October 20, 201014 yr Hi, Just received my new 8043 set from LEGOshop.com. Unfortunately, unable to start building until this weekend (promised the wife you see). Book 1 has the new updates to fix the drive problems previously reported, steps 33 & 36. Book 3 still shows the LA part number as 4528037. However, the LAs inside the box have a plastic wrapper with the number 4638508 printed on it. The LA itself has 2 different serials numbers 61927 and 3710 stamped on the plastic moulding. Roll on the weekend!!
October 21, 201014 yr I agree with your plea - people, be fair. But lets not be too judgmental, it seems to me that most new LA's listed on Bricklink actually come from sets. This becomes evident once you check the explosion of number of LA 'end' parts: There may also be a fair few people who, having received the service pack, are now selling off the unneeded LAs that originally shipped. They're still perfectly good for most other uses, after all.
October 21, 201014 yr Author How can you distinguish between the old LA's and the new ones on Bricklink? I checked myself and all seem to have the same part no or maybe I'm reading it wrong? I did see an explosion of LA end caps as well, but those didn't come from the SP's for the 8043 as only the newly designed LA's were in those packs. I agree with your plea - people, be fair. But lets not be too judgmental, it seems to me that most new LA's listed on Bricklink actually come from sets. This becomes evident once you check the explosion of number of LA 'end' parts: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=61904&colorID=85 April - 69 May - 134 June - 152 July - 130 August - 302 September - 150 On sale in October - 2453 For the sake of full disclosure, my BL id is: nk4002r and I don't have LA's for sale and not planning to sell them in the future. :)
October 21, 201014 yr @ nk4200r: With the 20-fold increase in the number of sales of Linear Actuators, it seems that folks are DUMPING their old/damaged/undesirable LAs onto unsuspecting customers. Without knowing that the NEW, LUBRICATED LAs have "36X0" stamped on them, Bricklink customers would not know if they had a "New" or "Old" LA. Heck, neither Bricklink nor Peeron have distinguished between two versions of LAs in their parts catalog, and the LA advertisements don't say anything about the "36X0" lot number. I'm keeping my old LAs, since they're perfectely adequate for all of the other sets EXCEPT for the 8043 Motorized Excavator. I lubed them with Olive Oil, and don't have any trouble with plastic shavings, poor performance, burned-out motors, etc. Here is a contradiction: ppl on BL dump their broken LA's while you yourself agree that there is nothing wrong with them ? I agree that they are adequate for most purpose and therefore there is nothing wrong with selling the parts on BL. I believe it is just a coincidence that some guys parted out 50+ technic sets to list a bunch of LA's (and other related technic parts) right now - it has nothing to do with the 8043 saga. How can you distinguish between the old LA's and the new ones on Bricklink? I checked myself and all seem to have the same part no or maybe I'm reading it wrong? I did see an explosion of LA end caps as well, but those didn't come from the SP's for the 8043 as only the newly designed LA's were in those packs. I'd bet you that all LA's on BL are of the original version. I'd guess that someone will eventually add the new part to the BL catalog, but who knows. There may also be a fair few people who, having received the service pack, are now selling off the unneeded LAs that originally shipped. They're still perfectly good for most other uses, after all. 100% agreed. Those are mostly the sellers with small quantity (4 to 8 pieces). But my original point was that there is no conspiracy that ppl just order the service packs to dump on BL. I am sure Lego's loss prevention has a way of filtering out genuine requests. Edited October 21, 201014 yr by nk4002r
October 21, 201014 yr I've been in the waiting list since the 6th of September, and still no joy It's not like I'm in a hurry, but it would be nice to at least get some information on the expected ship date for the service pack.
October 22, 201014 yr Author Guess I shouldn't have complained about the 2+ week delay to get mine in the USA...wow that's bad, I don't know if these types of packages have to clear customs in any given country they are shipped to? I've been in the waiting list since the 6th of September, and still no joy It's not like I'm in a hurry, but it would be nice to at least get some information on the expected ship date for the service pack.
