[HELP] Serial Numbers on Buggy-Motors and RC-units

[TechnicSummse]

Hey guys...

 

while disassembling my newest purchase 8366 RC Supersonic Racer, i was pretty much surprised, when i looked at the serial numbers of the rc-parts.

As you can see in the following images, there is the same number on ALL 4 electronical parts (each motor, the RC-unit and the remote).

 

 RC-unit

 motor 1+ motor 2

 remote

 

 

 

At my first 8366-set there was a different number on each part, as you can see in the following images:

 

rc unit

 motor 1

 motor 2

 remote

 

 

Does this mean, that my first model was put together from different sets? Or did they simply mix the parts at a special date of the production?

 

 

Also i see a 5-digit serial number on one of my additionally bought motors, wich also includes a letter and not just numbers. Another special thing about this motor is the motorcover on the side, as you can see in the following pictures. I guess the 5-digit one is the newest, maybe out of a 8287 Motorbox-set, or a 8421 Mobile Crane-set?

 seperatly bought motor

serial number 225K8

 serial number 6292, 3282, 1263, 5383

 

 

Does anyone have more detailled information about all this?

Edited August 20, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[RohanBeckett]

ok.. so I went and had a look at mine.. I have 6 buggy motors, from 2 x 8376 HotFlames, and 1 8475 RC Buggy

hard to see in this photo, but they are all stamped 1353

 

Note: I couldn't find my other 2 motors, until after I took this pic, but they are both stamped 1312

 

So I'm guessing they are definitely a production date, not a serial number.

and I've had mine for a few years now, and all the parts are mixed up... but I'd guess the 1353 is from the 2 hot flames (released 2003), and the 1312 is from RC Buggy (released 2002)

 

and from that, we might be able to guess that the last digit is the year! :)

[legolijntje]

A lot of pre-assembled parts such as motors, linear actuators, certain minifigure parts etc. have a special number/code on the part that specifies a batch/production code. If you remember the LA problems from set 8043, the problematic actuators and the new actuators were recognizable by their code.

Also, certain parts often have the mold number molded into the part too.

I'm not sure which one is which in this case, but I think those numbers are (one of) the above mentioned things.

[mocbuild101]

They are definitely production date codes, because if they were part numbers, they should be 5292 (for the motors).

Now you just have to decode them!

[TechnicSummse]

Hmm ok... so this is not a serial number...so as it seems to look now... the second and the 4th digit are allways 2 or 3?

Anyone has a different number then x2x2, x2x3, x3x3, x3x2?

I think one of those could be production year, as said above... the other one could tell wich model? 1-> buggy, 2-> supersonc, 3-> hot flame?

 

But this doesnt count for the 5 digit stamped motor i got. So... anyone also got a 5 digit one (with or without a letter?) and if so... does it also have the cover with the crossed dustbin on the side?

If you got one... do you know from wich set it came?

Edited August 20, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[TechnicSummse]

Hmm.. while sorting the parts, i found another strange thing...see the picture below...

 

The steering-unit from my latest set is unstamped, but the one from the 8366 wich i owned allread IS stamped 4373 .

What about your steering-units? Stamped, unstamped? Wich number is stamped there, compared to the RC-unit/buggy-motor?

[TechnicRCRacer]

2 hours ago, TechnicSummse said:

Anyone has a different number then x2x2, x2x3, x3x3, x3x2?

one of mine is 1083.

[mocbuild101]

All my parts are stamped, as follows:

From Hot Flame set:

• motors - 1343, 1343
• RC unit - 5343
• remote - 2343
• steering unit - 1343

Bought separately:

• motors - 3322, 3322
• remote - 1444

[syclone]

My only buggy motor is 5016 - and I got it in 2006, so it may indeed be production year

EDIT:

I have also the Outdoor Challenger (8675) from 2006 , and all RC (7'2v  system , not 9V!) components are marked as followed:

7'2v RC motor- 5216

7'2v RC unit- 4216

7'2v RC steering motor- 1226

So this may confirm the production year theory.

Edited August 21, 2017 by Xewyz2001

[rkkm]

2 hours ago, Xewyz2001 said:

My only buggy motor is 5016 - and I got it in 2006, so it may indeed be production year

EDIT:

I have also the Outdoor Challenger (8675) from 2006 , and all RC (7'2v  system , not 9V!) components are marked as followed:

7'2v RC motor- 5216

7'2v RC unit- 4216

7'2v RC steering motor- 1226

So this may confirm the production year theory.

7,2 v system? From where u got that kinda information?

[syclone]

10 minutes ago, rkkm said:

7,2 v system? From where u got that kinda information?

Because it uses the (almost) standard accumulators for RC cars , which are in this case 7'2v . And even bricklink lists it as Electric, Battery Pack 7.2V

[rkkm]

So u mean dirt crushers and other with those kind of rc stuff in there? If yes i can agree its their nominal voltage ( normal fresh out of recharging is about 8.4 v ).

[mocbuild101]

1 hour ago, rkkm said:

7,2 v system? From where u got that kinda information?

It's because it runs on a 7.2v NIMH battery pack. (which is actually 6x 1.2v NIMH cells connected together)

30 minutes ago, rkkm said:

So u mean dirt crushers and other with those kind of rc stuff in there? If yes i can agree its their nominal voltage ( normal fresh out of recharging is about 8.4 v ).

