Repairing One Of Yuan's Favorite Toys

Hello friends! Today I finally managed to repair one of Yuan's favorite toys, his Fling-ama-string, hooray! 😸

I have replaced the elastic part on this toy several times, because when he catches the toy, he likes to try and drag it off, and it gets stretched out. So when it stopped working but was still making noise, I figured the elastic was too loose again and did that. But it still wasn't spinning around (it's basically like a conveyor belt), so I opened it up and tried to see if it was a loose wire or something inside. When that didn't work, I ordered a little kit full of electric parts so that I could replace the motor (a kit with a bunch of other parts was actually the best value). I got it a while back, but it's been sitting near my desk waiting for me to try working on it again.

So, I got a new motor out and tried several times to get it hooked up, and eventually realized that I needed to replace the black wire as well. Thankfully the kit had those too! See, it's s good thing I bought a little supply box of parts.

Then I realized the new motor didn't fit in the slot quite right, because this little nub on one side was bigger in the new motor versus the old one:

red is the new one

So, I started hacking at the plastic that it had to sit in with a pair of scissors. 😅

It worked, don't knock it

Finally I got it to sit at the right level where I could hook the rubber band part over the wheel (which also snapped in half and needed super glue, lol) that fits on the motor arm. Here you can see it on the larger wheel that spins the elastic and string around:

Finally, the electric parts were all put back together! I tested it, and: HOORAY! It works! So I screwed the back back into place.

I put it on the bedroom door (it loops around the back - I've replaced that part too with sturdy ties rather than more elastic, lol - to hook onto that doorknob as well as the front one), and as SOON as I turned it on, a wild Yuan appeared!

Yay! My guy has his toy back! :)

I feel like a successful human who can fix things now. 😁

Have a wonderful day everyone, and thanks for reading! :)