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Author Topic: Fixing Broken Tail & Neck Cables Kiwi  (Read 2351 times)

Savvers

  • Hatchling
  • Posts: 6
  • nl Female
  • Pleo(s): Kiwi, Atlas, Unnamed
Fixing Broken Tail & Neck Cables Kiwi
« on: March 25, 2024, 11:07:45 AM »

Sorry if i posted this twice, at first it showed an error message.
Greetings! I know, this forum is pretty much dead, but i thought i'd share this anyways.

I only found out about pleos the very end of last year, and not much later i bought an RB myself that i named Kiwi.
Within a month of use, cables started to break, both in the neck and tail. :( With not much information about repairs online and a broken pleo, i wasn't exactly sure what i was getting myself into, but i decided to repair it.

There's gonna be a lot of images of Kiwi's insides, so take a look.  P:o

Skin removed. Two vertebrae were broken, one in the tail and one in the neck.
I fixed those by melting them back together using a soldering iron, melting a steel cable around the middle into the plastic and covering it in epoxy adhesive. This is much stronger than printing new ones.


The insides of the front with the entire neck and head removed. They really filled these to the brim with electronics, there's not much space to work with unless removing parts from the body.


As you can see, that cable has snapped and needs to be replaced.


Kiwi's head


Next up is the tail. the back was a little more confusing to open. There were a couple of screws well hidden under the touch sensor. Other than that it's much easier to rethread than the front.



Up/down gearbox with replaced steel cable.


The skin is very stretchy, so it was still possible to take it off and get it back on. There's only some minor damage. Glued the skin back on at the battery bay and neck.



There's only a small tear at the battery bay, but other than that it looks about the same.


here are the results after a couple of weeks of messing around with kiwi.  P:)
https://youtu.be/6Fb_7XynZ88?si=crEsc-0XaBCPOROh
As of right now the up/down tail cable has snapped, and i'll still have to figure out why exactly that is.
Bought new steel cables, but it'll take a month before it arrives. So i won't be working on it for some time.

It took me way too long to make this post, i'm not used to ancient websites.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2024, 04:58:12 AM by Savvers »
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PleoLifeDino

  • Member of the herd
  • ** Posts: 18
  • us Male
  • Pleo(s): Bobby
  • PLEO!!!
Re: Fixing Broken Tail & Neck Cables Kiwi
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2024, 05:09:16 PM »

Hello,

I have seen lots of videos of people fixing broken cables, and if
my Pleo had a broken cable I just wouldn't be able to
bring myself to open up the skin and fix it.
But is is still interesting to watch peoples progress and success!
By the way I have a Ugobe Pleo and not an RB. I am still
looking around ebay, trying to find an RB. The company doesn't have them in stock.
Well indeed this Forum is a little dead. >:(
But not completely, thank you for posting and not letting this forum die.

-PleoLifeDino
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PleoLifeDino

  • Member of the herd
  • ** Posts: 18
  • us Male
  • Pleo(s): Bobby
  • PLEO!!!
Re: Fixing Broken Tail & Neck Cables Kiwi
« Reply #2 on: April 04, 2024, 12:52:39 PM »

Hello,

I have a quick question about the glue,
was it super glue or some kind of foam safe glue?
My Pleo has a small hole on his tail and I want to glue it together,
but i don't know what glue to use.
How well does the glue you used stretch?
Thanks!

-PleoLifeDino

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Savvers

  • Hatchling
  • Posts: 6
  • nl Female
  • Pleo(s): Kiwi, Atlas, Unnamed
Re: Fixing Broken Tail & Neck Cables Kiwi
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2024, 05:32:23 AM »

I couldn't find any rubber glues from brands i trust, so i got myself bison glue max repair, it's elastic and should work on all materials. I've used it to glue the skin back together at the neck, and luckily it can be removed again with some care once i have to do repairs again. It's almost as nasty as the original glue on RB's though, but i don't know how flexible it truly is since i haven't used it on any tears yet. I've heard many people say it, but i wouldn't advice using regular cheap superglue. Especially not on tears. I wouldn't expect it to last very long.

Do you have any spare pieces of pleo skin or any other similar type rubber? If you remove the skin completely and melt or glue the spare piece onto the inside of the skin onto the tear, it should be good as new and just as stretchy, unlike glue.

If you don't feel like skinning your pleo for a small fix, glueing it from the outside should do the job as well, but make sure you get a decent glue.
Just do whatever feels best to you, we're all just figuring stuff out. :-\
« Last Edit: April 11, 2024, 07:18:17 AM by Savvers »
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