Millennium Falcon lower canon

I was able to get the system to recognize the lower canon on the Millennium Falcon light and sound kit after figuring out the instructions.  When I tested it though, I noticed that only two of the four lights come on during any of the firing sequences (lower canon).  Is this normal?  What could be causing this issue?  Both wires are connected to the board as required.  When I switch wires, I still only get two of the four lights.  Could this be a bad canon or a bad board?  The upper canon works great and fires correctly with all patterns.  Please assist as I would like to get this fixed before reassembly.

Thanks,

Brian

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  • Hello, and apologies for the delayed reply.  What you are seeing is not how the cannons should be behaving.  If you swap the plugs on the BRANCH09X adapter board to which the cannon is connected, do the other two cannon lights now work, or do none of them work?  If you'd like to continue building while we help troubleshoot, you can install the top cannon in the lower cannon's position, then put the lower cannon in the top position.  This is much easier to access and replace, should we need to send you a new cannon.

    Please let us know if swapping the plugs on the BRANCH09X adapter board helps at all.  Thank you.

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  • Hi Rob,

    No worries, thanks for replying.  Barb had also suggested that I try switching the wires on the top and bottom cannons.  I have now tried all configurations and determined that the BRANCH09X board for the lower cannon is working properly.  The upper cannon worked properly with all firing sequences in both the upper and lower cannon boards.  It does seem to be something with the lower cannon itself as only the top two guns will fire off (no matter where they were plugged in).   My guess is a bad connection in the wiring somewhere (but just a guess).    The entire kit has been installed and I initially found the issue when I was able to plug everything in and get past the lower cannon configuration with the remote.

    Other than this slight issue, I am really impressed with this light and sound kit.  It is by far the best kit out there... the detail is incredible.  It has been quite an experience installing it and I have had a fun time customizing a few things along the way.  I added Luke and his lightsaber training, modified the Dejarik table to have the scoring lights light up, made custom speaker mounts/enclosures, and few other custom tweaks (see attached pictures). 

    Thanks for your help with the cannons, I look forward to getting it fixed.

    Brian

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  • Brian Butler Wow, those are some amazing mods!  Thank you for sharing them.  Quite impressive, especially the Dejarik table.  Did you use a jeweler's drill to make those holes?  Also really like that custom speaker enclosure.

    So it looks like we need to send you a replacement laser cannon.  I'll circle back with Barb to make sure we get things sorted out.

    I'm thrilled you are enjoying your kit!

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  • Rob Klingberg Thank you for the compliments and for working on the cannon replacement. 

    Yes, I did use a small jeweler's hand drill to make the holes.  In addition I used a few tricks under the table.  I cut a disk, applied some aluminum duct tape and mounted the light to it.  I also lined the table top with aluminum duct tape (cutting out windows for the drilled holes.  The aluminum tape provided two surfaces to bounce the light around (this allowed me to best use the single light).  In the windows where the holes are, I also included some colored transparent plastic (blue and red).  The result of the plastic is hard to see in my photo because my phone cast a blue tint on the whole photo, but the table does light up blue and red.  The lower disk is smaller than the table so it allows some light to escape out the bottom and provides some glow under the table.  See attached picture.

    You can also see the speakers installed in my falcon.  I ended up removing the drop down gun from the right chamber (didn't care for it anyway).  To fit the speaker in the left chamber, I did reconfigure the way the pins hold the chamber to the frame.  The additional plates next to the speaker hide the excess wires and the TRUNK08 and BRANCH09X boards.  Unfortunately the plates I used for the speakers only came in 6x12, otherwise if they had 5x10's they would have fit without the pin mod.  I was able to cut the speaker hole in the plate with my CNC router.

    Another mod I made was in the doorways.  Instead of using the adhesive pads, I modified some Legos to hold the lights in place.  I took  a 1x2 the same color as the flat plate and made room for the light in the center.  I then used a clear 1x2 and masked and painted the end (completely optional to paint it).  When combined and installed, it provides a nice glow to the doorway (again, the blue is from my phone, not the components).  

    Additional mods include making it so the hyperdrive lights are almost centered in the hyperdrive enclosure.  Made it so the red/blue light computer in the Dejarik table room only emits light from the front.  Replaced the blue engine tubes with an all Lego brick mod found on Bricklink (the engine lights look awesome through it).  

    I definitely had a lot of fun with this.  I told my wife "Hey I'm going to do this once, I might as well have fun with it and do it right.  I know some of these mods won't be seen by anyone by me, but I will know that means something."  This level of a kit deserves that level of time and care.

    Thanks again,

    Brian

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  • Brian Butler Thanks for sharing your tips!  The end result does look so fantastic.  Your Falcon is now truly a labor of love, and I hope you enjoy it for years to come!

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