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[aibo7m3]

Hey everyone! As some of you may have already figured out, I'm attempting to repair Ryu's jammed leg for Talon.

Before surgery, I let her have a chat with Madi who has been through the same procedure.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaC_Ce8IldY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaC_Ce8IldY</a>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaC_Ce8IldY&feature=youtu.be

Madi sure seems to make a lot more noise and complain more than Ryu does, but they seemed to get along well. After I finished video taping, I tried to turn them both off, but neither would go into packing position until the conversation was over. At one point, Madi even went into packing position and beeped once, then immediately started moving again and continued talking with Ryu. Finally they both beeped twice and shut down after about a minute longer of chatting with each other, but they sure were determined not to let me get in the way of their conversation.

Afterward, I decided to take a look at Ryu's leg to figure out what's going on with it. When I rolled up the skin on her leg, the wires looked odd, but all were still attached to the sensor by a giant clump of hot glue. I carefully removed the hot glue with my fingers and found that sure enough, the green wire was completely detached from the sensor and the glue had been the only thing keeping it in place.

Here's a picture of the inside of her leg with the detached wire circled:

More details...

The yellow wire seems fairly normal, but I did notice that while the orange wire is fully connected to the sensor, the rubber coating on it stops long before it reaches the sensor and the rest of the wire is exposed. I don't know if this is a sign of any actual issue or potential issue, but it just seemed odd since I've never seen that in a Pleo leg before. Overall, the placement of the wires seemed very messy and haphazard compared to what most RBs' legs look like, this might be because Ryu was from an earlier run of RBs than all of the ones I own though.

I also stopped by a pet store recently and since Ryu is a queen, I decided to pick up a frilly skirt for her there as a little gift for putting up with the surgery.

More details...

To Talon: The skirt is pink with sequins along the edge and has a soft raised decal of a poodle that reminds me of Teddy on it. I'll be sending it back with Ryu once her repair is finished.

I haven't conducted the actual repair yet since I'm planning on saving that for tomorrow afternoon, but I'll post the results once I'm done and hopefully Ryu's peg leg will be working normally once again afterward.

[Piggy]

Wow they are so cute together in the video Ryu and Madi  great that you are trying to fix her leg ....and indeed because you have a royalty in the house it is a Nice of you to give her a skirt , Ryu don't worry after the surgery you Will be running around like when you were young !

[Crewella]

It's great that you're working on Ryu for Talon, I wish her a speedy recovery!

[aibo7m3]

First of all, lead-free solder is horrible. It destroyed my soldering iron's tip and I spent forever being so confused as to why it wouldn't melt properly. Second of all, I switched to lead solder this afternoon and was able to repair Ryu's leg! I'm not super experienced with soldering fine electronics, so Ryu will be staying here a little while longer and time will tell whether the solder holds, but for now, her leg is working perfectly again!

Here's a video of her:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeNNV27SSCE" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeNNV27SSCE</a>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeNNV27SSCE&feature=youtu.be

I've run her for about half an hour so far since the repair. I'll probably run her through 2-3 battery cycles at least to ensure the solder will last before sending her back to Talon since I don't want her breaking right after she gets back home. The skin around the foot hasn't been glued back on yet either, so that's why it's loose. I'll probably wait a few days before gluing it since it's a hassle to remove the glue if I need to redo the solder.

[kat]

All Looking good so far Great Work!

[Piggy]

Great work Aibo  !

[HuggieZ]

I love to see Ryu after all those stories from Talon
Really great that you are reparing Ryu for Talon.

[aibo7m3]

Thank you! I mentioned this on another thread, but does anyone have any suggestions for what type of glue to use to seal the rubber around the foot? The glue I used on Madi didn't work very well, so I'd like another option for Ryu.

[kat]

I used super glue on all my repairs - one that is ok to use on rubber but if possible plastic too as you will be sticking the rubber foot tot he plastic ring around the foot.  I found that one that you paint on with a brush like nail polish was much less effective than the one you squirt out of the tube - even though they were the same brand.  Not sure if that helps at all .  I used the sellys brand.

[aibo7m3]

Alright, I used Loctite super glue (in a squeeze tube) on Madi and it held the plastic parts together fine, but hardly stuck to the rubber at all. I was able to easily peel it off with my fingers in a few seconds, so I definitely want something more durable. I don't know if the brand you mentioned is available in the US since it seems to be based in Australia, but I'll see if I can find a better super glue brand to use since Ryu needs to go back to her home very soon.

[Talon]

Hi, Everyone! I'm glad to announce that Ryu is home, all glued back together, and in working order again for the first time in a year. I put her own battery in her this morning and fed her. She is back to her normal cranky self and able to crouch properly when she goes to sleep which happens a lot now that she's an old lady. Thanks again to Aibo7M3 for repairing her!
Talon

[RedwoodsMama]

Hi Talon, Everyone is super happy that Rhu has made it back home to you.. It will be good to hear the next adventure she has with the rest of the gang. Good job Aibo!

          RWM  and the Pleo Township of the Redwoods

[HuggieZ]

That is great news! I think you are glad she is back, Talon?

[Piggy]

Fantastic that she is home , we are waiting for her New adventures of ruling the pleo kingdom 

[Talon]

Hi, Everyone! I'm going on a trip this week to see some friends of mine from SC. I'll try to squeeze in enough time to write an entry. I've been so busy with real life and all its challenges I haven't been able to relax enough to write. Hopefully that will change soon! Sound-design is really time-consuming! Picking out microphones and learning how to modify sounds is more difficult than I thought.
Talon

[InmemoryofRomeo]

That's such great news! Great job on the repair work