October 22, 201014 yr I've been in the waiting list since the 6th of September, and still no joy It's not like I'm in a hurry, but it would be nice to at least get some information on the expected ship date for the service pack. If I were you I'd contact them by phone to hear if it was sent or not. When I first signed up for the service pack by email, I got stuck in a queue of emails that they're still working their way through, but calling them got me the SP 3 working days later :)
October 22, 201014 yr I agree with your plea - people, be fair. But lets not be too judgmental, it seems to me that most new LA's listed on Bricklink actually come from sets. This becomes evident once you check the explosion of number of LA 'end' parts: http://www.bricklink.com/catalogPG.asp?P=61904&colorID=85 April - 69 May - 134 June - 152 July - 130 August - 302 September - 150 On sale in October - 2453 For the sake of full disclosure, my BL id is: nk4002r and I don't have LA's for sale and not planning to sell them in the future. :) The stores in my area are trying to get rid of their inventory of older lego sets, and I have seen the front loader at two different chains for less than half price. Might be part of the source of the LAs.
October 22, 201014 yr The stores in my area are trying to get rid of their inventory of older lego sets, and I have seen the front loader at two different chains for less than half price. Might be part of the source of the LAs. Really!?! What chains?
October 22, 201014 yr Really!?! What chains? In germany: Karstadt had them marked down to 40, and Ratio had them for 40 and had an additional 20% off all lego for a total of 32 euros.
October 30, 201014 yr Finally received my Service Pack here in Germany yesterday. Ordered it on 08/25. Never built the regular version of 8043 but built directly Jurgen's ultimative version. To me there are no improvements with the new LA's. Using a XL-motor for the boom it makes no different if I have the new LA's or the old ones. Personally I think the older LA's worked better for the shovel and upper arm of the boom (less play when they're extended). Maybe I have to use the new LA's for a couple days.
October 30, 201014 yr I asked for the service pack back in august, and they sent me an email that i had been placed on the list. And 2 months later i still haven't received the pack. I sent them another email last week, with no reply..
October 30, 201014 yr I asked for the service pack back in august, and they sent me an email that i had been placed on the list. And 2 months later i still haven't received the pack. I sent them another email last week, with no reply.. Same here. That's why I called them again one week ago. They told me they ran out of service packs. More are ordered and they get them in this week. They started again to mail them out. The lady on the phone also told me they have two lists. She had no clue why I didn't got one service pack yet even though I ordered one so early (August, 25th). Best thing will be to call them again, M4X1994.
November 1, 201014 yr Will they also replace the LA's from older sets? Suppose I have the same problem on the LA's in 8258 Crane Truck since the error was not known back then. Or is the error a change in the production line so it only affected newer batches of the old version - so to speak?
November 4, 201014 yr Well, 8043 has problems with old LA's thus all 8043 sets are pretty sure repackaged. From another models: not really idea, but i think they shall change all LA's in new sets to new LA's.
November 24, 201014 yr Author Crazy thing is, IMHO anyway, I think the olive oil trick that somebody (can't recall the name of the member) posted works better on the old LA's than the newer style LA's. When soaked in the olive oil, albeit messy and they ooze a bit, they still operate the lifting ability of the boom better then the newly designed service pack ones. Also the new ones wiggle a bit too much at the far end of their play. Maybe its just me, but I do like the oiling trick better. I even soaked a bunch of ones from other sets and reinstalled, the 8295, 8258 and 8265 are the hardest working ones, and they operate better than the old non-lubed ones.
November 25, 201014 yr Yes, the "Extra Virgin" Olive Oil is good to use on the Linear Actuators. Take your pick: Edited November 25, 201014 yr by DLuders
November 25, 201014 yr Author Yup, that's what I bought and used. It works real well, I just filled a small dish with it, extended the old LA's completely and immersed overnight. Then I took a rag and cleaned the casings up after retracting the rods, real messy, but it sure makes them smooth operating. Some of the oil oozes a bit as you use them, but not too much. Only bad part is when you assemble something with the oil-filled actuator is they can be a bit greasy as you put models together, so you have to wipe your hands after installing the actuator otherwise you end up getting oil from your fingers all over the other parts, but the plus is they definitely take the friction problem away. Yes, the "Extra Virgin" Olive Oil is good to use on the Linear Actuators. Take your pick:
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