Thread: Edwardian Butler Repair

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Since it has been snowing here, I have been reverse engineering the Edwardian Butler I bought used and broken this summer.

He appears to be one of the least sophisticated of the Gemmy props I have looked at.

He has three motors, one that moves his eyes, one that turns his head side to side and the final one appears to move his chest plate.

There are two sensors, a light sensor (CDS photoresistor) and a sound sensor (Peizo electric transducer).

The only other control is the on/off switch.

There are no lights in his eyes, or any other extras.

I am sure there are lots of different models of this guy, he was available for a long time.

Anyway - here are the schematic diagrams I drew up after pouring over the circuit board for a day.

I hope this can help others while trying to fix this and other Gemmy products.

From what I have seen of the several Gemmy props that I have they are all pretty much the same. The more complex ones will have more motor control circuits and larger personality modules.

I have ordered parts to attempt to repair this guy and will post more as I attempt to fix him.

I had time tonight after the little one went to bed to test all the motors.

The eye mechanism was jammed up, but after popping it out of his head and working on it a bit I got it unjammed and working. The other two motors were working correctly right off the bat.

I played with adding LEDs to the eyes, but the way the irises were installed it washed them out and looked worse then no lights in the eyes. Gemmy must have changed the way they make the eyes when they started lighting them.

It looks like it would be pretty easy to control the motors with relays and a PROP-1 or PICAXE. I am going to try and fix the board anyway because I would rather have the original audio that is in the personality module.

here is the circuit board with the damaged parts removed.

Gemmy Butler :: Edwardian Butler Circuit Board - Component Side picture by bradbaum - Photobucket

Gemmy Butler :: Edwardian Butler Circuit Board - Solder Side picture by bradbaum - Photobucket

Were you able to get the prop repaired? I have one where voltage got in through the purple switch trigger on the front. (I was using it as a remote trigger) There was no burned components, but the eyes constantly move and only a hum is coming from the speaker.

Parts are on order, but will probably not arrive before the big day.

I received the parts today to fix the butler.

After putting them into the PC board and basically rewiring the entire base of the butler (the wires that come with the Gemmy units are trash!) I have him partly working.

He talks but his motors are not moving.

While I was troubleshooting I noticed a few things that would be helpful for hacks:

1 - The prop is activated by sending 5 volts to pin 2 of the personality module (IC1). A jack could be wired with 5 volts and pin 2 on it and a contact closure (Relay, Floor Mat, Motion Detector) could be used to trigger the prop. This would be active when the on/off switch is in the off position.

2 - the on/off switch only kills power to the sensor circuits (Sound and Light) - this keeps the prop from triggering.

I am still trying to figure out why the motors are not working, the personality module is putting out the required voltage to drive the motors but it drops to 1.5 volts by the time it makes it through the drive transistors and out to the motor. I tried upping the supply voltage from 6 volts to 9 volts but the regulator circuits (Q20, Q21 and Q22 as well as Q13, Q14 and Q15) are dropping the voltage back down to 6V.

I am not sure where to go with this now, except to bed!

I know this is an older post, but I have the same prop with similar problems. My butler works for the most part with exception of the head. The head doesn't move nor do the eyes. The audio, the triggers and the chest all are fine. I tried to contact Gemmy, but they weren't as helpful as I had hoped. They suggested the AC adapter power supply. Using a multimeter, I checked my power supply (not the original, but and adjustable with a 4 way) and it registered 8.91 Volts. My power supply says it provides 1000 MA versus the stated 600MA required. I also verified the polarity. Does this sound like the problem or is it the head motor (if so, I would assume the eyes would still work)? Or is it a problem with one of the PCB? Please help. It's a cool prop that I would love to fix and include with my display.

I decided that the transistors that I cross referenced to American made transistors were incorrect, I tried ordering some from China but when I finally received them they were the correct part number but different. I put them in anyway and the motors still didn't run. I am considering making a circuit board with relays on it to drive the motors and throw away most of the electronics (except the personality module). But I am not doing anything until the off season. When I get the board designed I'll order two and send you one.

Thanks!!! That would be awesome!! Will it make a difference since mine is a 9V 600MA, or should I buy a new power adapter?

Thanks again

The year got away from me and I am flat broke with the step kids in high school and what not.

I may prototype it with parts I have laying around before Halloween, but we will see how much time I have.