# Surf'n' Joe Cool Model - Small Motor Question



## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Hey guys,

I have an old Snoopy Joe Cool Surfing model I want to restore, but need the double shaft motor that powers it... or a similar replacement.

Anyone know where I might garner one?

I'm not very good with electrical matters, so I don't know the motor's maker, voltage, or anything. But, I do have pictures.

Thanks for any help or tips.

geoffdude


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Geoff, do you know anyone who plays with slotcars? Chances are you could have the motor rebuilt. That is, of course, unless the armature shaft is damaged (unlikely)...

Chris.


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Hi Chris (long time no talky )... hope you are doing well.

I don't have the motor at all, it was missing.

I've tried evilbay looking for small motors, but nothing I've come across seems to fit the bill.

Thanks for the shout though! :thumbsup:

Best regards,

geoff


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Hi Geoff, apart from the onset of a bout of 'flu I'm doing fine. I hope all's well with you mate.
I'm not sure how common a double output motor is- I've never seen one before. I'm not into electric things at all but maybe a call out at a couple of slottie or R/C forums might locate one for you. 
I'll keep a lookout for one- you never can tell what'll show up....
All the best.

Chris.


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

Here's a small, double (or dual) shaft motor that runs on 3VDC that I found using Google:

http://kinmore.en.alibaba.com/produ...7/Micro_Motor_FK_280SA_with_carbon_brush.html

Radio Shack used to sell one identical to the one in the model, but all they have now is a single-shaft version.

Larry


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Hi Larry,

Thanks for the link.

I think that site/item is for bulk purchases. It states a large number per carton availability.

Probably a vendor to company thing. B2B

Appreciate the help though. :thumbsup:

Regards,

geoff


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Looks like a Mabuchi FA 130 with a longer armature wire/shaft


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

djnick66 said:


> Looks like a Mabuchi FA 130 with a longer armature wire/shaft


Close, but the FA 130 has a single shaft. But the flat can case is dead on.

The one I need is a dual-shaft. I've seen a few similar ones, but they seem to have too much power, or are off in some way.

I've been searching (when time permits) for almost a year... quite perplexing that I haven't stumbled upon one by now. 

Thanks though, I still appreciate the help.

Regards,

geoff


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Its not dual shaft... it just has a longer comm arm/rod/shaft. You could make one by taking an FA-130 apart and making a new armature using the existing stuff just a longer shaft. Sort of like those old Lindberg motors you built yourself. Perhaps a slot car armature would work?


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

djnick66 said:


> Its not dual shaft... it just has a longer comm arm/rod/shaft. You could make one by taking an FA-130 apart and making a new armature using the existing stuff just a longer shaft. Sort of like those old Lindberg motors you built yourself. Perhaps a slot car armature would work?


Thanks, I'll start searching for "DC motor extended shaft", not "dual".

But... I have a feeling my search attempts are going to result in a lot of ads for male enhancements. :drunk::freak:

Trying to alter the motor is beyond my pay grade, or abilities, I'm sorry to say. I need to find one to buy.

Appreciate your help.

Regards,

geoff


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/cgi-bin/catalog/e_catalog.cgi?CAT_ID=fa_130ra

Thats the technical specs of a Mabuchi FA-130. If you can get a rod/shaft/wire the diameter of the motor's armature shaft, you should be able to slide the armature off the motor shaft onto the new shaft. The parts are press fit... It's not a big deal and getting into the motor is as easy as lifting the two tabs on the back with a small screw driver 

You might also contact Mabuchi

http://www.mabuchi-motor.co.jp/en_US/company/index.html 

and ask about such a motor or what it might be called. Looking quickly I did not see it on their site, but they have a gazillion little motors on there to examine

There are some small motors with extended shafts on each end for HO train engines. I don't know if they will do anything with battery power. They are not expensive. I saw one on eBay for $13.

I'd also take an hour and browse eBay searching for "Mabuchi Motor", "Toy Electric Motor" etc.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

geoffdude said:


> Hi Chris (long time no talky )... hope you are doing well.
> 
> I don't have the motor at all, it was missing.
> 
> ...


The FA-130 size motor is the same as what Tamiya runs in their Mini 4wD cars. Those are HUGE and people take the motors apart all the time, make new armatures, etc. You could check some online forums for those type of cars and see what you get. Perhaps someone could make you one, tell you how (they are simple) etc. I am sure that stuff is still out there. The Mini 4WD stuff was huge about 10 years ago and AFAIK is still big, especially in Japan.

Here are some parts to make your own FA-130 motors... http://www.mini4wd.it/partsokaminews.htm


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## BatToys (Feb 4, 2002)

The armature also had a rubber tip that rotated Snoopy when the surfboard seesawed down.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Thats probably just a piece or rubber tubing. You see that on other motorized models, sometimes also as a flex coupler


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## clark_savage (Jan 24, 2003)

Have you tried this store?

http://www.hobbyengineering.com/


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Hey Guys,

Here's an update on my Snoopy Joe Cool surfing restore.

Found a motor on EBAY, seems like it will work perfectly. (Due to arrive 9/21).
*MABUCHI 1.5-3v DC Electric Motor w/Dual Shafts*









*Still need HELP though* -- can anyone share the best (easy) way I can make white flower decals from the vector art I created? I need the flowers for Snoopy's trunks.

See flowers below.









