Push-Start a Comatose Furby

We've all been there. Invert. Jiggle. Shake. Slap. Nothing. When a Furby goes comatose, there seems to be no hope of getting him or her awakened. This Instructable will show the steps to take Furby apart and push start him back to life. This has worked on my own two so far and will likely work for yours, as this seems to be a common problem. After a lot of experimenting and battery changes, I determined the cause for this state is improper parking of the motor that drives furby's mechanisms. Just like a fine industrial robot, Furby cannot start his program properly unless he is parked in the home position. Read on and be sure to look at the photos, and hopefully bring your old friend back to life!

To do this instructable you will need:

A comatose furby (won't wake up or reset)
A hobby knife
A small phillips screwdriver
A small flat screwdriver
A hot glue gun and glue stick
A sewing needle
Thread to match the color of the back of furbys ears.
Scissors
4 Fresh AA batteries

Step 1: Check Furby's Vitals.

First before continuing on, if you haven't done so insert fresh new batteries into Furby, turn him upside down and press the little reset button on the bottom. If this doesn't wake him, remove the batteries, and secure the battery door so it's not in your way. Now check the base of the furby and note it's position. If properly parked, furby should be leaning forward as to sleep. If the base isn't extended from Furby's bottom, this Instructable is for you. Toh Loh is a Rainbow Furby. After an extended period of storage, he has entered the comatose state. Note his position sitting flat on the table. Also note the dazed and confused look on his face. (Yes, I'm looking for his other eyelash).

Comments

[chelsea1515]

I bought a Furbie at a local Boot Fair for $5. Unused from a display unit. Disappointed when it didn't work when brand new batteries were inserted but then I found this website. I read through the instructions, took loads of verbal micky taking from husband and friends and as I didn't relish the idea of dismantling poor Furbie I thought I would try the shaking, resetting, holding tongue, racking the rocker etc. In fact was fairly 'rough' with him and to my absolute amazement, he yawned and has had us in fits of laughter ever since. Hilarious - but how do I switch him off ? Is it a case of removing batteries? Thank you so much, I feel I have achieved something that my builder husband was unable to whether it be by patience or the fact I will google for help and he won't!! Think it's a man thing. lol

[Trulyscrumptious]

It took me about an hour to do the repair. The only difference from your directions was our face plate. Our face plate had a small plastic hook above the sensor and was held on with 2 screws, one on either side of the face, no glue. There was a little glue by the ears, but I opted not to put new glue.

[Trulyscrumptious]

Thank you so much! I emailed Hasbro recently and they offered no help or suggestions to start our new in the box vintage Furby. We have a limited edition Autumn Furby from 1999. My brother in law bought him at a toy store he used to work at when they were going out of business. A couple of turns of the wheel and he came to life! Our 7 yr. old will be so pleased.

[rickywolsch]

Thought I bought 2 dead furbys at a flee market. But thanks to your instructions they are alive and well !!!

[kittyred]

Thanks so much for this tutorial!!! I bought 2 orig. Furbies around the same time and several years ago finally took the batteries out of both to prevent leakage and damage. Yesterday neither worked until I used your instructable. I also like someone else just cut the zip tie and replaced it with a 14" one and cut off the excess - much easier to do it that way. Also, I did not re-glue his fur back on (He had tons of glue that made it difficult to get the body apart to work on it) in case I have to do this "surgery" again and he looks fine. I only put a stitch or two in the ears and tied the ends in the back for the same reason. Thanks again! I was so sucessful I have another waiting in line for his surgery. :o)

[allenhuffman]

After seeing how this worked, I was able to start two "dead" Furby's using a small screwdriver inserted in above the beak to work on the corkscrew motor. It took a few seconds of pushing it around with the screwdriver and then I was able to get both working again. Seeing this helped me know what the goal was.

So, you can do this without taking them apart.

[jallen2]

Will this work for a comatose Baby Furby?

[lambsb]

Not sure about the baby furby, I think they don't have a moving base. I believe my little girl has one I'll take a look at it and get back.

[akb62]

Your instructions were wonderful! I have a working Furby and a very happy little boy now. Thank you so much for taking the time to provide this!

[deneen2000]

Thank you! I not only enjoyed bringing our Furbys back to life I'm inspired to help others! dah may-lah (big hug)

[sny1]

Hi, I just bought a brand new unopened Bear Furby off of E-Bay and had the same problem. I was lucky to find your website with instructions and now my Furby is alive and very active. Thanks so much for posting this!! xx

[lambsb]

Lookin Good!!
So glad to help!

[lambsb]

Still glad to be of help. Very glad this instructable has helped many during the Christmas season bring smiles to little ones faces once again!

[bbathje]

Thank you so much. You saved the day.

[ahasten]

You are my Christmas MIRACLE!!!! I got vintage NIB 1998 Furbies for all 3 of my kids and when I went to put them in the stocking, NONE of them worked! So here I am, 11:09pm Christmas Eve and I just finished Furby Surgery #1 and IT WORKED!!!! The furby is back to life and gently hanging in a stocking waiting for morning! 2 more to go, but I am so thankful for your instructions!

[jburress]

I have this same furby as you have in the pictures. He was new in the box, but didn't work at all when I put batteries in yesterday. Luckily I found this, and followed your instructions, and he works great! I would have never known how to fix him. Thanks!!! :D

[1998.12Furby]

Wow! He's been quiet for at least 8 years! I worked on him for hours, thinking, "what's to lose?" when I turned that horizontal thingy, Furby said "Cocadoodle-doo!" and I jumped!
Thank you SO much!

