brand new bit char-g, won’t work at all! any ideas?

[Admin]

Soi just received a package that i purchased off ebay – a yoshi kart bit char-g. I followed the instructions as best i could (they were in japanese) then gave up and found the american ones on the tomy site.

I am not getting any indication of movement.

Basically, I have put the batteries in, attached the yoshikart, and clicked it into on/charge mode – the light comes on, and lasted like that for a good couple of minutes (normal, i hear, for a first time charge.) When the light goes off, i detach it, extend the aerial, and try to drive it – pressing buttons puts the LED on the controller on temporarily, but the kart does not move at all. The controller aerial is all the way out, and the kart aerial is nice and straight, and i am trying this all within a foot or so of the kart. there are no other karts around to interfere with the signal. I have tried it with four different full sets of batteries, including one packet that i bought specially. None have worked.

A side note – after what seems to be a full charge, and the light goes off, I tried putting it back on to charge, and it went through another charging cycle (light on for a few minutes, then off) – after doing this it still did not work. I hav tried this four or five times, but don’t want to try it any more in case it does something to the car’s battery.

Any suggestions on what i can do to fix this, or should i send it back to the ebay supplier and ask for a refund? (I’d really rather not as i love yoshi and rc cars…)

[leonli17]

Sounds like a dead battery in the car. Try the car when it’s ON the charging dock. If the car functions on it when u charging and not when it’s off, it would mean it’s dead battery. If it doesn’t function, then it’s possible that one of the wires fell off from the PCB. If this is the case, open the clear cover then flip the PCB, check if any wires that’s not connected then resolder whatever wire that’s detached. Hope this helps

[Kerosene]

If it’s new old stock, you might want to check that the battery in the car hasn’t leaked.

[Admin]

@leonli17 225042 wrote:

Sounds like a dead battery in the car. Try the car when it’s ON the charging dock. If the car functions on it when u charging and not when it’s off, it would mean it’s dead battery. If it doesn’t function, then it’s possible that one of the wires fell off from the PCB. If this is the case, open the clear cover then flip the PCB, check if any wires that’s not connected then resolder whatever wire that’s detached. Hope this helps

I never thought of trying that, so i did – and it worked! Yes, so when connected to the dock it works, but not when it’s not. Which means the battery in the car is a dud. Is it is easy to replace (i presume so, with customisability of these things!) and if so, how do i do it? and what kind of battery do i need for it, and where can i get one and for how much?

thanks for all the help

[betty.k]

what you want is a 1/3 AAA cell. bcg accessories are hard to come by these days so you better pm me your shipping address;) :8ball:

[leonli17]

Haha what betty said. Some of us had too much fun with Bits back in the days and has heaps of parts left over..:)

[Dangerous Dave]

bugger that, send your parts to ME :p

I’d check the interior battery terminals first, if there’s any kinda green corrosion or otherwise clean them up and it should work. If you have a Volt Meter, check the voltage on the car’s charging tabs after checking the terminals, should give you anything from 0.7 to 1.4 volts depending on battery status.

I’ve had a few DOA bits, and all were easily fixed by cleaning the terminals.

Enjoy it for a while, then start modding ahahahahaha…

[Admin]

@Dangerous Dave 225047 wrote:

bugger that, send your parts to ME :p

I’d check the interior battery terminals first, if there’s any kinda green corrosion or otherwise clean them up and it should work. If you have a Volt Meter, check the voltage on the car’s charging tabs after checking the terminals, should give you anything from 0.7 to 1.4 volts depending on battery status.

I’ve had a few DOA bits, and all were easily fixed by cleaning the terminals.

Enjoy it for a while, then start modding ahahahahaha…

is the outer casing (the yoshi bit) as easy to remove on a nintendo bit char-g as it is for a regular one? i can’t see what i should unclip to get it off without snapping something. also, what should i clean the contacts with – a cotton bud tip and________ (turps? hot soapy water? chocolate milk!?)

And once the case is off, i presume the “interior battery terninals” are pretty easy to find – the things the battery touches when it is in, i take it?

sorry, but as you cant ell I’m a bit of a noob!

