Kenner car toy

[RobKnight]

Hello

My name is Robert, 36 years old, from Sweden! A pleasure to be a part of this community. Thanks for having me here. Been a Knight Rider fan since growing up with the series in the mid 80's.

I would appreciate it if someone knowledgeable could consult me on a voice car released in 83 by Kenner.

I just bought a very fine one on ebay and the voice box works great and all. Maybe too well.. The thing is that I put a fresh new battery in and kitt sounds really highpitched in his voice.
And I tried sliding the lever (the voicepitchregulator) on the bottom of the car to make it speak slowlier... but it made a little difference.
The guy who sold it said it probably had to do with it being a fresh battery and that kitt should probably speak slowlier when the battery wears down a bit.

In fact I tested to put in a c-battery thats old and then kitt spoke really really slow.

So could anyone tell me if my voicebox/voicepitch-regulator is defect or if its on account of the new fresh battery that it speaks so fast?
Anyone else has similar experience?
I feel really bad about this because I love this toycar so much and I paid much money for it. I dont feel like paying more money just to buy a new car...

All the best

[jup]

Considering the probable era of the technology inside, I have a suspicion that it is indeed the quality of your batteries.

I take this knowledge from another sound device from my childhood, when video stores were common. One such had just given me a 'demo sound device' that came from a standing display. It's a cleaver trick that uses zero computer components. Instead, it's a small disc that spins. This disc (probably plastic) has bumps. A small piece of pointed metal rubs along the interior of this disc. As the metal is vibrated from the bumps, it transmits the vibration to a small cone that acts as the speaker. Which means the reason that KITT speaks high pitched or slow is because the motor that drives the disc isn't running at the correct speed.

Why?

Because, over the years, battery technology has advanced. These 2017 batteries pack a little more punch then those of the 1983 era. More power means more RPM's to the motor. Maybe only a couple more rotations. But, enough to distort this super simple record player that is inside.

So...from that analysis, I would say your antique is running just like it was intended to. It's just that there is a little too much current being pumped in.

My best two choices to offer is A) Shrug and let it be or B) find an electronics expert to disassemble the car (I'm not a hundred percent sure if that can be done. But, probably. This is a 1983 product. They didn't tend to build them so throwaway, back then. There's probably a couple concealed screws over just hot glue.) and create a kind of governing circuit that can properly regulate the volt/microAmps being delivered to the motor. If memory serves, that control slider you mentioned just adds and removes a little bit of tension from a drive belt. Again, it works with 1983 era batteries. Whereas today's are going to work the motor harder and override that cheap level of friction.

There are also options C and D. But, I wouldn't jump to either. C) Try and find under performing batteries. I don't know where at, though. My mind jumps right to a poor brand called Cat Batteries. Pictures a black cat with a jagged tail. Locally, it might show up at a 99 cent store and the things have always been wretched. Or D) throw out the old fashioned record playing device, update with a dedicated sound/MP3 player and locate a sound bit that has the original recordings on it OR record from the record you already have OR just make your own sound track. For originality sake, you'll probably want the original record player and just find a way to keep it at the intended speed over a modern chip equivalent.

[KITTfan]

First, welcome to KRO from your neighbour country
What kind of batteries Kenner KITT takes? Perhaps you could use new batteries for a while in another device and when they have lost their best power, then use them for KITT? Multimeter is good tool to check the voltage.
I have old 80's Star Toys Pontiac Trans-Am toycar with wired remote controller. Car has opening and working headlights and I remember back in the 80's they were yellowish but when I recently tried the car with new digital camera batteries with the same voltage, the lights were super bright, almost like modern LED lights so indeed battery technology has improved since the 80's

[RobKnight]

Thank you so much kittfan and Jup! )
Thank you for your time and commitment.

I asked the seller and The seller who sold it to me on ebay kindly enough sent me a video to show where he puts in a fresh battery in a kitt car of his own and it sounded pretty much the same as mine. He even tried sliding the button way up snd down and even midway, but it sounded pretty much same as mine. So I am glad its not my car thats faulty

2. the seller told me this is common withthe kenner kitts and that I should let the battery wear down first.

3 videos on youtube where other kenner kittcar-voice speaks normal is probably where the owners have worn down batteries.

cheers
Rob

[jup]

Not a problem. Glad to help out.

If you want to go the route of wearing down new batteries, I can think of an old approach that a friend used to use on discharging RC batteries with a slight twist. Build a simple circuit on a bread board. You should need several jumper cables to connect the components up with. A battery holder for the proper sized batteries you use. (You said C size, I believe.) A flash light bulb holder and a light bulb that goes inside. And a volt meter. (Very simple one.) Once everything is all connected, the flash light bulb will burn steadily to wear the batteries down with. Occasionally check the volt meter to see where you are at on those batteries. Don't trust the bulb to tell you. It will only dim, once the batteries are really weak. Also, go with a standard filament bulb. There's LED's out there and those will take ages to wear down the batteries. Not familiar with how power hungry Xenons are. (Think I am remembering that right. Super bright bulbs used in hand held spots.)

It will take some experimentation to figure out at what point the needle (or digital counter) needs to drop to before your car's voice sounds about right. Once found, mark (or note) the point at which the needle/counter represents the desired level of the battery's charge.

Again, recommend having a friend whom knows electronics help you make this simple device. After all, I once bought a bike flash light from an actual store. Chinese 'lack of' quality control proved so true in this case. The circuit, which should have been beyond simple, never did turn on the bulb. After 30 seconds or so, I started to inspect the unit. Batteries were red hot, meaning a short circuit was taking place. BTW: What follows hot batteries...is exploding batteries. Very dangerous. So, when building this simple circuit, you want to make sure the wire gauge can take the small current and the needle and bulb is rated for the volts and amps. (2 C Batteries should produce around 3 volts and I forget what 0.? amps. But, since flash light bulbs were designed to be directly connected to batteries of 2 or 4 with similar volts, there shouldn't be too much confusion or chance of errors.)

And now that I think of it, rechargeable batteries may give you better results. Check online for studies concerning various brands. But, I am aware that some devices just won't work with rechargeables. Not because these devices have some magic ability to discriminate against renewable resources. But, because some devices absolutely demand that extra little punch that new batteries give and (some) rechargeables just can't. If memory serves, back in the '80s, rechargeable batteries were a pricey investment. Last time I bothered looking, the darn things seemed on par with their one time use counterparts, price wise. So it shouldn't be a budget breaker to experiment with them, as well.

Another trick worth trying; They make these plastic housings that fill up the space of C and D sized batteries. But, they adapt AA and AAA to the compartment. AA & AAA don't tend to pack quite as much power. Plus, through e-Bay, these simple adapters are super cheap.

[RobKnight]

Dear Jup..

I am amazed at your knowledge. Thank you so much. I screenshot your reply on the phone so I can read it more freely...

I will definitely consider your options... it might get a bit tricky but I think I will consult someone to help me.

Or I will just locate some device that holds a cbattery and thus wear it down...

I might return on this thread for further assistance

Thanks again my friend

All the best

[jenifer00]

Hi, new here and looking for the doll plus a car. But could you please tell me that is it available in LEGO. As its a trustworthy brand. I searched and find Lifespan here in Australia but not successful yet! Any idea?