Palitoy Talking Dalek Restoration: Voice Box Repair

[@PatriciaMaroney]

So glad you posted this. I had gotten as far as getting the motor spinning and realized I had a spring missing. Once I found spring, I needed to see how it all fit together to be sure I had everything in place so was searching for a video! I now have a talking Dalek that's missing an eye and an arm, so off to look for replacement pieces.

[@PBProps]

I'm really happy to hear that you got yours reassembled and working again - well done. Also, thanks for watching!

[@flyhyland]

Van Statten: 'Make it talk again, PB Props. Whatever it takes.'

[@PBProps]

Yeah, I don't think I tortured it as much as Van Statten had his workers do it... I was a bit more gentle in my coaxing of speech.

[@gstarjonny]

Thank you so much!! My dalek has been dead for decades! I followed your instructions and it’s now fully working again.

[@PBProps]

Well, I'm really glad the video helped you and I'm so pleased for you that you got yours working again - congratulations!

[@thepenultimateninja5797]

'You want some yoghurt?' Ah, takes me back...

[@stevesstuff1450]

Thank you... I do have one of these and haven’t looked inside it for maybe 20 years; you’ve just inspired me to try and fix it....again!! 👍

[@PBProps]

Good luck - I hope you get it talking again!

[@mikebull1972]

Just received a red/black one that I got from ebay for all of thirty quid, arms and all; with the help of your video I had him talking again (and really well, at that) within quarter of an hour! Now I can almost still hear my mother telling me to shut my original up all those years ago... Cheers Anthony! 😀👍

[@PBProps]

Oh, that's fantastic news, Mike - congratulations on getting that - and for getting it speaking again. We can now both revel in the nostalgia together!

[@stoned466]

I had this toy when I was a young kid, it was one of my favourite toys.

[@PBProps]

Mine too, they were great! I have many happy memories of playing with them as a child.

[@CharlesHall-e3u]

Really good video instruction. I got out my non-speaking Dalek and he’s chatty again

[@PBProps]

Well that's great to hear, congratulations on getting yours speaking again!

[@MartinFutter70]

I always thought there was a little alien inside! No I'm wrong, just a tiny record player... Gread deduction skills on getting Zippy to talk again!

[@PBProps]

Thanks. It was great to get it working again and let all that nostalgia out.

[@davidmullen6011]

A Wonderful video and demonstration. This is what it's all about on You-tube, or _should_ be all about... I have over the years had about half a dozen of these Palitoy Daleks, and only one of them worked. Try as I did I couldn't resurrect them, the motor had expired and/or burned out and that was that. Or so I assumed until you went and demonstrated otherwise! These 'voice' units are an example of old technology from yesteryear that I absolutely love, they were back in the 1970s used widely in toys - I remember my sisters doll having one in it and being fascinated by it. But they are very unreliable, after forty years they are obviously going to be. But the wonder of the technology of it, the simplicity but ingenuity of that little miniaturised turntable apparatus packed away inside that little toy, is something worth preserving like this. As you demonstrated here initial assumptions about these devices are probably incorrect, and while ten times out of ten the motor seems to be the problem, and seems to be an insoluble one, with just a little bit of perseverance and the simple hidden ingredient of a squirt of wd40, and you might just be surprised and delighted in the unexpected and miraculous resurrection of a long silent and assumed dead old friend like this.... Lovely demonstration, Thank-You.

[@PBProps]

What a lovely comment, thank you. And thank you for watching. Yes, these old technologies are really rather simple; motors, springs and pulleys - and not much else. If it's not a broken pulley, then you can bet your last pound sterling that it'll be the motor - they were cheap and cheerful and almost always got clogged with dust and debris which would cause it to seize and jam. I couldn't even begin to guess at how many times I performed this simple operation on Star Wars space crafts and blasters, Daleks, TARDIS Consoles and all manner of toys like this when I was a kid. I got the idea from watching my Dad working on his car, it might have even been the starter motor or pump. It was useful knowledge to have and adapt.

[@robgprice]

I got mine going again, thanks to you! In the video you mentioned you had expected the plastic to have yellowed. Well, mine has a little. I've looked around and people suggest hydrogen peroxide - is that what you suggest too?

[@PBProps]

@@robgprice Oh my goodness, many apologies - I'm only a year late! KZbin doesn't always show me that people have commented and I just stumbled across yours. Yes, hydrogen peroxide in liquid form - not the gel - is what I'd suggest.

[@ListerDavid]

When I saw the record it reminded me of my old action man I had that had the back pack on that barked out orders. Lol

[@mysterben]

Great tutorial thanks! To put it back together easily pull the pin in the battery compartment down and hold it to lock the platter in place.

