# Home Goods Headless Horseman snowglobe died



## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

How old is it? It might make more sense to just have the thing completely rewired to eliminate various fiddly electronic bits.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Hi!

Its from this year at home goods! People have been saying theirs isn't lighting anymore either. Thanks for the reply.


----------



## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

was it made in China and powered by a single 1.5 volt battery? If so, the problem is indeed shoddy electrical connection, particularly in the volt scavenger circuit (this is a circuit that doubles the voltage of the current drawn from the battery). I have been encountering the same problems in nearly every single product I've bought that involved a color-changing LED.


----------



## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Adam, you didn't say but did you then try putting fresh batteries in and still have the problem? Sometimes old batteries might work briefly and when the power drops below the required amount to operate the light, the light/product (especially toys for example that have a lot of movement) will stop working.

Another thing I would look at is the battery contact points to make sure they are clean. Also sometimes if the batteries aren't seated well, like the battery door isn't closed completely, it could affect it.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Hi Blarghity,

It takes 3 triple A batteries. Yes, china! I think its also shoddy electrical work. I am thinking if they check the connections, fuse and or other parts - they may be able to fix it.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Thanks to Blarghity!

I took it to a local computer repair shop and they fixed it for me. They re-soldered (soddered-but its not spelled that way), all the wires and the head works again!


----------



## Wifeofrankie (Apr 12, 2012)

Adam,

I'm so happy to hear that you got a Headless Horseman snow globe finally. Then I was so sad for you when I read that it didn't work. And now I'm very happy for you again. What a rollercoaster of emotions in such a tiny amount of time.  Congrats on fixing it.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

I spoke too soon, its broken again!

There is a little resistor thingie inside and its getting super hot. A few components inside need to be replaced.


----------



## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

Now that I've hunted up a picture of the snowglobe, the solution is potentially simple. I suspect the big part of the problem is 4.5 volts of power and a 3.2 volt non-flickering LED. As a result, there is a lot of crap added to the electrical circuit that didn't need to be there, including what sounds to be the wrong resistor for the voltage. If the globe can be disassembled, I would replaced the 3-cell battery pack with a 2-cell battery pack and the LED in the pumpkin head with a new flicker LED.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Blarghity, 

can you take a look at this photo. The batteries go under, I don't think I can change it from 3 AAAs to 2!

















You can see the wires, the on/off switch and the resistor. You are correct its 4.5v of power. Are you sure that's the volt of the LED? 

What kind of resistor should I put in there? I can get a replacement one but I need to know specifics on that! I turned it on last nite, didn't work but the resistor was SUPER HOT!


----------



## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

How would one change the led in the jack-o-lantern inside of the globe? The only way to get at the parts inside the globe would be to drain the liquid.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

It seems I could get to it from under, but I can't tell if its a plug or glue for the wire. I don't think I will risk that!! LOL.

Blarghity thoughts about the above to fix the resistor?


----------



## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

I'm fairly sure the LED is a 3 volt LED because 5 volt LEDs are a relative rarity (and thus expensive).

Tell me the colors on the bands on the resistor that came with the unit. It looks like violet green (or grey) and black, which makes it a non-standard 75 (or 78) ohm, resistor with no quality control. That's way too much, which is why it heats up so much. All that heat is causing thermal damage that increases the resistance even further.

For the resistor to drop the voltage from 4.5 volts to 3.2 volts, it needs to be a 47 ohm resistor (band colors Yellow, violet, black, gold.) Don't use a 3 band resistor like the one that came with it, those have a huge range of error, while that precision 4 band resistor will only have a 5% range of deviation.


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Hi Blarghity,

Its hard to tell but it looks gold, black, yellow, green, purple. But your prob right, its violet, green and black. I will for sure get a 47 ohm resistor and try it out, see if its works!  I will report back, cross your fingers. Bless you and your wonderful knowledge on this subject because I now know a little about it too  Thank you!!!!!!!


----------



## The Other Owens Sister (Aug 30, 2014)

Adam, were you able to get your HH snow globe fixed? I just bought one at my local store only to get it home and find out the led doesn't light up. I looked at another store and hey didn't have any so I'm debating trying to just fix it.


----------



## The Other Owens Sister (Aug 30, 2014)

The Other Owens Sister said:


> Adam, were you able to get your HH snow globe fixed? I just bought one at my local store only to get it home and find out the led doesn't light up. I looked at another store and hey didn't have any so I'm debating trying to just fix it.


Got it to work with electrical tape! So never mind!


----------



## adam (Aug 1, 2008)

Yay! So glad to hear it.

Whats funny is a lot of people had issues with their globes too. Mine wouldn't light and the new one I bought was missing a spring. So I ripped the spring out of mine, swapped the sticker skew off the new one and returned the old one. I don't feel bad since I bought it broken! LOL


----------



## Jottle (Aug 17, 2006)

adam said:


> Yay! So glad to hear it.
> 
> What's funny is a lot of people had issues with their globes too. Mine wouldn't light and the new one I bought was missing a spring. So I ripped the spring out of mine, swapped the sticker skew off the new one and returned the old one. I don't feel bad since I bought it broken! LOL


Lol. Funny you mention swapping the sku's adam. The JOL's mouth on my HH snow globe is all messed up, and I was hoping to score a new one this year to swap out  If last year's trends are any predictor of this year, each store seems to only get 1-2 globes, if at all, and then they're gone. I haven't seen any in the two stores near me yet. Who knows if they've already been snatched up.


----------