Yes, and it's much more powerful (and tough) than the normal RC system - which is due to it having much bigger motors inside.

Edited August 21, 2017 by mocbuild101
double typo

[TechnicSummse]

6 hours ago, Xewyz2001 said:

My only buggy motor is 5016 - and I got it in 2006, so it may indeed be production year

EDIT:

I have also the Outdoor Challenger (8675) from 2006 , and all RC (7'2v  system , not 9V!) components are marked as followed:

7'2v RC motor- 5216

7'2v RC unit- 4216

7'2v RC steering motor- 1226

So this may confirm the production year theory.

Can you tell me the remote-stamp also?

 

13 hours ago, mocbuild101 said:

All my parts are stamped, as follows:

From Hot Flame set:

• motors - 1343, 1343
• RC unit - 5343
• remote - 2343
• steering unit - 1343

Bought separately:

• motors - 3322, 3322
• remote - 1444

Could you check your steering unit(s) also for a stamp please?

Edit: Seems like i am blind

Edited August 21, 2017 by TechnicSummse

[BusterHaus]

On 8/20/2017 at 0:21 PM, TechnicSummse said:

 

The steering-unit from my latest set is unstamped, but the one from the 8366 wich i owned allread IS stamped 4373 .

What about your steering-units? Stamped, unstamped? Wich number is stamped there, compared to the RC-unit/buggy-motor?

It is possible that the number is on the inside of the molded part. 

The numbers are most likely mold/cavity numbers and/or sub assembly part numbers, like @legolijntje said. They are definitely not serial numbers, as that would require changing engravings between each injection. 

[syclone]

1 hour ago, TechnicSummse said:

Can you tell me the remote-stamp also?

Apologies , completely forgot it - 6216 it is 

[TechnicSummse]

1 hour ago, BusterHaus said:

It is possible that the number is on the inside of the molded part. 

The numbers are most likely mold/cavity numbers and/or sub assembly part numbers, like @legolijntje said. They are definitely not serial numbers, as that would require changing engravings between each injection. 

defenetly no... please see the pictures in my post... the numbers are "stamped" into the parts after the production. And on my 6 motors (all the same partnumber 5292) are 5 different numbers stamped.

 

39 minutes ago, Xewyz2001 said:

Apologies , completely forgot it - 6216 it is 

Thank you... so we could assume, the last digit is the productions year

[mocbuild101]

9 hours ago, TechnicSummse said:

so we could assume, the last digit is the productions year

I would agree, but I still can't quite work out what the other three numbers are...

My only guess is that it's the Nth day of the Nth week of the Nth year - which is a bit confusing...

As an example, take the most common code - 1343 - which splits up into 1+34+3 - would decode into: The first day of the 34th week of 2003

What do you think?

[TechnicSummse]

1 hour ago, mocbuild101 said:

I would agree, but I still can't quite work out what the other three numbers are...

My only guess is that it's the Nth day of the Nth week of the Nth year - which is a bit confusing...

As an example, take the most common code - 1343 - which splits up into 1+34+3 - would decode into: The first day of the 34th week of 2003

What do you think?

Hmm... i  dont think its only a date.

Especially because the second digit seems to be allways a 0,2,3.

I thaught one of the digits could be a code for production location for example. (1= city x, 2=city y), or product version... ive heard there are different inner setups of the receiver for example?

[legolijntje]

You're really keen to know what they are, aren't you @TechnicSummse 

I dug up some old articles from the 8043 replacement LAs I mentioned earlier. The LAs have a similar code. I picked up a random one from my collection that has 14X3 on it.
Here's a (7 year old already, damn, time flies ) article from TechnicBricks about the Linear Actuator code. The important bit:

Quote

As explained before here, each LA has an engraved production code that would allow to distinguish among new and old actuators. So far the code being reported is 36X0 but it will change for each production lot.
The codification consists of WWXY, where 'WW' is the calendar week number of production and 'Y' is the last digit from the year of production. This means that the new LAs are all those produced on week 36 from 2010 and after, whereas all those with earlier codes are from the initial design.

 

[mocbuild101]

4 hours ago, TechnicSummse said:

or product version... ive heard there are different inner setups of the receiver for example?

That would be covered by the production date - in the same way as the LA's.

 

3 hours ago, legolijntje said:

You're really keen to know what they are, aren't you @TechnicSummse 

But at least it will make for a good topic for future reference.

[BusterHaus]

18 hours ago, TechnicSummse said:

defenetly no... please see the pictures in my post... the numbers are "stamped" into the parts after the production. And on my 6 motors (all the same partnumber 5292) are 5 different numbers stamped.

 

Thank you... so we could assume, the last digit is the productions year

Oops. On my phone they looked like mold engravings, not stamped numbers. My mistake. It does look like a manufacturing batch number. 

[TechnicSummse]

A "new" 8366 arrived

 

[Lorirocks]

Here are my motor numbers with country purchased:

5292 Buggy motor

1335 - Germany

2016 - 8287 / 8421 Australia

2255 - 8421 Germany

5332 (x2) - 8475 Germany

5356 - 8287 / 8421 Australia

 

Micro Motors

3 85 - 8480 Switzerland

2 74 - England

4 74 - England

4 R4 - Switzerland

2 63 - Switzerland

2 63 - Switzerland

2 63 - Switzerland

1 07 - Switzerland (defekt)

1 73 - 8082 Germany