# Boris Hack question?



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

I hacked a few of these and all worked at first. I had one I believe I killed by trying to power it with a wall wort. So I stopped trying that and was having no problems with one I was using on a prop until Halloween night. It was working fine up until I set the prop outside and all of a sudden I get the flash of the eyes and the quick mouth jerk when I move the power switch to on and then nothing. This is the same problem I've had with 3 of them including the one I thought I fried! This one however was always powered with batteries and wasn't exposed to any unusual elements. Does anyone have any ideas as to what I might check? It seems odd that it works for weeks and I only tested it so it's not like it ran a lot, only to have it stop working the day of. Could it be a capacitor, crossed wire issue I should look at or ???


----------



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

What Boris hack did you use (there are several)? Did you use a capacitor inline to your sound source? There is a DC load on the line that goes to the microphone, and though it has been debated I think you need this cap (I use a 100uF). If you are using this cap, make sure you have the +/- right, if you get it backwards it will eventually fry. Finally, did you remove the internal speaker, if so did you replace it with ~8ohm resistor?

I have had 2 seasons now with my story ghost, which uses a hacked Boris, no problems, using this hack http://johnnyspage.com/borishowto.htm


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

I believe I used Okatu's version? It's a .pdf file and it calls for these parts
10 ohm resistor replacing speaker and a 100uF capacitor in plug line connected to 10K ohm linear taper potentiometer. You don't use the potentiometer from what I can tell in your design. I have yet to check out the non working one but I'm pretty sure it was wired up properly, but obviously something is not right or I've fudged it up.


----------



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Yes, Otaku's is a good one too, there is an online version here http://johnnyspage.com/otaku_borishowto.htm. If it was working for a while, then stopped, my guess is that either some bare connections touched, or you put the capacitor in backwards. Both how-to's describe how to hook up = and - on the cap. Did you check that? Also, what is your sound source?


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

If some bare wires touched or the capacitor is in backwards, do you think it's fixable or would that have killed the board? I'm at work and don't have one in front of me but it seems that if it was dead when I powered on I wouldn't get the eyes flashing and the mouth jerking at all if it was dead?(He says, hoping he's got a chance to save these!) I was using a portable MP3 players as sound sources.


----------



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Well, in either case there is a chance it will be okay once you correct the problem, no way to tell until the problem gets identified and fixed. Good luck! Blowing a circuit sucks.


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Interesting. When you open the Boris, take a look at the top of the capacitor. If the cap is popped, the small silver disc will be bulging out. I've blown a few caps in my time, and they usually don't take anything with them. I'll bet you've already done this, but check the batteries. Borii have a way of going through batteries pretty quickly, and even though you get a flash and a twitch, the jaw won't respond to the sound source.


----------



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

Ah, the simple and obvious thing to check, I always forget that


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

I'll take a look at them tonight and post the results if I get any!


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Yeah, I blew through enough AA batteries to more than pay for regulated warts while testing the witches this year. I think I'll whip up a quick 6VDC voltage regulator board to power these guys.


----------



## scream1973 (Dec 23, 2007)

Otaku when you create one please be sure to post schematics / how to.. I'd like to power Bori via DC power as well.


----------



## CraigInPA (Sep 28, 2007)

I've used Harry Goodwin's circuit found at http://pages.prodigy.net/bq549/projects/boris.htm to provide the 6v necessary to run Boris. Note that his circuit is for the OLD Boris (pre-2006?), which requires both 3v and 6v. The newer Boris only needs the 6v circuit, so you can eliminate the middle (3v) part of the circuit. Also, Harry talks about adding the cap by soldering it to the board, which is a very tidy way to do it, but his older Boris board doesn't match the new Boris. Follow Otaku's directions for splicing the cap in-line on the microphone wire, instead.

The biggest issue with running DC to Boris is that you'll need to run a second wire set to him. When I did so, I decided to re-route the microphone wire to the base, through a hole drilled next to the battery compartment. The DC power in wire I ran in a similar fashion on the other side on the skull. I mounted the 12v to 6v regulator board on the inside wall of the back half of the skull with hot glue. If you want to get really fancy, you could probably wire in a jack to get the power from a wall-wart, instead of having another 15' length of wire coming out the bottom of Boris.

Craig


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Using a wart also hampers the portability of Boris, as you then need to plug it into a wall socket. As Craig suggested, attach a jack for a DC power connector, but use a 4D battery pack. You still have the additional wire, but Boris can go anywhere.


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

So far one of them had the capacitor in wrong, flipped it around and we're back in business. Interesting that it worked for awhile that way. 2 others that went poop have not responded. I'm going to completely tear those down and redo everything from scratch and see if I can revive them.


----------



## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

When you get the polarity wrong on an electrolytic capacitor (the ones in the little cans), they will work for a while, but eventually break down. Good luck with the other 2.


----------



## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

LMAO: "Borii"...love it.


----------



## Spookie (Aug 26, 2008)

debbie5 said:


> LMAO: "Borii"...love it.


Yeah, I chuckled at that too!

I have two Talking thru Boris heads I picked up but ran out of time to work on for this past Halloween. Hope to do something with them for 2009 so will follow this thread.

I'm new to all of this electronics stuff but am learning along with my husband (a review for him) using Radio Shack's Electronics Learning Lab. I had no idea that it could be so interesting and useful. They should teach this in high school along with making Halloween props as part of the class. I'm also beginning to realizing how really useful motors, pulleys, etc. are to all of this. A new (old) world is opening up!


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

mroct31 said:


> So far one of them had the capacitor in wrong, flipped it around and we're back in business. Interesting that it worked for awhile that way. 2 others that went poop have not responded. I'm going to completely tear those down and redo everything from scratch and see if I can revive them.


Did you get these guys working? Just wondering if you'd found the problem. I'm still looking for my 6 volt regulators to make the external power thingy - I know they're on the bench somewhere...


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

Nope they never came back to life 
Since the advent of the 3 axis skull the cowalicious driven skull has lost interest for me and since I have a few cowalicious boards already, I'm going to use them with a micro servo and and see about making that work. I like these little skulls, especially their mouth action so I figured what the heck!


----------



## Otaku (Dec 3, 2004)

Are you talking about the Mr. Thrifty skulls? I did one of those with a Cow board for my singing dead kid. I found that a HS325 will fit in the skull, but not the board.


----------



## mroct31 (Nov 10, 2007)

No I'm talking about the dead Boris skulls. Seems like everything should fit since I don't need the now dead board that's in there.


----------

