I am building the Space Shuttle - LKA02, and then I performed Power On Test #2, everything was working fine.
I just performed another test after completing several more pages of the assembly and the lights that activate under the shuttle to indicate blastoff have stopped working and the LED string is no longer flashing as it should during blastoff. Everything else is working as they should, and these lights were definately working on the #2 test.
I have removed and reconnected the cable into the circuit board to no avail.
@CustomerService can you or any wonderful community member help me diagnose the issue?
That sounds frustrating, especially after confirming it was working earlier. Since everything else is still functioning, it seems like you’ve already ruled out a simple loose connector. Hopefully it’s something minor that’s easy to fix.
I hope someone from Customer Service or another builder can help pinpoint the issue soon. Fingers crossed it’s just a connection or wire that shifted during assembly!
I can’t offer any advice personally since I’ve never built it. But, @Martins_Assembly_H may be able to help. He also has a YouTube channel with step by steps. I’m not sure if that will help you or not.
Can you post a video of what happens. I made it a year ago so my memory is clouded. Is the switch in the launch tower working correctly? If that isnt pressed the lift off lightd don’t work.
I havent built this kit, so I’m not familiar with the components, but here are my troubleshoot suggestions if you haven’t already tried:
Loose connection: you mentioned you already removed and reconnected the lights from the circuit, so this seems unlikely. any chance you could share a picture of the circuit?
Improper connection: again, this seems unlikely since it was working one moment and then not the next, but make sure you installed the positive and negative wires in the correct locations.
Bad battery: It’s possible the battery you’re using was faulty or depleted, so there’s not enough current to power the entire circuit. Maybe try a fresh battery?
The LEDs shorted out: this seems the most likely, especially if you didn’t protect your connections with ahrink tube/electrical tape/whatever the kit provided and/or remove the batteries between tests. If the exposed wires of the positive and negative sides touch while powered, it’ll short the circuit. You can test this by testing the LEDs individually on a coin cell battery. If they power on when connected to the battery, its a circuit issue. If they don’t power on, they’ve shorted out (or your battery is dead).
Upon realising that the engine ignition light connector is also connected to the long string lights, I decided to go looking to see if there were any pinched wires anywhere on both sets of lights
Nothing pinched on the ingnition lights, so then I disassembled the gantry tower section by section testing after each section was removed.
I got to the part J19 that the lights are wrapped around twice (see photo). When I unwrapped them and tested, the engine ignition lights worked properly and the string lights were flashing as they should when the launch lights are pulsing. When I re-wrapped the string loosely around J19, the problem came back. I inspected that part of the string lights with a magnifier, but I cannot see any breaks/scratches/damage in the 2 wires that make up the sting, and them touching each other does not affect the function of the lights. My only thought is that there is a tiny break or defect within one of the Led’s that are a part of that wound section. Hopefully someone at Customer Service can help.
