New problem topic on my Nell log: (Mine is an original motor)
Mine tries to move but doesn't get very far. I took it apart and when I twisted the pulley to rotate the motor the plastic gear slipped on the shaft when engaged with the rack gear. It would move the rack gear (log) only a small amount then slip.

The rack gear (log) is not binding on the metal slide, it moves very freely.

What I noticed is that the plastic gear was not fully against the motor shaft shoulder where I suppose it should be. It was about 1/16" away from the shoulder and I could push it against the shoulder. When against the shoulder it seemed a lot more solid and wouldn't slip.

I pushed the gear away from the shoulder to see how it was attached and it looks like a knurled "press" fit (see photo).

Question: The plastic gear should be against the shoulder and not slip at all, or is it supposed to act like a friction clutch and slip at some resistance?

I don't fully understand how this mech works at full forward and back strokes with the original motor, but I assume it never reaches the full forward stroke before the game timer stops the motor and then the spring reverse turns the motor/gear/pulley backwards to rest.

Thanks
Alan

nell plastic gear (resized).jpg

OK, all done. My Nell assembly works very well now.

1) I epoxied the large plastic gear to the shaft/shoulder

2) The motor had a lot of resistance to turning at the shaft (even though you are fighting a really low the gear ratio it still felt too stiff). To minimize the amount of spring tension for returning the log I decided to take the motor/gearbox apart. Of course this motor was not meant to come apart so disassembly it somewhat violent and isn't pretty.

3) Cleaned the gears of the old stiff grease and used fresh Teflon grease on the gears. Put the motor/gearbox back together (as best as possible) and epoxied around the outside to hold it together. Now the motor turns at the shaft a lot easier.

4) Spring tension was set by turning the pulley to add tension until it would unwind just a bit when released. I put this prewound assembly on the rack gear and verified that when the pulley was turned to advance the log from rest and then released that the log would return to rest position. Too much spring tension and the motor/gearbox will have a shorter life.

Now the Save Nell log starts advancing and when it reaches the end of travel the motor stops by itself and the spring returns the log to rest.

Alan

Take a look at my photo of this assembly taken apart (in my post on this page from 4 months ago). It is 12 posts above this one.

On the left is the motor shaft with the flat spot for the Allen setscrew you removed. On the right is the gear pulley assembly.
Yours is just stuck on there, use PB Blaster for a while and see if it loosens up.

I don't remember how I got mine to slide off but usually I use two screwdrivers to pry these things loose.

Just a check: How did you test the motor? Plugged into the game connector or ?

That is the correct way. Just making sure you had AC power supply.

I too got my original motor apart with a bit of effort. The swaged lip has to be cut off around the case seam and even then it was difficult to get the two halves apart. But I did and found that everything was in good order except for the old thick grease. I removed and cleaned all the gears and shafts, relubed with a lighter teflon grease, and expoxied the case back together.

That worked like a charm, the Nell Log motor worked like it should after getting the spring tension adjustment correct with experimentation. You don't want too much spring tension at log rest position or the motor will strain (or fail) to move the log. The spring only returns the log to rest when the motor is turned off.

Yes. It is the oblong part of the case that has the gears. The round part has the motor part.
If you do take it apart do it very slowly and carefully to avoid dropping out any gears. Then take a photo of the gear assembly so you can get it back together after cleaning.