The Ultimate 8043 (modifications)

[sapo117]

So you meant only the parts!!! I tought you were talking about building it.... anyway we don't go OT, let's discuss this in pvt. Ciao!

[CisFran]

what's the effect if I will use the old bucket instead of the 8x10 bucket?

[Alasdair Ryan]

The bigger original bucket dose not have the best movement range,the smaller one has better movement.

Also you have a Pm.

[davidmull]

If it can helps I found ALL the bricks needed, excluding electric in this shop: http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=sieger

Bit slow to reply to emails, but goods arrived in 1 week and price is ok for being 1 shop only

But if I knew Ryan can sell me everything I wouldn't bother this much! Why you didn't tell me earlier!!!!

If I knew that last nite I would have ordered there, I nearly pulled my hair out on brick link and I got someone with most of the parts although I had to get some parts in dark grey as he hasn't light grey, I didn't order that large grey panel for behind the remotes but I'm sure it's not very important is it? Also where did u order the bucket only 4 sellers have it but there min but was 6-10€.

[sapo117]

If I knew that last nite I would have ordered there, I nearly pulled my hair out on brick link and I got someone with most of the parts although I had to get some parts in dark grey as he hasn't light grey, I didn't order that large grey panel for behind the remotes but I'm sure it's not very important is it? Also where did u order the bucket only 4 sellers have it but there min but was 6-10€.

If you mean the Plate 4 x 12 , it's not really important , it's the back part of the command set, but without I guess you still able to operate the digger ;)

About the bucket, from the shop I told you....if you type 2951 in Bricklink I think you have nearly 1 milion of buckets to buy....are you sure???

Anyway I arrived the last step I could do before XL motor and PF lights arrive...

[davidmull]

Iv just remembered something I ordered the rechargeable lead from WASSERMAN SHOP, will that be a Europe plug does anyone know?

[Strikeman]

@davidmull; yes, it will be a European plug if you ordered it from Wasserman.

and yes, the 8878 is indeed worth it; I already have 4 now, all came from this shop

[sapo117]

Wow that was challenging.... fit that mess of cable for me was quite hard

But after a bit scary moment everything was fitted in

Also the built of controls is very funny,,,I even added some modification because of missing parts...

I will show a video when I get 3 new AAA... like a stupid I forgot now it's 3 control and I couldn't play after finish it!! WORST punishment ever ahahaha

[Alasdair Ryan]

Congratulations on building the ultimate 8043 excavator.

Too bad you forgot to buy AAA battery's.....

[Kumbbl]

Has anybody compared this Ultimate 8043 with the also famous JCB JS220 Excavator of Jennifer Clark (http://www.genuinemodels.com/jcb.htm)?

if yes, which one yould you recommend concerning

- building challenge

- playing fun-factor

- cost of parts

- level of difficulty getting these parts at bricklink

Thanks a lot in advance

[CisFran]

Has anybody compared this Ultimate 8043 with the also famous JCB JS220 Excavator of Jennifer Clark (http://www.genuinemodels.com/jcb.htm)?

if yes, which one yould you recommend concerning

- building challenge

- playing fun-factor

- cost of parts

- level of difficulty getting these parts at bricklink

Thanks a lot in advance

If JCB model = 100%, the Ultimate will only be 60-70% of the standards on all that you listed above (or much lower I suppose). But that's just for me

Edited January 24, 2013 by francisalmario

[EdmanZA]

Has anybody compared this Ultimate 8043 with the also famous JCB JS220 Excavator of Jennifer Clark (http://www.genuinemodels.com/jcb.htm)?

if yes, which one yould you recommend concerning

- building challenge

- playing fun-factor

- cost of parts

- level of difficulty getting these parts at bricklink

Thanks a lot in advance

I plan to do both builds in a few weeks time, once my JS220 parts arrive. I'm thinking of doing a build log for the JS220 and maybe a comparison.

I can comment on the Bricklinking, though.

I got the 8043 while I was in Germany in June, I think for around EUR 140 (I was travelling, so able to reclaim some VAT). I didn't want to split any of my current sets, so I Bricklinked all the additional parts for the mod, except for the . I also bought only new parts.