[betty.k]

is the outer casing (the yoshi bit) as easy to remove on a nintendo bit char-g as it is for a regular one?

yep

what should i clean the contacts with

if there’s liquid in there wipe it away with a tissue or a cotton bud.
for the metal terminals use a pen eraser. also use it on the battery itself, rub the metal bits until they’re silver again.

i presume the “interior battery terninals” are pretty easy to find – the things the battery touches when it is in, i take it?

correct :8ball:

[Admin]

okay, so the yoshi casing came offf quite easily, but from there i am stuck. the only thing that looks like it is meant to come off is a plastic covering over the circuit board-type things – this opened/unlatched at one end, and swung upwards. the board underneath seems to be connected. any other way in?

[Dangerous Dave]

you have to carefully lift the board up, it will probably kinda hinge from one side.
The tiny steering wires will be holding it down on one side (or at the front), just gently lift the board at the free end and you’ll see the battery underneath.
Note the battery orientation, then carefully manouver it out, again watching out for the steering wires..

:beer:

[Admin]

@Dangerous Dave 225053 wrote:

you have to carefully lift the board up, it will probably kinda hinge from one side.
The tiny steering wires will be holding it down on one side (or at the front), just gently lift the board at the free end and you’ll see the battery underneath.
Note the battery orientation, then carefully manouver it out, again watching out for the steering wires..

:beer:

thankyou so much for your help! I didn’t expect it to work, (being a cynic) but it did! And now I have a wonderful little remote control yoshi.

Now, a question I’m sure you are used to hearing what with the active bit char-g modders community – how do i make it faster! Haha. What is the easiest way to get it going faster? Different gears or a different motor or both? Also, how easy is it to acquire parts, and which ones do you recommend? And will i have any problems with this being a japanese model, needing japanese parts or would aussie parts suffice (and do australian parts even exist?) Presumably, standard bit ghar-g parts work in the nintendo licensed cars? And are these things easy to install, or do they require soldering and other mad skills?

[Dangerous Dave]

to go faster – find better motors, try different gears, do a FET mod, go dual cell..

the FET mod makes a huge difference, but requires intricate soldering work and some small electronic components.

Any micro RC parts should work, even generic “clones” of the Bits.

[Admin]

okay, so after a day or possibly two of enjoying my previously working yoshi, it has gone kaput. well, sort of. And it has hardly been used. like, five or six recharges& runs.

Basically, it won’t steer now. Well, it will turn one way, sporadically. As in, sometimes it pays attention to me pressing the turn left button (or maybe it is right) and sometimes it doesn’t. And it will never turn at all the other direction. When it does work steering in the one direction, it’s a less strong turn that it used to have (as in, the magnet that pulls the wheel in seems to pull it in less far and also more slowly.)

What would have caused this? It hasn’t had any big falls or anything, and it’s hardly been used. I’m not sure how, but the white thingy on top of the main kart unit (piece of plastic, plastic crossbar across the top and spokes that go down through to the other side? seemed to pop out on one side – i popped this back in, but it hasn’t worked since around that time (unfortunately i can’t remember exactly when it stopped working.)

Is this easily fixed, and is it because of something i did, or just loose wiring?

[Dangerous Dave]

the steering return spring might be outta place.

check the free ends of the spring are either side of and hooked under the tiny T piece.

Unfortunately you have to lift up the circuit board again to gain access to the small screw which holds down the steering cover. The steering cover should hinge forwards, and all the steering bits will fall outta place.. ATTENTION: DO NOT LOSE THE TINY SPRING!!
Put everything back in it’s correct place, and make sure the spring is positioned. Replace the steering cover and check if the steering works before inserting the screw. While you’re there, check the steering wires haven’t broken off..
Repair/reassemble, and enjoy your rapidly increasing Bit knowledge :p

[Admin]

okeydoke, so i opened it up and poked around, and reattached the plastic spoke thing from each wheel to the crossbar with a magnet attached to the middle of it. is this what you mean by spring? Because there was nothing when i opened it (or closed it up!) that resembled a spring in the tradtional sense of the world. Seems to be running fine now though, if perhaps a tiny bit slower and joltier. Better than not turning at all like before!

[betty.k]

the return spring is like a bent piece of fine wire, see attached pic :8ball:

[Dangerous Dave]

ta bk, I didn’t have any opened Bits with springs to photograph..

[Author]

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