# 5' gemmy dancing skeleton



## dick_6375 (8 mo ago)

anyone know how or where to get a new board or parts? Bought cheap at an auction. Doesn't work. has power.


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Welcome to the forum. I'm not sure where you could find a 'new' board. I don't think replacement parts are typically available for these types of props - at least not OEM. Might possibly find a rare one on ebay or something, but I'd expect that to still be a long shot too. As far as 'parts' - if you mean individual electronic components, there are lots of places to get those... digikey (personal favorite for easy searching), mouser, newark, ebay, likely others, too.

Have you taken anything apart to look inside? If you do, take some high quality photos of the board and possibly some eagle-eyed members might spot something. One thing I typically have a lot of trouble with is the main wires breaking loose from the battery or power socket. I'm not sure how they do it sitting untouched in storage, but seems like ever year I have to solder a couple of wires back onto their tabs because they've broken. Big electrolytic capacitors are also a 'usual suspect'. Sometimes in a hot attic or storage shed they can loose the electrolyte and short out. Once that happens, then you have a direct short across the power supply/battery and the whole rig won't work.

As far as troubleshooting - does it have a battery supply? if so you might try that as an alternate source of power - or if using batteries now, maybe change it over to a wall wart / power supply. Do you have the ability to measure current draw? If so is it drawing any current? Is there any on-off switch? Sometimes those need a lot of back/forth switches or jiggling to work oxide off the contacts and get a prop working again. If you get a look at the circuit board, any visible damage? Water stains/corrosion? any burned or obviously 'hot' components? damaged circuit board traces? again, good photos would help here.

If all else fails, other ways to get it working - certainly many out there - anywhere from the very low end of possibly just running power to some motors, relays and leds to some sort of arduino sketch all the way up to some sort of 'brain box' like an octobanger or even a monsterguts control. All depends on how far you want to take it.

But let us know on some of the questions above and maybe we can get him dancing again.


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## Greg G (Nov 4, 2012)

dick_6375 said:


> anyone know how or where to get a new board or parts? Bought cheap at an auction. Doesn't work. has power.


*corey872 *is on point with the advice provided*. *Need photos of boards and wiring. One thing that can be very useful for troubleshooting this and future projects is buying an inexpensive digital voltmeter such as https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SHLS639/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 for continuity, voltage and current measurements.


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## dick_6375 (8 mo ago)

Thanks for the quick reply. Have started the disassemble and will take photos. using a 9 volt plug in power supply. once in awhile while plugging in or touching things the jaw and eyes start up for a second. Photos soon


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## dick_6375 (8 mo ago)

a couple of photos of parts. One part was in the leg by the foot, one part loose in the base. One of the board and one of the power supply. trying to add video as when I wiggle the power supply in the jack the jaw and eyes click on for a sec. Also there is a part that is connected to the volume button that when you touch it hums through the speaker


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## DEMON DEAN (Oct 25, 2019)

Awesome job!


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## corey872 (Jan 10, 2010)

Here are some points based on what I see:


Looks like you have a variable potentiometer which is really crusty. Might not hurt to inspect that closer and see what the inside looks like. It might need a good cleaning, or worst case, replacement. (red circle, arrow)
The electrolytic capacitors I see look to be in good condition, not puffed up or have signs of leakage (green ch
eck marks)...though if you do do notice any which are, those would be candidates for replacement
The humming you mention - likely the input to an audio amplifier. When you touch it, you act like a signal antenna and put a 60Hz AC humming signal through the amplifier. This suggests the audio amp is working
You mention jiggling certain parts and getting it to work? Though I'm a bit unclear if this is actual working or just a typical start up, then going silent and waiting for a sensor or start signal?
If you are jiggling something and getting it to work, then those components would be key for closer inspection... cleaning any contacts, double checking any wires for good conductivity, looking for any broken/cracked solder joints where a component meets the board or a wire meets a component, etc.
Given the corrosion, another thing to keep an eye on is that sometimes the wires will corrode right at the solder joint, but back inside the insulation a bit. From the outside the wire will generally look OK, but back inside the insulation, there may only be a few strands of copper wire left, so it creates a very high resistance.
Another thing to look at would be to see what the power supply voltage does during one of these periods when the prop starts to work. If the voltage suddenly drops very low, it could mean something shorted in the prop, or something bad in the power supply.
Lastly, if you have access to any motors, you might see if you can give those a spin by hand. Possibly they have corroded slightly and 'locked up', needing a quick manual spin to loosen.

Hope this helps


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