HELP_unresponsive

First thing with ANY Teddy or Grubby problem is to check the tape and try another tape to see if the
same thing happens. These are all 20+ year old cassette tapes which do wear down. The
animatronic signals are on the tape and a worn area, crease or factory defect can disrupt the signal
for that part of the tape causing the part controlled to not work, partially work or make crazy
yawning motions. Also,Teddys servo motor swill get stiff and not work if Teddy is not played with
often. It is a good idea to run him every month even if you don't use him to prevent this problem.
Of course the best solution is to take Teddy apart and rebuild the servo motors. If you don't want
to go that expense, there are also some "quick fix" tips you can try: For the eyes not working, with
your thumbs, push Teddy's eyes open and shut. Besides poking him in the eye and breaking the
frame, you will not damage Teddy even if you force his eyes to open and close. This is usually
enough to get the eyes unstuck. If that doesn't work, play the tape and move the eyes open and
shut. For the mouth the same thing. In the 1st and 2nd generation bears, you can do this to both
the upper and lower mouth. In the third generation bear, it is important that you move only the
lower mouth as that is the part that is in contact with the servo motor and the upper mouth spring
connects to it. On the 2 servo bear if the lower mouth works but the upper mouth does not, it is
probably a problem with the spring connecting the two. In this case you will probably see that the
upper mouth does not move up when the lower mouth is pulled downward when the bear is off.
Many times the facial part stops in a position that makes it difficult for the servo motor to move it
and changing the position of the part gets it going. Also, try to run your bear for "exercise"
frequently so it continues to work. The motors do freeze up when not used. Finding a tape where
Teddy sings alot is a good way to exercise his parts. Exposing Teddy to extreme conditions of hot
and cold is also damaging to his electronics. Teddy will promptly "die" in a hot car. Freezing
temperatures are just as bad. Going from hot to cold causes condensation which also is not very
friendly to electronic components

Check the batteries to make sure they are good and placed in the right sequence. If the batteries are charged and in the right position, turn the wheel
to off and take the tape out and make sure it is not at the end of the tape. The tape is two sided but it does have to be turned over, it doesn't
"reverse" itself like a car cassette player will do. A metal tape player will "run" even with no tape so you can take out the tape, close the door and see
if the left spindle turns, if it does, put the tape back in. The tape players do not work with the door up so make sure the door is closing all the way. The
plastic tape players are designed so that if there is no tape in the player, it will not run. They also is a tab on the plastic player that the tape actually
pushes when the tape is put in and the doors close to activate the tape player. This modification was done to solve the problem with the metal tape
players where the child takes the tape out, closes the door, and doesn't shut off the ON/OFF wheel. When they close the door the tape player comes
on and runs the batteries down. Sometimes the tab on the plastic tape player breaks off and that is the reason the player will not run. There is also a
spring on the plastic tape player that breaks off and when Teddy is opened for repair, this spring is usually found stuck to the speaker as the speaker
is magnitized. Just remember the sitting of the tape is very important. Sometimes it even shifts enough during the playing of the tape that if you shut
Teddy off and then turn him on again, he will not work until you take the tape out and put it back in and shut the door. If none of these things work, you
will have to have Teddy opened up to find the problem.

Teddy works best on 4 "C" size alkaline batteries. Rechargables can be used but they have less output then regular batteries so you might notice
some performance differences when you use rechargables, although you can certainly use them in Teddy Ruxpin. If you have a metal player Teddy,
make sure the on/off wheel is in the OFF position. Even if the tape stops at the end, the Teddy will still be on and using power so always shut it off
when you are not listening to tape. The 1st and 2nd generation bears use more power than the 3rd generation bears due to the fact that the 3rd
generation bear has only 2 servo motors instead of three, therefore it is less of a battery drain.

When I restore Teddy, I take him apart. Teddy is in two parts, his face (minus his mouth and eyes) and arms are one part and his foam belly with legs
connected to it is the other part. The foam belly is glued to the furry butt and legs. I wash and disinfect the foam separately. The legs are pulled off,
and with his top, thrown in the washing machine and then the dryer. The legs are then glued back to the foam with fabric glue. I do open the tops of
the legs to take the old stuffing out and replace it with new. His arms are also restuffed. The stuffing might look great but after 20 years, it is most
likely contains bacteria and mold spores. You can spot clean Teddy, just make sure that his belly doesn't set too wet. The foam protect sthe electronic
cavity but there are many holes in the belly part of the foam because that is where the speaker is and the holes are for sound. If this area gets wet,
Teddy will short out. You can dip the arms and the legs carefully to wash them, keeping the belly dry. You can also spot clean his nose and mouth
without any problem.

If your Teddys eyes are opening halfway, and you have tried another tape and you seem to have the same problem, it is a minor design flaw that is
usually easily corrected. You will find if you open Teddy's eyes all the way with your fingers when you start him his eyes open better. The servo motor
is circular with rubber coating. It runs back and forth. The eyes are connected to a curved plastic piece. A spring holds the rubber motor against this
curved plastic piece. The tape sends signals to the motor telling when and how far to open and close the eyes. It is also able to sense the position of
the eyes when it starts. It tends to run from that position. If the tape ends with his eyes half closed , it sometimes mistakes this position as fully
opened and uses that for reference. Computer chips would correct this but Teddy is too old for that. It also can be caused by the certain parts of wear
on the tape. So if you find his eyes opening half way, try to just open them more and he should self correct. Another Teddy issue is sometimes his eyes
are fully open or closed and a fraction over where the servo motor can move them, causing the servo motor to go back and forth properly without
moving the eyes. Again just changing the position of the eyes can get him going. This can also happen with the nose and mouth but it seems to more
frequently happen to the eyes due to the angle at which the eyes and servo motor sit inside the frame.