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Rocket Tubes Fix by Micro Specialist Dave Beards

OK.... Who's got a set of Rocket Tubes that don't work too well?
Here's a fix.

The first thing to do is to soup up the blower. Even a good one
seems incapable of propelling anything at 'blazing speeds' and
legend has it that Marty Abrams used a vacuum cleaner in the
commercials. The set comes with a Chinese motor and 15v
powerpack. The motor is pretty sturdy and will probably take up to
20v. I'm using an 18v power pack and have had no problems. But
first you have to fix the motor housing to enable the motor to cool
down. The way the set comes, with the motor stuck in its little
grey coffin, the blower almost seems designed to cause total
meltdown. (My set hadn't been used much but the motor wires
had melted right into the plastic.) Open up the blower and drill a
hole (5 - 7mm) through the white casing on either side of where the
grey motor housing fits on. (You shouldn't be able to see the holes
when you fit the blower back together.) This creates a pressure
differential when in operation, drawing air across the motor which
will cool it down .

That was the hard bit. Next you have to reduce friction in the tubes
to make them as slippy as possible. Take them apart and buff
them up with some furniture polish. Even if you don't use the tubes
this will make them look a whole lot better.

Finally, check for air leaks. Obvious and tedious but worth it. Use
some invisible tape at the joins and save any really bent tubes for
the vertical part of the set.

Try this at your own risk! All I can say is it worked for me. I know
they're not everyone's bag, but l like the Rocket Tubes. (I'm sure
they used them for the city in Logan's Run.) They show a kind of
naiive optimism about the future, which appeals to me. Especially
since the future is much more likely to involve a bunch of
Americans shooting each other over the last gallon of petrol... ;- p

Dave