Herr Doc's Various Questions

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you, tankme: I think it likely that you have correctly diagnosed the problem. I remember discovering a jammed recoil problem as many as 15 years ago on---yes, a Taigen/Torro KV-2 (I have more than one). I remember that then the recoil was jammed and nothing worked, but I was able to get the recoil functioning again.
When just two days ago I checked this KV-2, the recoil microswitch seemed fine, "closed" (i.e. contacts separated, not allowing current through) but not jammed. However, maybe I missed something. When I get time, I will again disassemble the turret to see what I can find.

KV-2 Guts 05 micro switch.jpg (38.63 KiB) Viewed 1297 times

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I went back into the KV-2 turret again. I could see nothing wrong. Then I tried the obvious--what I should have tried before ( ). I opened the contact points of the micro switch (i.e. pushed them together): the track recoil and sound functioned just fine. So somehow a signal is not getting to the recoil unit motor so that the slider rolls back and the flange pushes against the micro switch. I long ago downloaded Taigen's diagrams (https://www.taigentanks.com/pages/manuals-diagrams) and have been checking them, but even in the diagrams, the wiring is a bit like the freeway "stack" near downtown LA.

If anyone has Taigen tanks, the diagrams are worth downloading, especially now that many of the Torro/Taigen tanks seem to be sold out, as if production is behind or the brand is closing down or (dream on) new Torro/Taigen electronics are in the works with great sound and control to beat even HengLong and TongDe. (Yeah, sure....)

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Does anyone have an FS or ANA number of a match by brand for the paint used on the Crusader in WWII desert action?

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I now have the same problem as two posts above, in this case with a Torro JagdTiger. Once again, physically opening the micro switch works the action. There is no sign of any incorrect of defective wiring. Nor on initiating the firing is there any sound to suggest a strained motor. There is no sign of incorrect wiring in either tank. Any ideas?

[PainlessWolf]

Herr Doc!
I ran into this problem some time ago on my Combo Build of the StuG III B. I built it out of a Taigen Pz III Premier version and a Profiline Resin Kit. A lot of work was required to get the Taigen recoil and flash to work with the stubby barrel of the Profiline StuG III B. It was always intermittent. Sometimes the recoil slide would just not open the contact points and initiate the Flash and Boom! I worked with this a lot and finally discovered the issue. The circular component of the recoil mechanism that would rotate and press the two points together when the main gun was fired was a tiny bit too low. Putting a small shim under that component to raise it and the slide slightly resolved the contact point issue. The main gun has worked fine ever since! I hope this helps with your recoil mechanism issue.
regards,
Painless

[MrChef]

Ohhhh Yes Herr Doc the woes and frustration of the asiatam recoil/elevation unit. I have a truly smile/hate relationship with them. I smile like a giddy schoolboy when they work properly then I hate them for all those times when they don't. It's like they're possessed by a little fun stealing gremlin...

I was so frustrated with one unit that I took the time to learn how to unsolder using a soldering braid and completely disassembled the unit down to it's basic components. At the time I was convinced it was an issue with the rewiring I had done for the TK7.0 marriage. But alas after much time and effort I found like Mr. Wolf it was a physical issue of the micro switch not making proper contact and not electrical in nature. I ended up adding a tiny washer to space the micro switch better and it worked very nicely for about 6 months.



Note the little washer and please excuse my rudimentary soldering as mating the 3 pole is a total PITA one handed.

So a couple of things:
1. the last time it stopped working properly was the final straw and what kicked me in the rump to get into servo recoil.

2. I accidentally happened on replacement parts specifically for the unit on RCTank.de-
limit switch
https://www.rctank.de/Limit-Switch-HL-T ... tion-cable
&
micro switch
https://www.rctank.de/Limit-switch-Heng ... gen-recoil

3. I actually may have 1-2 of the first limit switches hanging around since I removed them for the conversion.
And
I do have a couple brand new full Asiatam recoil/elevation units that I got on a sale and before the prices got jacked up.

So since we never got back together about a spare V3 system which are still sitting here collecting dust. Think of what you want to do. It's such a fiddly thing and annoys me to no end. Check to see if you need to shim the wheel like Mr. Wolf or use a washer like I did Or spring for the spare switches from RCTank.de if you think they may be the culprit. I may only use one of the asiatam recoil units as I'm swapping all my Tigers to TK7.1's with servo recoil and there will be spare parts available.

Like I said I love barrel recoil but these asiatam units were created by Satan's minions to steal the fun out of this hobby for me and make me tear what little hair I have left out of my skull trying to solve their hateful riddle. Honestly servo is the way to go but that's a whole nother ball of wax.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you both, Painless and MrChef. I am in the middle of two projects just now, the TongDe Chaffee and two SOL Model figures. After that, I may be able to tear into the Taigen Panther G turret (the Jagdtiger would be even more difficult to access) to see if I can figure out anything. The oddity is that nothing seems to even be moving back to hit the micro switch, but I may be able to tell better when I get the offending unit removed. Oh, and, yes, I do still like converting the Taigen/Torro tanks to V3 despite all of the electronics shortcomings. I don't know, however, if I would buy a new Taigen or Torro with the V3.