The total price for parts in June last year (excluding shipping and fees) was about EUR 145, with major costs for single items being:

- EUR 50 - PF Rechargeable battery

- EUR 29 - PF Receiver and remote

- EUR 22 - PF Motors

- EUR 9 - PF Lights

- EUR 6 - PF wire

These were not necessarily the cheapest part prices, since I was also considering shipping costs and order consolidation when hunting for parts. Overall, the hunt was pretty straightforward since most of the parts are current and readily available new. I don't remember any particular part being very hard to find.

For the JS220, the shear number of parts required (almost 1700), forced me to relax my set splitting requirements a bit, though I still set myself the goal of being able to build the JS220, U8043, 8265, 8275 and 8455 at the same time (betting a bit of a yellow earth mover theme going). This one proved a bit challenging and I quickly decided that I would accept used parts in some area to reduce costs and make the search easier. I already had almost all of the pneumatics, Technic bricks and beams, but none of the electrics, bar two switches, one battery box and a couple of wires.

My total parts price for this build was almost EUR 210, with some cost highlights being:

- EUR 82 - 5x 9V motors

- EUR 43 - 300x track links

- EUR 11 - 2x electric switches

- EUR 10 - 3x 162L wires

- EUR 5 - 1x small pneumatic pump

- EUR 4 - 8x grey 40T gears

In addition, I spent another EUR 18 to get 10m of generic tubing to use for the umbilical.

In general, it wasn't too hard to find new parts for most of the external bricks and good used parts for rest. The biggest issue was trying to consolidate everything into as few orders as possible. In light of this, the following parts proved troubling:

- Motors - there's a fair number of used ones out there, but the only stores that had them in quantities greater than one or two wouldn't ship to South Africa (though I manage to make an arrangement to get some shipped to my sister in London).

- New blue bricks - these are dispersed enough that I ended up buying used ones.

- Yellow 8 x 4 wings - lots of stores have left or right, but it proved hard to find a store (or combination of stores) that had both.

- Dark grey rigid tube - this is quite expensive and hard to find in bulk

- Black 40T gears - there are 23 on Bricklink, ranging from EUR 2 to EUR 8. No store has more than two. I went grey, with a view to possibly dyeing them.

- Trans Clear 1x1 Tile - lots around, but only at 12 stores and going for over EUR 0.5. I skipped this one.

The other rigid and ribbed hoses were also a bit tedious, simply because the vast multitude of available lengths makes it hard to set up an easy wanted list search. I'd work out what lengths I needed in a spreadsheet, look for them on BL, find some missing, go back and adjust the lengths, check BL again, find other lengths missing, recalculate, etc., all while trying to fit them in with other parts orders.

Finally, there're a number of parts substitutions that can be done to make the search easier:

- I relaxed the colour requirements on the controller. I'll have mismatched pumps and a couple of the grey plates instead of black, as well as a mixture of greys, but you could go all-out here if you wanted.

- You probably need to stick to the 3x older, heavier versions of the motor for the excavator (for weight balance), but you could get away with the lighter, newer version in the controller.

- Grey and bluish grey parts are pretty interchangeable, since the only place where large numbers appear next to each other is on the controller.

- The only place where you really have to have dark grey rigid tube is for the two 3L control levers in the cabin. All the rest is hidden, or in areas where black works just as well.

[Blakbird]

I plan to do both builds in a few weeks time, once my JS220 parts arrive. I'm thinking of doing a build log for the JS220 and maybe a comparison.

Wow, thanks for doing all this work to summarize the part collection process! My experiences were very similar. When building one of these MOCs, it can be quite important to realize where color matters and where it doesn't. You correctly noted that the colors for the controller don't really matter. Same goes for most of the rigid tubing. The yellow tubing running up the main boom needs to be yellow, but almost everything else is hidden so it doesn't matter. Same goes for color of pneumatic tubing. The tubing on the excavator boom should be black, but the umbilical could be any color. Plenty of people have used clear silicone tubing.

[davidmull]

Blackbird whats ur opinion on the ultimate 8043? Or do u prefer the non rc pneumatic machine?

By the way I'm halfway through this build and it really is a pleasure to build and quiet challenging :)

Just waiting on my pf light and 8878 batterie now so I can't do much more till then.