Thanks and regards,

geoff


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

You can print the decals on white decal paper with a contrasting background on your artwork. Cut along the demarcation line... Basically you will be printing the background and leaving the white void areas.


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

djnick66 said:


> You can print the decals on white decal paper with a contrasting background on your artwork. Cut along the demarcation line... Basically you will be printing the background and leaving the white void areas.


Thanks... could you walk me thru it a bit more? I'm a babe in the woods when it comes to the custom decal stuff.

- Any and all tips would greatly help

Thx again.

*I'll post a video of Snoopy surf'n' when I'm done.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Printing decals is pretty easy. I have used the Testors decal paper for ink jet printers, but there are other brands available. Bare Metal Foil offers ink jet and laser printer film. I think you can get some also from Micro Mark. 

For practical purposes you can't print white (yes there is/was one out of production, hard to find, printer that does) so you have to work around the lack of white by using white paper. In general, if you were printing a fairly complex decal sheet you might have to cut up your artwork and print some of the images on clear paper and some on clear. For example, if you have writing you probably want to print that on clear so you don't have to cut out each individual letter from a solid white backing. For complex images you can also layer decals on top of each other. I did this with a very complicated image that had to have some white. I printed the black outline parts of the decal on clear and applied it over a portion of the decal with white and colored areas that was printed on white film.

For your white flowers you will need to set a background color around them to print on white paper. I would try to pick a color close to your paint color so you don't have to be quite so careful in cutting them out. You might aslo set up your artwork to make more flowers than you actually need so you have some spares. You can't reuse the decal paper if you need extras so pack as much stuff on a sheet before you print it out.

Any decent paint/draw/photo program can be used to edit your artwork. I use Gimp 2 which is a free download but I have also used Paint Shop Pro which I bought at Target for about $70.

Print your image first on paper to make sure its working right, the right size etc. Then slip in a sheet of decal film. When the printer ink is dry, you need to seal the ink. You can use Testors clear decal fixative spray, Testors Clear Gloss Coat, Tamiya Clear Gloss, etc. Spray a couple of LIGHT coats of clear on the decals and let dry between coats.

Then carefully cut out the decals and apply. 

The original Snoopy decals may have actually been stickers. You can also print your images on Avery full sheet self adhesive label paper or some printable vinyl stuff for DIY bumper stickers. 

I printed these Aurora scanned decals using Testors paper










This is the original, scanned, sheet with a lot of yellow and also some color mis-alignment










These two images show how I cleaned up, and recolored the images. You don't have to edit each individual duplicate image. Fix up ONE then cut and paste it back onto your artwork for the required total number needed.










The original red ares were not good so I totally removed the red and drew it back in again with Gimp


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

*Bad news on the motor*... it's the perfect type I need (duel-shaft) but the voltage is too weak. It's 1.5-3v and while it can move the surfboard up and down, it can't spin Snoopy on the board... as it's not poweful enough to spin him and keep going... and the motor just stops.

Looks like I need to find a 3-6v (duel-shaft) motor in the same spin-to-start operating style.

The hunt continues.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

What voltage are you running the motor on now? Does it use one or two batteries? If its 1.5 to 3 v you will get maximum performance with 3v. If you have a 3-6 v motor, its performance with 3 v will be the same as what you have now with 3v. If you are running it with 1.5v then a 3-6v motor will just sit there.


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

You're right of course... not sure what I was thinking. :drunk:

I'm using 2 AA batteries.

NOTE - Anything electrical is my kyrptonite... I get sweaty, weak and then faint.

I'm assuming that the 2 batteries are delivering 3 volts, as each battery is a 1.5 volt battery... but the motor isn't powerful enough to do the job... though it seems like it should be.

Maybe the problem with the motor is torque? 

It seems that some of these DC motors have more power than others and operate on the same voltage.

I'm truly perplexed.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Yeah different motors have different torque. you can take these motors apart too, without too much work. 

Depending on how the batteries go you could have them in series or in parallel which will give you different voltage from the same two batteries. If they are run in series, two 1.5 volt batteries will give you 3 volts. In parallel, the same two 1.5 v batteries will give you 1.5v. If your motor can handle 3 volts but the wiring is in parallel, then you will be giving it 1.5v even with two batteries.


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks for all your help djnick66.

Your comments got me thinking about the new motor, torque, etc.

I removed the shaft from the new motor, placed it in a F-130 flat can from the 70s, and maybe the magnets worked better... but I ended up with more power.

I custom built some brass conductors, placed them in the battery compartment, hooked up the modified DC motor and bam, it worked perfectly.

So, thanks for taking the time and talking with me.

Without further ado... here's Joe Cool!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

hey thats great. I'm glad to have been of some help. Your model is really nice. I can't say I have ever seen one complete and working.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

WOW!!
That is so cool Geoff!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
I can remember seeing all the Snoopy kits in the shops back in the day and I wish I'd bought them- especially after seeing yours....

Chris.


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

Thx guys,

I also have the Sopwith Camel, Red Baron, Motorcycle w/Woodstock, and Bugatti car kits all still boxed. I don't plan on building those... and have no real interest in the tight-rope or Hockey game kits. (Though I did have them as a kid).

As mentioned before it's restoring vintage built kits that I truly love. Seeing them come back to life makes all the work worthwhile. Snoopy was a joy.

BTW - I think the Surfing Joe Cool kit has the best mechanical actions of all the Snoopy snap-tites. The others are cool, but this one is cool and fun. :thumbsup:

Best regards,

Geoff


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