# Gemmy Doctor Shivers repair



## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

I purchased a Dr. shivers on ebay at a pretty good price, but it came with some issues. The beaker had leaked its green fluid (water?) onto the white smock. The head and wires were completely detached. The sound was good, but nothing else. I cut open the back of his head, and with some soldering and luck I've gotten the mouth and eyes moving, but still don't have flashing eyes or rotating head. There was a break where 2 eye wires meet the power, and I soldered that, but it didn't solve the problem. I've traced the wires back to the circuit board and all connections "look" ok, but anyone whose seen a Gemmy circuit board knows what a mess they are.
As far as the head rotation goes, if it was the motor, I'd switch out the neck assembly from a spare "Halloween Monster" and try that. But I'd rather not go thru that process if it seems to be the circuit board.
So my questions are - 
Do you have a Dr. Shivers, and has either the eye flash or head rotate failed for you?
Were you able to get them operating again? 
Is there a "usual suspect" in these kind of failures?
Overall I'm very pleased with the good doctor. I can live with out the head rotation quite happily, but would like to get the flashing eyes going!
Any help or suggestions are appreciated.


----------



## Mr_Chicken (Nov 30, 2008)

I hear that Gemmy is pretty good about replacing defective products. It might be worth sending them a letter/email.


----------



## -V- (Nov 6, 2008)

Hi there, 

Long-time lurker, first-time poster  

I just want to validate your issue.

I had the same eye problem with a Dr. Shivers that I bought retail a couple of years ago. I'd tested it out, and it worked fine. Put it in my display at our party and then the eyes wouldn't light up at all. (Contacted Gemmy as it was still under their previous warranty policy, and though it took until *the following summer!!!* to get it resolved, they did step up. I think they have essentially eliminated their warranties now.) 

To expand on the issue-- this last year I got the lifesize animated Jason, and he lost the ability to turn his head halfway through our party. So these seem to be weak points.

I haven't been able to repair the Jason figure but I'm not an electronics expert, and I am willing to live with the malfunction since it's not that critical to me. My concern is when I take him out this year, what's going to break next? 

I have to add that I absolutely love the Dr. Shivers figure for the fact that he can be wired to the audio track of your choice. He was awesome as the 'announcer' for our haunt, and the fact that his eyes didn't light up any more actually made him seem a little more realistic.

I hope someone else has a fix-it answer.


----------



## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Mr. Chicken - Gemmy was very diligent at replacing my "Halloween Monster". Like V mentioned, it wasn't until the following year, when they even knew if they would be selling the Halloween monster, before I got my replacement. 2 actually - the first one came already broken, and when I contacted customer service again, they told me to keep the second one, and sent me a third!
Unfortunately, Gemmy hasn't offered Dr. Shivers in awhile, and buying it used there is no warranty to cover the problems.
V - I concur with your sentiments - as I said, even with the issues, I'm very pleased with him.
Thanks for your input.
Anyone else deal with these problems?


----------



## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Just bumping it up...


----------



## 19215 (Sep 29, 2006)

I've had some head turning issus with other figures before. The problem I encountered was that the wires coming up to the head mount got tugged. If you look there should be one large black protective tube that all the wires run through. About four inches below where the head snaps on, the tube stops and the wires split and either go to the motor that does the turning, or the hub where the contact is made for the eye/mouth movement. My problem was that the crappy spot soldering wasn't good enough and came loose when the figure was "locked" in the standing position. Gemmy just barely uses enough wire and when these figures are locked up and down, the wires have a lot of stress.

Check and see if all the wires are still connected. I saw a Hannibal last year that quit working completely. After looking, the figure was locked down and the protective tube, and all the wires inside, were cut completely in half.

-Matt


----------



## Noe88 (Jul 29, 2010)

*Cool Doctor Shivers!!!!*

I bought one and for the first few days, he worked perfectly. But then his eyes didn't turn anymore. So far. that's the only problem with mine.


Does anybody have a tip or suggestion on what I can do to make his eyes turn again? Any help appreciated!!!! At least I have a doctor shivers!!!


