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I'm mainly taking part in LEGO events as part of a Great Ball Contraption exhibit.

Most of the modules I make, and that's true for a lot of other builders, are purely mechanical in nature and driven by a single always-on motor. Since the motors have to run continuously for whole days, we usually connect them to 9V train transformers; which isn't a problem for PF motors thanks to the conversion cables available.

However, since LEGO will eventually phase out PF motors, I'm worried about the future - as there doesn't seem to be plans to provide conversion cables for Powered UP elements.

So, is there another way to somehow connect a Powered Up motor to a mains transformer and have it run continuously?

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There is at least one third-party Power Functions to Powered Up adapter available that can be used for this purpose:

Photo showed PUP motor controlled using 9V controller

Here's a video demonstrating it in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96SxM-0UkVQ

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  • Nice find! It would be interesting to learn how does it work or how can one acquire / build one, but the video does not seem to hold any more information beyond proving that it exists and works. So even though it would be great to expand this link-only answer, it would be hard to include more information without serious research or asking the creator. – zovits supports GoFundMonica Nov 21 at 12:12
  • The creator is active on a GBC FB group; so far I think he hasn't done large-scale production of those but the people who got to test it reported it working fine. I don't think we'll ever get a solution from TLC directly, so this is probably the best answer I'll ever get - although more technical details (wiring, etc) would be welcome – Joubarc 2 days ago
  • I´m the creator of the GBC-PUP shown in the video. My goal is to make these available to the community. I sell them as kits at the moment. Contact me at staffan(at)brickselectric.se and we can make it happen. – Staffan Ihl 2 days ago
  • @jncraton can I ask why you did delete Staffan's answer? I did ask him specifically to come and chime in since he had made the cable... Granted his answer as is would have worked better as comment, but the way it was handled doesn't feel very welcoming to me. – Joubarc 11 hours ago
  • @Joubarc Thanks for your feedback on this. I believe that it was a mistake to delete this outright. I've converted it to a comment now. I initially deleted it as it had been flagged as spam 3 times and flagged as not an answer once. I believe that those flags are valid, but I'm comfortable leaving this as a comment, and I should have done that in the first place. – jncraton♦ 8 hours ago

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