Quoted from Lermods:I have mine running off the child insert on the left orbit. It will run in attract mode, which I like, but using the child insert, it’s nice that it coincides with the callout “go see the child” and then he starts moving. Originally, I had it triggering off one of the letters and I felt that was too much and too random.
Having taken apart many of these, I don’t find the quality to be particularly cheap. The motor, which is all we reuse, seems fairly decent and while I can’t speak much for longevity as I’ve only been running mine a few months, it’s still going strong and I have no reports of any failing.
As you say, your mileage may vary and it’s interesting to see others come up with alternatives to suit what they want.
I've had the Lermods plug and play setup in for a couple of weeks on the H insert and it's working great. I'll probably switch the insert because I like this idea. I have been leaving the machine off a bit more often when not being played, having thought about how attract mode may over use the motor, but it does seem sturdy. Given the power is coming from the back box, I wondered if some kind of wireless switch or other solution could be used to cut the power to the toy when the pin is not in use.