----------



## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

I have the issue with the eyes not lighting up, and the beaker, I know this is an old thread but wondering if anyone has the same


----------



## left4dead (Jul 22, 2009)

I just purchased one this weekend and the mouth is not working, everything else is ok though... I guess I'm just happy I have one for our 2011 Haunt this year! 

I did email gemmy to see if they carry replacement parts, I'll post anything I find out.


----------



## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

left4dead said:


> I just purchased one this weekend and the mouth is not working, everything else is ok though... I guess I'm just happy I have one for our 2011 Haunt this year!
> 
> I did email gemmy to see if they carry replacement parts, I'll post anything I find out.


Did you purchase Dr.Shivers from Grandin Road? I got mine from someone who was selling it from my area. So mine is older. Majority of the time it is the wires, I have a witch with cauldron that had issues and it turned out that the wire was disconnected but just a bit of soldering did the trick.


----------



## shipperson (Apr 1, 2009)

*Dr. Shivers*

I have one, bought it new a few years back! Hearing your stories, I feel fortunate! I have not had any problems, as many have discribed here! I did notice last Halloween, however, that the beaker does not light up any more! Has anyone had THAT problem? 

Also, I think your only hope to fix these issues is to do like many have and disect your good Dr. and see if you can find a loose wire. Boy, if there was someone running a business of fixing this stuff, they would be rich!!! 

I also think we should all email Gemmy and suggest they bring back the good Dr.


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

You know guys it really makes me mad that we pay so much money for these life size props and they either break right off the bat or we have 1 to2 good years with them and they crap out! My Jason's arm broke after Halloween last year/ We opened him up and he totally cracked right off!! Thanks to scubaspook a member here they guided me through how to repair him! Pics and all! Jason thank God is working fine now! Now our Gemmy Cauldron Witch is another issue!!! Just took her out to test her the other day and her cauldron that smokes and lights up is now not working!!!! We bought her in 2008.My self and my hubby don't even know if we want to even chance buying anymore life size Gemmy props! Good luck guys! I hope you can find a solution to your Dr Shivers problem!


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

shipperson said:


> I have one, bought it new a few years back! Hearing your stories, I feel fortunate! I have not had any problems, as many have discribed here! I did notice last Halloween, however, that the beaker does not light up any more! Has anyone had THAT problem?
> 
> Also, I think your only hope to fix these issues is to do like many have and disect your good Dr. and see if you can find a loose wire. Boy, if there was someone running a business of fixing this stuff, they would be rich!!!
> 
> I also think we should all email Gemmy and suggest they bring back the good Dr.


Hey guys Grandin Road is selling Dr Shivers in case you don't know


----------



## Zoemorgan2 (Aug 4, 2011)

Hi! I just bought Dr. Shivers from Grandin Road. I took him out, plugged him in and the beaker was the only thing that lit up. I was so po'd that I smacked him hard in the head! Voila! He totally works now. I think in transit the wires just wriggled too much. I guess I'll just have to keep smacking him around if he acts up again.


----------



## whichypoo (Jul 29, 2009)

where is the tutorial and pics to fix the jason arm we just bought a jason that works fine but the arm is broken. would love a little help please


----------



## tamster (Jul 27, 2009)

Its the Great Pumpkin said:


> You know guys it really makes me mad that we pay so much money for these life size props and they either break right off the bat or we have 1 to2 good years with them and they crap out! My Jason's arm broke after Halloween last year/ We opened him up and he totally cracked right off!! Thanks to scubaspook a member here they guided me through how to repair him! Pics and all! Jason thank God is working fine now! Now our Gemmy Cauldron Witch is another issue!!! Just took her out to test her the other day and her cauldron that smokes and lights up is now not working!!!! We bought her in 2008.My self and my hubby don't even know if we want to even chance buying anymore life size Gemmy props! Good luck guys! I hope you can find a solution to your Dr Shivers problem!