Edited January 25, 2013 by davidmull

[nychase]

- Black 40T gears - there are 23 on Bricklink, ranging from EUR 2 to EUR 8. No store has more than two. I went grey, with a view

I know where 80 of the worlds supply are. Plus of course the 8 for my own JS220.

Edited January 25, 2013 by nychase

[Blakbird]

Blackbird whats ur opinion on the ultimate 8043? Or do u prefer the non rc pneumatic machine?

I didn't build the ultimate 8043, I built the Zorex excavator. Both it and the JS220 are really fun to use. I still prefer the realism of pneumatics though..

I know where 80 of the worlds supply are.

Cruel.

[EdmanZA]

The yellow tubing running up the main boom needs to be yellow, but almost everything else is hidden so it doesn't matter.

The black tubing for the black railings on top of the superstructure would also need to stay black. I had no trouble finding this, but it could also easily be replaced with any from of black round rod of the same diameter e.g. Evergreen, Plastruct etc.

Cruel.

I'll second that

[sapo117]

I have finished my Ultimate 8043, now it's debug time and I need your suggestion to make it even better!

First is the end run frustrating noise I heard when the boom is all way down

Second is the difficulty the bucket has to move when the dipper is closed, or almost....I can feel it's rattling....

https://vimeo.com/58484848

Any suggestion?

[davidmull]

I have finished my Ultimate 8043, now it's debug time and I need your suggestion to make it even better!

First is the end run frustrating noise I heard when the boom is all way down

Second is the difficulty the bucket has to move when the dipper is closed, or almost....I can feel it's rattling....

https://vimeo.com/58484848

Any suggestion?

The clicking with the arm it fully down might be the internal clutches in the la,s as ur using an xl motor now.

The clicking on the bucket seems to be the cv join hitting something.

Maybe jurgen can help but he's gone missing on here lately :)

Edited January 29, 2013 by davidmull

[Alasdair Ryan]

Have you tried using the new CV joints instead of the universal joint?

Because you are using a xl motor,I suspect that its the clutches and a bit of backlash from the gears.I am not to sure what can be done here but maybe some other person may have a idea on how to solve it......

[sapo117]

Have you tried using the new CV joints instead of the universal joint?

Because you are using a xl motor,I suspect that its the clutches and a bit of backlash from the gears.I am not to sure what can be done here but maybe some other person may have a idea on how to solve it......

Do you mean replace the Technic Universal Joint 3L ( 61903 ) with Technic, Steering CV Joint ( 32494 ) ?

Am I wrong or it should be connected with Technic, Steering CV Joint Axle ( 92906 )

Thanks

[davidmull]

Do you mean replace the Technic Universal Joint 3L ( 61903 ) with Technic, Steering CV Joint ( 32494 ) ?

Am I wrong or it should be connected with Technic, Steering CV Joint Axle ( 92906 )

Thanks

I'm not sure if they will be useful at 90 degrees though, did u ask jurgen yet? Lots have built this model we not side effects, ill let u know how mine works when I'm finished.

[jantjeuh]

I have finished my Ultimate 8043, now it's debug time and I need your suggestion to make it even better!

First is the end run frustrating noise I heard when the boom is all way down

https://vimeo.com/58484645

Second is the difficulty the bucket has to move when the dipper is closed, or almost....I can feel it's rattling....

https://vimeo.com/58484848

Any suggestion?

I had the same issues, used a clutch gear to prevent the LA clutches from engaging, and changed the dipper construction slightly to prevent the u-joint there from making excessive angles.

[Soluzar]

Is it remotely possible that these issues stem from using an 8043 set which hasn't had the 'service pack'? I know they replaced some of the parts in the set in later units.

I'm curious because I intend to build the ultimate 8043 myself.

[davidmull]

Is it remotely possible that these issues stem from using an 8043 set which hasn't had the 'service pack'? I know they replaced some of the parts in the set in later units.

I'm curious because I intend to build the ultimate 8043 myself.

I'll tell u soon because mines nearly finished , just waiting on my 8878 to arrive, mine is the newer 8043.

I had the same issues, used a clutch gear to prevent the LA clutches from engaging, and changed the dipper construction slightly to prevent the u-joint there from making excessive angles.

Could u maybe show us what u changed?