[@SarahSmith-qh6ki]

Found one down the market for £2! Not working so will have a look now

[@PBProps]

Congratulations - and good luck with getting yours speaking again!

[@jcrossan1351]

Pb: please don’t repeat yourself Dalek: naw

[@PBProps]

And the "gentle" persuasion helped the Dalek to change its mind on the issue.

[@Dematerialiser]

Great nostalgia trip! Makes me want to work on that red version of mine - the voice was a little wobbly when we tried it (geriatric Dalek? Well he is getting on a bit..:)) Also fascinating to finally see what’s inside one of these - been wondering since I was a kid.

[@PBProps]

Glad to be of service in some way, Dematerialiser. Mind you, yours is probably working anyway as the voice box clearly is a bit wobbly anyway, but a clean up of the motor wouldn't do it any harm.

[@davidmckirdy4063]

Still have mine boxed and got it talking again using this video thanks for uploading.

[@PBProps]

My pleasure and congratulations on getting yours speaking again. You must be pleased.

[@davidmckirdy4063]

I have the palitoy k.9 but can't get that to talk

[@PBProps]

I have that one too, but mine won't be speaking for the foreseeable future as the internal system is in storage at my folks' house and is missing several parts - I misplaced them a couple of decades ago when I was cleaning it. At least I still have the main shell though.

[@elizabethwatts9754]

Oooo! I'm going to mend mine after seeing this And mine has an eye and a plunger (but no box... I threw it away on Christamasn day when I was 7 yeare old...)

[@PBProps]

Best of luck with that, I hope you have as much fun with it as I did!

[@JSedits589]

I’ve seen talking toys with the same internals, but that use a variable resister consisting of two lengths of wire which a contact slides across to alter the resistance to the motor which changes the speed.

[@PBProps]

I've seen similar too, I think an Action Man toy used to have this - or something similar. You could add something like that to these toys, but then you kind of change the nature of it. Still, a good idea though. Maybe next time!

[@michaelhind4007]

Thanks!

[@PBProps]

Thanks for watching and I hope it proved useful to you. Also, many thanks for the donation - I really do appreciate that. Very kind of you!

[@spottydog4477]

Great job! It's running a little fast hence the high - pitched voice...but i can't think why...

[@PBProps]

Thanks, but as I said in the video, that's how they always sounded - when the batteries start running low, they tend to sound better if memory serves. Really it needs a little variable resistor pot in there to calibrate it correctly - I may do that one day, but I doubt I actually will.

[@cunnyfunt30]

I thought it sounded fast too, I had one when I was a kid, my parents bought for me at Christmas because I was petrified of them 😂😂😂

[@whoviancentral1873]

Looks awesome

[@PBProps]

Thanks, glad that you approve.

[@robertfletcher3421]

As usual a very informative video. Thanks.

[@PBProps]

My pleasure - and thanks for watching! Always appreciated.

[@therestorationofdrwho1865]

Wish I could even find one of these to fix in the first place.

[@PBProps]

I used to see these turn up regularly on eBay - though most of them with the original appendages are generally replica pieces from the wrong toy. That's a big tell as to whether they genuinely are complete or not.

[@benflay6038]

Very informative same mechanism as k9 I guess always wanted to know what was inside a dalek, very informative you need contact cleaner

[@PBProps]

K9's voice box was a completely different unit, though they followed a similar pattern. I have one of those in bits at my parents' place. As for contact cleaner, I've got this far without it...

[@paulashe7460]

Lil pink record player. I remember fixing boxes 35 years ago

[@PBProps]

I remember doing it that long ago too - I guess it's like riding a bike, you never forgot once you've learnt it.

[@mattashman4040]

Just what the Dalek ordered!

[@PBProps]

Very probably. Thanks for watching.

[@Concreteowl]

I have a red one in a similar state I will try yhat you have done.

[@PBProps]

Excellent - good luck!

[@Concreteowl]

@@PBProps thanks I will let you know how I get on. I may need to use your video as a reassembly guide as I opened it once. Declared the motor dead and assumed it would never function again.

[@PBProps]

Yeah, I'll be interested to hear if you get yours working again - it really is generally the motor being filled with years of dust and gunk that stops it from turning. With a bit of lubricant and some hand turning, the motor shaft usually kick starts back into life.

[@mondaymonologue5416]

i got same one, gonna try and fix it

[@PBProps]

Good luck with that - I hope there's something useful to you in this video. It may help you out.

[@paulashe7460]

Ooh pocky thing!

[@andrewpnorton]

Fantastic! One dalek now talking again - nearly cut through the band whilst running the motor with the record pressed down but disaster narrowly averted. If it does snap what is a good match for a replacement band?