I have the witch too, the cauldron would not work, so ripped out the fog mister and put in a new one myself and it worked fine. I sure hope she is ok this year, I hadn't brought her out in a few years


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

Tamster can you tell me how you did it? We tried getting the fogger out of her cauldron but it would not budge!


----------



## shipperson (Apr 1, 2009)

We just need to demand that they make better stuff. They are cheaply made but they are making them cheaper now. They use to put a volume control on them, but they took that out! They use to put in features like, a microphone jack and a mic, so you could talk thru your character but they took that out! They use to put in a speaker jack, so you could plug in an additional set of speakers to make them louder but they took that out! Now the problem is, they are cutting out as much wire out of them, to save money! They use so little, not giving any slack inside the character, so any little movement will pull a wire free and their head won't turn or their mouth won't move, etc! Doesn't seem like much but if they cut out 1 inch of wire in 10,000 characters, they make more $$$! Please, everyone, call Gemmy Industries and complain! Deand better products!!!


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

shipperson said:


> We just need to demand that they make better stuff. They are cheaply made but they are making them cheaper now. They use to put a volume control on them, but they took that out! They use to put in features like, a microphone jack and a mic, so you could talk thru your character but they took that out! They use to put in a speaker jack, so you could plug in an additional set of speakers to make them louder but they took that out! Now the problem is, they are cutting out as much wire out of them, to save money! They use so little, not giving any slack inside the character, so any little movement will pull a wire free and their head won't turn or their mouth won't move, etc! Doesn't seem like much but if they cut out 1 inch of wire in 10,000 characters, they make more $$$! Please, everyone, call Gemmy Industries and complain! Deand better products!!!


I am with you!! I totally agree!! We bought the Quivering Doorman in 2009. Don't get me wrong we love him but there is no volume control on this guy at all!! If he is the only prop you have that makes noise great you will hear him. If not forget about it! I don't think we are going to be buying any gemmy lifesize props anymore because of what happened to our Jason( we did fix him thanks( Scubaspook) and now our Cauldron Witch's cauldron is not working!!!! This should NOT be happening to props that we are paying ENOUGH money for!!


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

Well guys I caved and bought Dr Shivers from Grandidn Road. Hopefully we will not have any issues with him! Fingers crossed. The good Dr should arrive by the end of next week!


----------



## ChrisW (Sep 19, 2006)

Re-animating an old thread...
ITGP - did you get your Dr. Shivers and did he work ok? I bought one last year after Halloween when they were reduced and Grandin Road was offering free shipping. While details were different from my original Dr., overall I was pleased. It doesn't have volume control, but unlike some others the volume was more than adequate.
My intention was to sell my old Dr. when I got the new one, but now I'm not so sure...Maybe one in the house and one in the haunt, or take the Dr. out to work for Halloween like I did last year.


----------



## Its the Great Pumpkin (Jun 20, 2010)

ChrisW said:


> Re-animating an old thread...
> ITGP - did you get your Dr. Shivers and did he work ok? I bought one last year after Halloween when they were reduced and Grandin Road was offering free shipping. While details were different from my original Dr., overall I was pleased. It doesn't have volume control, but unlike some others the volume was more than adequate.
> My intention was to sell my old Dr. when I got the new one, but now I'm not so sure...Maybe one in the house and one in the haunt, or take the Dr. out to work for Halloween like I did last year.


chris yes we got the good Dr and so far so good everything worked fine with him! But like i said with these Gemmys who knows from year to year!


----------



## xPUMPKiNxKiNGx (Jul 5, 2012)

Its the Great Pumpkin said:


> Hey guys Grandin Road is selling Dr Shivers in case you don't know


ROFL 

You pulled a Henry W. Happy Day's moment!


----------



## xPUMPKiNxKiNGx (Jul 5, 2012)

I purchased my Dr. Shivers from Martha Stewart's GrandinRoad last year. So far no issues.... His beaker lights up and makes bubbling sounds and his head and mouth moves, and eye's light up. I'm sorry to hear about your misfortune with him. I just pray the same thing doesn't happen to me, because I'm helpless when it comes to fixing things....


