The Wand Company TOS Tricorder is coming!

This is my first up-close examination of the upper door hinge.

I never noticed until now that the hinge pin going through the door is visible when the door is open. This would be the first place to look and see if the pin is straight, or if it’s bowed or bent. I used the edge of a butter knife and pushed on mine and it didn’t move at all.

The next place to look would be the corners. Is there any debris between the door and the frame restricting movement? Another thing to look for would be some flashing from the molding process. If either of these conditions are present, would it be possible to carefully clear the hinge area with say the tip of an X-acto blade? Or if it’s loose debris can it be blown out with a can of compressed air?

I know it’s not desirable to have to do this on a brand new replica you just received, and if theres any hessitation I wouldn’t do it. The Wand Company is aware of the reports and have their engineer Andrew Stickdale investigating the cause of this issue and possible fixes.

If your Tricorder has this issue, report it to TWC through their customer support email.

support@thewandcompany.com

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This is my first up-close examination of the upper door hinge.

I never noticed until now that the hinge pin going through the door is visible when the door is open. This would be the first place to look and see if the pin is straight, or if it’s bowed or bent. I used the edge of a butter knife and pushed on mine and it didn’t move at all.

The next place to look would be the corners. Is there any debris between the door and the frame restricting movement? Another thing to look for would be some flashing from the molding process. If either of these conditions are present, would it be possible to carefully clear the hinge area with say the tip of an X-acto blade? Or if it’s loose debris can it be blown out with a can of compressed air?

I know it’s not desirable to have to do this on a brand new replica you just received, and if theres any hessitation I wouldn’t do it. The Wand Company is aware of the reports and have their engineer Andrew Stickdale investigating the cause of this issue and possible fixes.

If your Tricorder has this issue, report it to TWC through their customer support email.

support@thewandcompany.com

I’m actually taken aback….(from my previous aback’s)

The top two are known in electrical and mechanical engineering as…..

from the goooog…”A kludge or kluge is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain.”

Those are Achilles heels…

And the hinge rod should have been moulded over covered with plastic so it would keep from bowing and stay steady and not seen…

WOWzers….
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I’m actually taken aback….(from my previous aback’s)

The top two are known in electrical and mechanical engineering as…..

from the goooog…”A kludge or kluge is a workaround or makeshift solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend, and hard to maintain.”

Those are Achilles heels…

And the hinge rod should have been moulded over covered with plastic so it would keep from bowing and stay steady and not seen…

WOWzers….View attachment 1952214
Do those corner pieces pop out, allowing you to remove the door, or are they glued in?
 
A stroll through memory lane….

From the Goooog

……”Evidently, it seems that the two Wah Chang "hero" tricorders were frequently disassembled while on the Desilu soundstages and re-constructed with new parts to enhance their appearance.

And now, the hero TOS Tricorder”....

View attachment 1951521

View attachment 1951522

Wand definitely did some improvements….. :)
Seeing these images of ‘hero’ tricorders has me itching now to do a scratch-build ~ :unsure:
 
I reported my issue, with pictures, to TWC's support email. Charlotte replied with an offer to replace it with another unit, which they will send out once mine goes back to them. I bought mine via Amazon, but it seems the return & replace process involves Wand directly.

Would it be worth it to you, to have them unbox it there at Wand and check it before sending it to you? This way you won’t be swapping one bad one, for another bad one…
 
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