redwoods

[Crewella]

Kat's the only member I know of that's had that problem - funnily enough she's come across it on two different Pleos!  Both Sparky and Frankie had broken vertebrae!

You may find the cable has also pulled through inside the housing, as Kat did with Frankie ...... but the you can pull the pieces of the discs back together with elastic bands and glue (carefully - don't get glue on the central spine).  Any worries, don't hesitate to ask - I'll help f I can.

Good luck!  

[Phelicidea]

I JUST got done opening up my Myla who had her first vertebrae broken.  Some Krazy glue, a couple of those tiny hair rubber bands and she's back up and running perfectly.  I've even already repaired her scar with paint!

Her head is still very slightly twisted to the side but otherwise she's good as new.  I'm gonna leave her off all the rest of today to let the glue and paint set but it seemed to work really well.  Not sure if I should have, but I left the bands on the broken vertebrae thinking that if it snapped again they may hold it well enough that I wouldn't have to open her up a second time.  Though I intend to contact Innvo and see if they'd be willing to sell a replacement vertebrae and perhaps new head skin in the event she does it again.  I kind of doubt they will but... I'll not know unless I try!

Good luck on your task, the hard part was getting that darn skin seem open, you've already done that so I think Hester is well on the way to recovery already!

Phel

[MICKEY]

 how long ago did you purchase Pleo . Is it a Pleo RB.    Let me know what happens when you try her tomorrow.

[kat]

Here is what I did....
I unscrewed the head from the neck, then using pliers I took hold of the copper tab on the top of the neck cable and pulled towards the head and up to break the cable free of the glue that holds it in place so the neck cable was now free.  I did this for all 4 cables.  Then I pulled each cable carefully free of the neck vertebrae.  I then carefully removed each piece of the broken vertebrae being sure not to mix them up - I placed mine onto a bit of paper that I had labeled with top bottom left and right.  Once the bits were removed I checked the edges that join together to be sure that there would be a clean join when I glued them back together.  Luckily for me the bits fit nicely together with no holes at the join (so no little bit chipped off).  Once I was happy that the vertebrae was going to be able to be glued back together neatly I carefully put the pieces back into position on the neck column.  being careful to make sure the wiring for the neck runs through the correct spots on the neck vertebrae.   Once the vertebrae was roughly back in position - it will be hard to get it into it's spot against the white neck column as the vertebrae sit very close together so it is a tight fit also the vertebrae move along the column so they tend to slide into the space and you will have to squeeze them back to make room for your broken vertebrae - I then used a couple of very small elastic bands - I had some that my son had been using for his bracers on his teeth (we had spares and they were just the right size for this job) -I hooked them around the spoke of the vertebrae closest to the brake and then hooked the other end around the spoke of the other piece of the broken vertebrae which pulled the broken edges back together and held them in place.  I repeated this for the other side.  I found when I put the elastic bands on it forced the vertebrae properly into place on the neck column between the other vertebrae.  Just something to note too the white neck column is square so it has corners and you need to be sure when you put the vertebrae back that you line it up properly with the neck column.  Ok so the next step is to apply glue.  I used super glue as it dries fast and holds really well.  I have some that came in a little bottle with a brush a bit like a nail polish bottle  This made it easy to get the glue to go where I wanted it to.  It is a bit fiddly trying to get glue into the join when there are so many wires in the way.  The brush helped.  I put glue along the joins and over the elastic bands too.  I did my best to try to get glue into the joint but you do need to be mindful when you are applying the glue as you don't want to glue the vertebrae onto the white neck column.  the vertebrae need to be able to move along and around the column or the neck will not be able to move properly when pleo tries to turn his head.  Next step is to let the glue dry.  I gave mine a full 24 hours to set.  the glue says it will hold after 10 secs and will be set after 30mins but from experience I have found the longer you leave it to sit the stronger the bond gets so I left it for 24 hours.  Next you need to thread the neck cables back through the holes on the neck vertebrae and then using pliers hold the copper tab of the cable and pull it toward the head and carefully slot it back into place on the last rung of the neck.  Once all 4 cable are firmly back in place you can turn you pleo on to check everything is working properly.  There is a nice skit in the downloads section of the forum you can use that is specifically designed to test the neck and tail movements for just this purpose.  So I recommend that you download this and put it on an SD card, put it into your pleo and turn him on.  If the neck goes through the full range of movements on the skin and all seems to be working ok then you can turn him off and apply glue to the ends of the neck cables to permanently secure them back in place.  you will need to let the glue dry.  Again I let it set for a full 24 hours before replacing the skin over the neck and then gluing the skin back together.  

