Chosen Solution
Ideal Zeroid Robot Light bulb replacement Hello, I’ve got a vintage 1977 Ideal Toys Zeroid robot. Star Team variant. It looks brand new inside and out. Problem is with new batteries it does not light up. I am thinking maybe the bulb is damaged or burned out. Does anyone know if that bulb can be replaced? Has anyone done this? The upper body where the bulb is seems quite sealed.
Any help appreciated! light bulb, robot, zeroid, ideal
So I was going to go all out and make some amazing additions with arduino but I was reluctant to drill into this vintage beauty. I wanted a solution that was not destructive in any way and could be reversed if wanted. I found a $3 clip on bicycle light and took the guts out. This gave me a circuit board, and two LEDs powered by 2 watch batteries. I attached that to the underside with a small piece of double sided tape.
I extended one light up through the rivet hole in the bottom with some additional wire. Also I replaced that LED with a blue one for obvious reasons. I left the bottom white LED in the position it came in for a ground FX look. The tube is wrapped in electrical tape at its base to wedged it in where the AA batteries were stored.
Now with one press on the bottom button it turns on with a steady blue, second press is a fast flash, third press is a slower flash and the fourth press turns it off.
This has been a great fix for me and I hope it can be helpful to others out there. Let me know if there are any other questions about this process.
Best, -J
All roads lead to 0 light activity ;( I did end up popping the top off. It was gut wrenching and careful work. Eventually with an exacto and scalpel I was able to find gaps and get the blade edge in. All of a sudden it popped off! Completely intact thankfully. Getting the bulb out was difficult but I did it and got a replacement. Still not lighting up. I’m not sure why but at this point I am going the arduino route and replace the light altogether with an LED that changes colors and flashes. Will post pics once complete! Thank you all for the answers provided!
