Testing/repairing old 4.5V light bricks, optosensors, and touch sensors

[Phoxtane]

I've been dealing with 15+ years of hideous sorting now that I have a house of my own and a dedicated space to build and organize my collection. I uncovered my old "weird pieces" box where I dumped stuff that I didn't know what to do with. Among many other oddities, this box had a couple handfuls of old 4.5V light bricks, optosensors, and touch sensors (08010dc01, x1161cx1, and x1167cx1, respectively.

I received these from a family who had kept ahold of old Lego DACTA stuff from their job as an elementary school principal. Naturally, they were a little filthy and my young self dunked them into a soapy water bath without thinking.

Now it's 15 years later and I'd like to test these pieces to make sure they work, repair them if they don't, and hopefully sell them on to somebody who'll appreciate them more than I will (if anyone is interested, DM me!). (No longer available, they've been passed on to a true 4.5V connoisseur.)

I think I have a decent idea of what to expect if the parts are working, but what I don't know is how I can open any of them to perform repairs if necessary. (On the other hand, it may not even be economically viable to repair them given how little they go for online vs. the risk of shattering something). Does anybody know of safe methods to pop these open for the purposes of repair and inspection?

Edited October 24, 2023 by Phoxtane

[JopieK]

For the lights: http://www.heinerberg.homepage.t-online.de/tips.htm I think the same solution would work for the other items. A simple multimeter and a lab power supply could help to identify if the parts work.

[Toastie]

As @JopieK said: Am besten testen ...

Simple multimeter is fine. The lamps should read rather low resistance. The sensors maybe 500 Ohm or so, when pressed. If the resistance is much higher (or does not change at all when pressing the button) then you need to open it up. I'd try something similar to the lamp approach in the link as well.

Lab power supply for the lamps (not for the sensors!) is fine but maybe not at hand (?) ... a 4.5V battery will do as well, the historical type 3LR12. Do you have the 4.5V wires as well? They will make things easier to check.

Best,
Thorsten 

Edited September 17, 2023 by Toastie

[evank]

@Phoxtane - The best way to test the 4.5V accessories is to plug them into Lego set #9750, "Interface A" (I have some extras if you'd like to buy one -- send me a private message if you're interested.)

Interface A has six outputs (lights/motors) and two inputs (optical and touch sensors). The output ports are approximately 3.5 volts and the sensor ports are approximately zero-point-3 volts.

Edited September 20, 2023 by evank

[evank]

Phoxtane sent me the parts. I plugged them into an Interface A on my workbench. They all function perfectly. 

Edited January 7 by evank