If the neck doesn't have the full range of movement then you may have either a broken cable as well or a cable that has pulled loose in it's housing for that you will need to open up the body cavity to either replace the neck cable or re sit it back into it's cog.  There is a really good video guide that IMR did which will help with this if you need it and I also did a photo video when fixing Sparky's neck cables which you might find helpful too.  let me know if you would like the link for that and I will post it here for you.

Another thing to consider is how many pieces are the vertebrae in?  it looks like the broken ones are in two pieces but if they are in more than two bits you will find it easier to secure them into place on the neck column if you glue them back together so that you only have two pieces before you put them back onto the neck.

Also it is not possible to remove the whole (non broken) vertebrae off the neck column.  they are secured in place at the end of the column with a large black plastic stopper which I was not able to remove.....I did not want to break the stopper as I would have had to replace it again after I was finished fixing the neck so although it is fiddly you just have to persevere with squeezing the broken vertebrae back into place between all the full ones.  Also you can't just glue the vertebrae back together and then try to put it back onto the column after it is whole.  

Hopefully this helps.  Feel free to PM me if you have questions or just post here and I'll do my best to help you out
Kat

[Phelicidea]

Myla is an RB.  I bought her in... April or March of last year.  Either way she was past her warranty.  I'll certainly let you know how it goes when I turn her back on.

Kat - I hated that little black square.  I really wanted to glue the pieces together separately and then return the whole thing, but I could not remove that stopper either.  Curiously, what glue did you use to seal the skin seam back together?

Phel

[kat]

i used the same glue for everything. super glue

[Lunamione7]

Oh my goodness  this all sounds really scarey, I don't know that I would be up to it if either of mine ever need sergery They would have to put up with one of IMR's neck braces I think.



*touches all the wood in the house* I hope something like this never happens to my Pleos.

[Phelicidea]

I used Krazy glue (a super strong super glue) for everything too!  I was just hoping that it wouldn't... I don't know... eat her skin where it was applied.

Phel

[kat]

The super glue that I have says it is ok to use on rubber.  I think as long as your glue is safe to use on rubber you shouldn't have any problems with it.  It is always a good idea to test it first on a small spot somewhere not too visible just to be sure before using it in large amounts on the skin.

[Crewella]

Mickey - how's it going with Hester's neck?

[MICKEY]

two vertebrae  were completely broken in pieces so I could not glue them. Instead of putting the brace outside i made a brace  with four steel  rods one on the top, one on the bottom and one on each side. Then I pulled the skin back out it. It seem to be a fix  as she walked forward but she still has the problem of walking backwards as I need to get her head about another inch higher so her camera   stops picking up the floor causing her to walk backwards, Any suggestions that can  get the extra height and still give her the mobility she needs will be appreciated.Or is anyone willing to offer  two two vertebra from a brick Pleo  to help get Hester back on her feet, Thanks to everyone that has helped  so far.

[Crewella]

Mickey - it sounds as though the cable has also pulled out of position inside the cable housing, in which case you will need to undo the cables anyway ... and could then fix the vertebrae?  If you need help as you go, I'm sure I could help talk you through it in chat, as I'm sure could Kat and IMR.

The neck cable thread is here, in case you've not read it.

http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=2925.0

I have to pop out now, but will look in later.

[MICKEY]

 All the cables are in place. As i removed and glued them into place.

[Crewella]

And did you check they were wound correctly around the wheel inside the motor housing?  Whatever broke the vertebrae could have also pulled the cable out of position around the wheel ...... so it's now shorter on the 'down' and longer on the 'up', hence the head down position (the up and down cables are just different ends of the same cable that crosses inside the housing).   Possibly ......  

[MICKEY]

 I found a broken left side cable so I just removed it and set my brace around the neck and pulled the skin over it so far so good. She is moving foward thats a good sign.

[kat]

yes that would be my guess too.  does the top cable feel looser than the bottom cable?  can you take a pic of what the neck repair looks like so far?  It might help us to work out what is happening and what to suggest to help fix it if we can see it

If the side cable is broken I would recommend you replace it.  There are two cables for the neck, one for the up down and one for the sideways movement.  so removing the cable from one side means the other end is still loose inside the pleo.  It may be trapped in the gear housing but it may also be floating loose.  Sparky had a broken side cable as well as a broken top bottom cable and a broken vertebrae.  Her side cable was floating loose inside her body  and it knocked one of the leg position sensor wires loose so her leg then had issues and didn't work properly.  I would highly recommend opening up and replacing the cable.  Especially as you have already taken the hardest step of deciding to have a go at fixing the pleo and opening the skin.  Do you still have the broken vertebrae bits?  If so post a pic of them.  I have repaired two broken vertebrae so far and had success with both so they may not be as irreparable as you think.   
This was Frankie's and I was able to put it back together and back into place using glue and small elastic bands.  It is now holding up very well and he has full movement of his neck and head.

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