[@PBProps]

Glad that you got yours working again! It's been a while since I did mine, but I remember thinking at the time that maybe a large (but thin) rubber O-Ring would work as a suitable drive belt. Even a small rubber band should do the trick. It's just a matter of friction.

[@andrewpnorton]

@@PBProps thanks, I'll keep my eyes peeled

[@TechTier_]

omg i used to have one of these

[@PBProps]

To me they're a symbol of my childhood, which is why I absolutely adore them, despite their obvious inaccuracies.

[@TechTier_]

Ah yes, it's what drew myself to your video because for me it is definitely a symbol from my childhood too and I'm sure a few other people.

[@TechTier_]

Btw did you ever have any of the old Sevens models from the 80s, I thought they were really great, at least for the time.

[@PBProps]

Yes, I have quite a few of them actually, though many of them now require refurbishment due to age... topics for future videos perhaps.

[@nicholasdickens2801]

400 phrases - 1-398 “What are your orders.” Then 399 - “Attack, Attack, “ then 400 - “Exterminate, Exterminate.”

[@PBProps]

Yeah, it does seem that way!

[@ravenjamtay5347]

I have Marx friction Dalek would be able to do video to fix one please? Mine won't move when pulled back

[@PBProps]

Unfortunately I don't have one of those toys, though it sounds to me like your one has a jammed spring. Does it repeatedly click when you draw it back? If it does, then that's more than likely what's happened here. If you feel confident, you could take it a part, release the spring and put it back together.

[@InappropriateFab]

I had the talking Dalek and K-9 for many years and I got tired of them and sold them along with all of my Doctor Who memorabilia a couple of months before it was announced that Doctor Who was being rebooted because I am an idiot.

[@PBProps]

Oh, that's a shame. Though these days you can always track them down and re-buy with the aid of eBay.

[@MichaelCarter1967347053]

For some reason, when I hear the dalek talk, it sounded like a martian from Mars Attacks

[@PBProps]

It's got that off-kilter charm to it, I agree.

[@justicetheawesomedemon1229]

it sounds like a dalek on helium

[@PBProps]

It's not the most accurate representation, I grant you that - but it's all we had back then...

[@markwardel6751]

you have nice hands and tidy nails considering your work....what's your secret?

[@PBProps]

Thanks. I guess my secret is being careful and having a sense of cleanliness.

[@DarkDesignDramas]

me likey!

[@PBProps]

Excellent!

[@DarkDesignDramas]

I wish i was around the time of these Daleks. Oh, well. Better have a look on Ebay!

[@PBProps]

Good luck. The non talking ones go very cheaply when you look at the prices of a working, minty fresh version.

[@DarkDesignDramas]

PB Props ok shall keep that in mind

[@MrStumara]

I wish I had seen this before I got rid of mine. This brings back some good memories.

[@annabelbrown5984]

How much would it be for u build my bf a 10th Doctor tardis exterior?

[@PBProps]

Are you talking about a model (and if so, what scale?) or full sized? If it's the latter, I don't have the space to do it at the moment - which is why I never did get around to finishing my own.

[@marcusray3408]

PB Props hi, I'm her bf. I was thinking the size of the 8th doctors TARDIS you did

[@PBProps]

Oh, okay. Scratch built, one off models are always really pricey - just to give you an idea, I spent £200 yesterday on plastic materials for another TARDIS that I'm currently working on in that exact same scale. Scary, I know! Forgive the question as I'm not trying to be funny here, but there is already a toy of the 10th Doctor's TARDIS - have you thought about buying one of those? And if you have it already and want a better one, you could always modify it to make it look quite a bit better if you want a cheaper route in acquiring a nicer version. If all else fails, feel free to email me (via the address in the ABOUT page here) or head over to Facebook and PM me there.

[@paulsenior33]

Better off with 2 in 1 oil.

[@PBProps]

Possibly, but as I mentioned, I used WD40 as most people tend to have a can of that in their possession.

[@IainDelaney]

Thanks for this! Mine has been it pieces for years, but I had the same seized motor issue. Now in full working order. Mine sounds fine, though, not sped up at all. I've made a quick video of it talking and posted it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iHvZgWxsr9-ce5o

[@PBProps]

Yeah, no problem - I'm glad that found it useful. Yours sounds pretty good to me. I thought mine was a bit fast at first, but it soon sorted itself out. I'd probably just effected the repairs too well, but it settled down within a day or two to the kind of speed yours runs at now.

[@NatetheConductor]

Who disliked?

[@PBProps]

I don't know, but there's always one who just has to do that. It comes with the territory.