Hello all. I am not frequenting this subforum very often. I don't usually build with technic or motors, but I would like to start trying to incorporate movement with my future builds. One build is Hogwarts staircases that move. But I'm not sure exactly how I should go about it just yet. I definitely don't know what motor or motors I should use to make them slowly move side to side. I have not used the Powered Up stuff yet. I had a train motor for the old Lone Ranger set that I used for a bit, but nothing else beyond that. After watching a lot of movement on LEGO Masters, it made me need to figure out how to build a variety of styles just to further my builds. I never plan on being on that show, but I'd like to become a better builder for my LUG and our shows we do.

I know this isn't a lot of information and no one can tell me how to do it but is there a recommended list of items needed to make mild movements like that. I would like to make two staircases move, hopefully at different intervals from each other. But even if I can just figure out how to do one, I'll consider it a success.

Thank you for any input you have or any advice. Have a good day!

I think for what you are describing, you would need a Large motor. It has enough torque for most applications. Also, you can program the PU hub to make the motor run at a slow constant speed.

Edited December 27, 20222 yr by Alex Ilea

Why don't you, like all (master) builders, just try to build something? Try, fail, improve, try again. Don't be afraid of failures. Just learn from them.

I recently watched this video. Just watch him iterating through different version until he finds a perfect solution.

Edited December 27, 20222 yr by Andman

5 hours ago, Alex Ilea said:

I think for what you are describing, you would need a Large motor. It has enough torque for most applications. Also, you can program the PU hub to make the motor run at a slow constant speed.

Okay thank you. I will have to look into that. 

4 hours ago, Andman said:

Why don't you, like all (master) builders, just try to build something? Try, fail, improve, try again. Don't be afraid of failures. Just learn from them.

I recently watched this video. Just watch him iterating through different version until he finds a perfect solution.

It isn’t about fear of failure or anything like that. That’s how I build usually, try and try again if something doesn’t work out. My concern is I can’t just try with this since I’d have to make a large purchase/investment just to play around with the motors and seems silly to waste money on motors/hubs I may never use. I don’t have a huge LEGO budget these days so really have to focus my spending on the right areas. I need to purchase a lot of lights also for this build and that was already estimated to be higher than expected. So that’s all.

You could always start by building the model with a manual hand crank and then deciding to see what motor would be the easiest to install. Might sound crazy but hey, manual features are fun

Edited December 28, 20222 yr by PassengerJet

Assuming, that movement will be slow so it will pretty much geared down, so any of motors will work.

Then just some oscilating mechanism, as I understood.

If pure lego, then for this case this dumb battery box will fit best

Battery Box 88015 | Powered UP | Buy online at the Official LEGO® Shop US

For your needs I'd probably go with the motor and battery box combo found in the Lego ideas lighthouse.

5 hours ago, allanp said:

For your needs I'd probably go with the motor and battery box combo found in the Lego ideas lighthouse.

Yeah, that would work well.
If you don't mind Bricklinking stuff, an old PF AAA battery and M-motor or L-motor would still be a bit cheaper, though.

Okay thanks all. I'll have to investigate a bit more then. And yeah, not a bad idea to manual crank it and see how the gearing works and then worry about the motor after that. I just wanted to be able to walk away from the build at one of my LUG's shows and the kids could still see the stuff moving without me being behind it. Part of the fun is talking to people, but at our shows you don't have a lot of time with your build because you have to volunteer for other activities throughout the day to keep them moving.

A new AAA battery box on Bricklink is $50. No used available. The L-motor is $38 and M-motor is $31. No used there either.

The items from the Lighthouse are $30 and $22.

And that's not mentioning the investment from new Powered Up stuff from S@H, so this will take some investigating methinks.

1 hour ago, TheLegoDr said:

A new AAA battery box on Bricklink is $50. No used available. The L-motor is $38 and M-motor is $31. No used there either.

The items from the Lighthouse are $30 and $22.

And that's not mentioning the investment from new Powered Up stuff from S@H, so this will take some investigating methinks.

Did you check the PF ones? I think those are still a bit cheaper.

If all you’re doing is slowly moving a staircase around, then a cheap M motor (either PU or PF version) would be fine.  Then just buy a AAA or AA battery box. 
 

It sounds like the motors will be geared down, so any motor will do. 

Just to address the elephant in the room: PF would probably have been the ideal choice here, but since that is sadly discontinued you are stuck with the slightly less convenient PU, or paying a premium for increasingly rare PF parts.

I think you can also use a worm gear for slow.

If you are mostly working with system bricks then the Batmobile powered up set 76112 had two m motors with studs and a AAA battery box like the trains. Might be a good set to start from.

I'm not that deep into PU yet, but is it possible to use the hub from 76112 as a simple BB, that is without the train remote or a BT device?

Edited December 30, 20222 yr by kolbjha

7 minutes ago, kolbjha said:

I'm not that deep into PU yet, but is it possible to use the hub from 76112 as a simple BB, that is without the train remote or a BT device?

No it isn't. In terms of operation, it's the same as the Technic hub - there must be another device connected to control it.

20 minutes ago, kolbjha said:

I'm not that deep into PU yet, but is it possible to use the hub from 76112 as a simple BB, that is without the train remote or a BT device?

No, it needs a controller.  The only simple battery box is the technic one.

Thanks all. I'll do some more digging, but this gives me a bit of a starting point. I haven't been too familiar with this section of LEGO, so it is a learning curve for sure.

Do I need to buy one of the hubs and a battery box, or can I just get a battery box? 

You could also use the 9v motor and battery box with the on/off buttons.  That would be cheaper than power functions and probably easier to fit into a castle build.

This is the battery box/motor combo that you might consider https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?S=8735-1#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

3 hours ago, TheLegoDr said:

Do I need to buy one of the hubs and a battery box, or can I just get a battery box? 

The new PU hubs have integrated battery boxes, so you'll just need one item.
In the older PF system, the IR receivers were separate from the batteries, allowing for basic control with just a battery box and motor, or RC control with a receiver and a remote added in.

Okay, thank you all. You've been very helpful. This is a new area for me.