[bowersd65]

I just did this to my Old boy... from 1998. I was really sad when I got him back out of storage and he wouldn't turn on. Thank you! :) He is talking up a storm!

[Remag1234]

Kudos and more kudos. I wish I had you for a neighbor. I just received a 1999 New Furby in a sealed box. I dreaded using your method but saw post and tried that and it worked.
This is one of the Best Instructables yet. Thank you.
BTW, the new Furby is the Tiger like yours.

[lambsb]

Lol thanks for the comment. I'm very pleased that this instructable has managed to help so many Furby owners in need, both collectors and children alike. I only wish I could contribute more instructables like this. Maybe one day the right one will pop in my head like this one did...

[alewanda]

Anyone who has an old Furby that wont wake up....THIS WORKS! : )

[cnigelk]

Excellent instructions - 20 yr old daughter's furby is alive - but then it always was if it was just sleeping / in a coma. Daughter is very happy.

[justdebbie]

We just performed surgery on our furby as directed by you... and...
it worked! thank you very much.

[theantiyou]

We have 3 unopened Furby's in our store with this same problem. The Halloween, Christmas, and Valentines Day. All we had to do was replace the batteries and press the bottom/ rocking stand in and out. This with rotate the cam slowly, you will see its eyes close slowly as you feel the stand starting to get stiff like it should be in sleep mode.

Definitely saves the risk of opening it up

[momentofhope]

Hi. I just read your posting after viewing the tutorial and decided to just rock the base as you suggested, worked great! Thanks. I had purchased a dead furby just because it was the color my daughter was wanting and hoped I could Forest Gump my way through finding a way to repair it, and thanks to you my job was sooo easy.

[furbyqueen]

Hey this worked for me too. I got a lovely limited edition Spring Furby on ebay that was comatose when it arrived. But I just pumped the bottom stand with the batteries in like you said and it woke up after a couple of minutes. So pleased!

[sisteralyzia]

I've tried this with 2 furbys I got from eBay, for one I could follow all the steps and got the motor moving but once it started it went on for like 5 minutes and I ended up taking the batteries out just to get it to stop. Any suggestions? Also, the other furby I got doesn't look anything like the one in the pictures for this tutorial. I don't know how to get it apart. Both were comatose when I got them, so how do I fix them?

[Evervaliant]

I bought my 12 year-old son a Furby on eBay. He impatiently waited for a week for it to arrive and it was comatose on arrival. Your instructable provided a fun bonding time for the two of us as we magically brought his Furby back from the dead. He has a book that he got at a thrift store entitled "Training Your Furby" and he has been playing with it non-stop since we brought it back to life.

It only takes a few minutes to complete this procedure and it was well worth the effort! Thank you for posting this!

[sarlee]

maybe im not strong enough, but how did you push the zip tie without any damage? i have been trying to get past that point but its prooving to be impossible. at least for me. is it suppose to be this hard or am i doing something wrong?

[TURKISHLIL]

i just cut the plastic cable tie and put a new one in after i got furby working

[TURKISHLIL]

thank you so much - it worked ! I was sceptical about taking furby apart but glad I did - he's now chattering away after 2 years sleeping

easy to follow instructions and so grateful for the instructions - thought he was a gonner.

[n0saj2600]

AMAZING! I'm just getting into Circuit Bending & Furbys. I ordered a bunch from eBay, some working and some "broken." I just opened one of the broken ones and had it working within a few minutes of reading this tutorial. Thank you so much!!!

[Bijoou]

I have 3 troubled Furbeys including one donated to an Episcopalian Church run Thrift Shop away because he/she/it was very fouled mouthed. I say Sir, do you make house calls?

[kvpla]

You Rock!! The little fella WORKS!! :-))) I may regret it but 6 yr old got this for Christmas, brother had it sitting wrapped in package for years, now she can experience a cool toy from the past!!

[Pankake]

Question, I get movement from Furby but no sound. It seems it will respond to sound, light, and being turned over. Any suggestions?

[lambsb]

Also as an afterthought if the furby is "sick" he will sleep a lot until he is well fed and happy. If he was a previously appreciated furby like you say, he's probably been neglected for a while since his last meal. You should try pressing the reset button on the bottom of the base with a pen.

[inikki]

I know this is about a year old, but I just recently aquired a furby this guy had, and found this. I was taking off it's skin when it decided to wake up before me not doing anything else, but he'd only go back to sleep. I let him sleep for awhile(a couple hours) and then tried to wake him back up again. I tried the tongue and jiggling thing but he still went to bed.

I guess it's possible I need better batteries?

[lambsb]

Fresh batteries are a must. I would think if he woke up there probably is no problem. Furbies are a lot like me, they don't like to be woke up in the morning. Sometimes it takes a few tries, or try holding the tongue down and turn Furby upside down. (If I remember correctly that is the official way to wake a furby as published by Tiger Electronics). Good luck with your furby adoption!

[lambsb]

I am so glad to see all the comments from those whom have had success with this instructable, keeping the furbish community off the endangered species list! I personally have revived 4 to date, not to mention those who have posted here. If the instructable doesn't work for you I'm led to believe something else is wrong with your specimen. I am sorry but I haven't really explored the species in any greater detail to lead you to what might be wrong. Look for loose/corroded wiring etc... and post back.

[thegreenfurby]

I accidentaly broke the zip tie and I can't get my furby back togather, and I can't get him to work either.