----------



## ltweety444 (Mar 26, 2011)

*mouth and eye not working*

Got my Dr Shivers out of the box for a test run and his head moves but eyes don't light and mouth won't move. I'll look at the wires but I guess there are no other options if that doesn't work? And I agree with another poster in the thread...if someone had a business to fix these things that would be awesome.


----------



## Horror Roots Productions (Oct 15, 2012)

Hey Friends - Im a member on a few other forums - but not getting much luck with fixing my Dr. Shivers. A friend of mine has a recording studio - and Dr. Shivers was a long time guest in the control room - after a new remodel to the studio it was no longer "fitting: for the good doctor and so I was able to acquire him for $30. However, at some point one of the artists decided to give Shiver a shot to the chops and knocked his head off - so he has no wires. I found a power supply and got him powered up - I moved the switch to activate the motion - and he rambled out a few phrases with the head moving back and forth - and then it stopped working. I plugged in an auxillary source and was able to play sounds through him while he moved back and forth - but i couldnt get him back saying any phrases. 

Unfortunatly all the screws at the bottom of the base are totally rusted - so i didnt attempt to take the base apart. Im kinda fine with all that - but I would like to get his mouth and eyes moving if possible. Does anyone have a picture of what the inside wires look like attached to the base from the head? Or knows which leads go where? For whatever reason Gemmy decided that the motor leads in the face should not correspond to the wires coming from the neck base... (THANKS GEMMY!!)

Anyways - just figured id put it out there : here are some pics of my Shivers...






































Thanks for your help !! - HRP


----------



## hauntcrazy (Nov 14, 2007)

I have two Dr Shivers and both stopped working except for the heads turning. I recommissioned them as zombies with masks and Goodwill clothes. Never could get either one working totally again.


----------



## anthonydomingo (Jan 11, 2013)

*Mayhaps this rough draft schematic of Dr Shivers may help someone.*

I had problems with my Dr. Shivers purchased at Walmart many years ago.
It did not turn his head from day one but he was so cool and I bought the last one I decided to keep it anyway.
Tinkering with some Gilderfluke stuff I decided to see what he is made out of.
I documented his brain the best I could on my page at anthony domingo com slash drshivers
If anyone has additional info please advise.
Thanks
-Anthony


----------



## diggerc (Sep 29, 2005)

anthonydomingo said:


> I had problems with my Dr. Shivers purchased at Walmart many years ago.
> It did not turn his head from day one but he was so cool and I bought the last one I decided to keep it anyway.
> Tinkering with some Gilderfluke stuff I decided to see what he is made out of.
> I documented his brain the best I could on my page at anthony domingo com slash drshivers
> ...


Nice work Anthony. let me know how the Edwardian butler hack goes. I have a Gemmy butler and the head side to side fell by the wayside motor still works just no signal from the board. Excuse ignorance is the brain the first picture? If so? are the following pictures the hack toys of which you speak?
BTW I did surgery on a Dr Shivers for a friend and your list is missing eyes LEDs which light when the the sound routine has electric arcing sound effects.


----------



## anthonydomingo (Jan 11, 2013)

diggerc said:


> Nice work Anthony. let me know how the Edwardian butler hack goes. I have a Gemmy butler and the head side to side fell by the wayside motor still works just no signal from the board. Excuse ignorance is the brain the first picture? If so? are the following pictures the hack toys of which you speak?


I cannot post links because I am a newbie, the circuit board shown at the top is the brain removed from the controller board.

The next are pictures of the jumpers I used to separate the brain from the main controller board.
The Gilderfluke products are pictured on their website, again I cannot yet post links. I used a MiniBrick8 and an SD25.

You have to love Haunt talk in January....
-A


----------



## tbishop (Sep 28, 2010)

If anyone has a Dr Shivers that they want to sale, please let me know. I have a mad scrientist lab and he would be perfect in it,. So if anyone wants to get rid of their Dr Shivers, please let me know.


----------



## jacksonbbaker (Sep 22, 2020)

hello 2011


----------

