Sparkly Wheels are Turning in the Opposite Directions: A Handy Fix for a STEM Toy Enthusiast

⚠️ Disclaimer: This post isn’t sponsored—I’m just a fan of the product. I recently encountered a small hiccup (probably my own doing) with my Sparkly toy and wanted to share a straightforward solution I discovered.

Sparkly is a fantastic STEM toy created by a local team (a quick Google search will tell you more). My journey with Sparkly began with excitement as I assembled it, eager to see it in action. I switched on my phone’s flashlight for the grand test, only to realize something was amiss. It seemed I had inadvertently set up the motor incorrectly.

Here’s what happened: one wheel was rotating correctly, moving forward, but its counterpart was rebelliously spinning in the opposite direction, backward. Now, you may expect that these motors operate on direct current. The solution, in theory, was simple: reverse the polarity by swapping the + and – connections.

However, when I tried to switch the battery input, I hit a snag. The stubborn cable, as shown in the image, refused to budge:

Refusing to be defeated, I took a more hands-on approach. I unsoldered the black and red wires on the motor and then switched their positions.

And voilà, it worked! What seemed like a complicated problem turned out to have a pretty simple fix.

So, to all my fellow STEM enthusiasts and tinkerers, remember, sometimes the solution is just a wire swap away 🙂

Happy tinkering and happy holidays! 👋