Menards rocket launcher Questions.

YES, on both questions.  Menards sells a couple of 4.5 volt power supplies which will work with the rocket. 

Marty

Make sure to you order the right size power supply.   Some of their accessories require more power than others.  

I am buying a 4.5 volt  power adapter from Menards. it's in a yellow package. it's $13.00.  I hope it is the right one.

Eddie - it looks like a great accessory.

I may get one just to put on a shelf. The Saturn V has always fascinated me.

Paul

Too bad the 4.5v adapter doesn't come with it.

My rocket came with no instructions.  Did anyone else have the same experience?  The rocket itself is great; a bit fragile, though.  I had to reglue one strut at the bottom.  No big deal.  The 'smoke' is very clever.  All you have to do is add distilled water.  I don't know if there is a heating element in the platform, but the 'smoke' is generated pretty quickly after starting.  All in all, a pretty neat accessory.

@eddie g posted:

Too bad the 4.5v adapter doesn't come with it.

I tend to agree, except you have to remember that Menards has been doing this all along. And the announcements always made it clear that the power unit is sold separately.

By the way, please spell the name of the company correctly in your title. It’s rude not to spell proper names correctly. Use the edit function to correct your error.

I received mine as well with no instructions, particularly if there is anything special about where to pour in the (distilled) water. I also had a couple of broken struts and all LED lights were flickering, even the white ones above the gantry floor doors that are supposed to stay constant. My water unit is inoperable and, interestingly, there was a piece of tape with Chinese characters that hinted at a QC "fix" of the water unit, which obviously is not working. I put in an exchange form electronically to Menards a few days ago but they have not responded. Either I'll exchange it or ask for a refund. While it is a neat accessaory, I'm not as impressed by the construction quality compared to, say, the Morton Salt factory of the operating fire house.

@Jim R. posted:

I tend to agree, except you have to remember that Menards has been doing this all along. And the announcements always made it clear that the power unit is sold separately.

To add to that, not only does it clearly state on the Menards site under features that it “Requires 4.5-volt power source (sold separately, Menards® SKU #279-4062, 4050)”, further down the page there is an “Accessories” section with links to all three adapters.

There’s really no reason to miss that the power adapter isn’t included.

@rtrahan posted:

My rocket came with no instructions.  Did anyone else have the same experience?  The rocket itself is great; a bit fragile, though.  I had to reglue one strut at the bottom.  No big deal.  The 'smoke' is very clever.  All you have to do is add distilled water.  I don't know if there is a heating element in the platform, but the 'smoke' is generated pretty quickly after starting.  All in all, a pretty neat accessory.

Ditto.  The strut actually came off as I was trying to figure out how to get the launch pad out of the bottom packaging.  Instructions would be nice.  Do not overfill with distilled water or it will stop producing vapor as quickly as it starts.

I'm thinking of purchasing one for my desk.  The question I have is should I purchase the HO version instead?   

Has anyone purchased the HO version and if so what are your thoughts on it?

I wish to admit that I am "eating a little crow" after my initial post. The O scale version of the rocket launcher requires a 4.5 VDC adapter drawing 1 mA.  Anything less than that current draw will not work. Ray at Menard's was incredibly helpful in solving the problem for me. Now I'm ready to launch Apollo 11 -- again!