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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) We welcome your questions, which we will do our best to answer by email. If a question and answer seem likely to be of interest to others as well, we will publish them both on this page. Questions tend to fall into two categories - questions about our range of K'NEX products, and questions about using this website.
Product-related questions:
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Please note that many shop-related questions can also be answered via our Terms and Conditions. |  |
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Are all K'NEX sets sold in throw-away packaging? Whilst some of the K'NEX sets sold in the shops are sold in throw-away packaging, most of the K'NEX and Kid K'NEX sets we sell via this website are provided in either a:
- Reusable storage box, or a
- Reusable divided tray
With both of these options, you get a sturdy plastic container, that can be used as the permanent home for your K'NEX set. The divided trays are even better than the boxes, as they have dividers that can be used to create compartments in the tray, allowing you to keep each type of K'NEX piece or Kid K'NEX piece all together in one place. Top | |
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Where is K'NEX manufactured? Unlike many construction kits, all the K'NEX rods, connectors and bricks we sell (both in education sets and as parts) are manufactured in the USA, at a sister factory next door to K'NEX headquarters in Pennsylvania. This factory uses raw materials from premier quality US manufacturers, operates under the strictest of guidelines, and is certified to meet ISO 9001 Standards.
A small number of specialized parts, such as solar panels, capacitors, and motors, are made in China. However, these items are manufactured to meet both EN71 European Union Toy Safety Standards and the US standard for toy safety ASTM F963-03. The parts are routinely examined by an independent, third-party laboratory to ensure that they meet safety standards. Top | |
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Which K'NEX sets are best value? It is difficult to define which K'NEX sets and Kid K'NEX sets give "best value", as (for instance) some sets contain special components, whereas others do not.
However, one indicator that you might like to use to compare sets is "Cost/piece", that is the average cost of each piece of K'NEX or Kid K'NEX in the set. This ranges from 5p/piece on some large sets and special offers, right up to more than 20p/piece on certain sets.
Where possible, we show the cost/piece for every K'NEX and Kid K'NEX set we sell in our online shop. Top | |
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Can I replace Lost Instructions If you have lost the instructions for your K'NEX set, there are two possible ways to go about trying to get a replacement copy.
If you have a K'NEX Education set (ie one bought from ourselves or an educational supplier), please with the country in which you are based, the set name and (if possible) the set part number, and we will do our best to find a replacement for you.
If you have a K'NEX retail set (ie one bought in the shops or from an online toy supplier), you will need to contact:
Outside the UK - The manufacturers of K'NEX, whose contact details may be found at www.knex.com.
In the UK - HASBRO, the company that supplies all K’NEX sets in the UK. In the terms and conditions on the Hasbro website, it says
"We stock a significant number of instruction books for current and some discontinued lines, please call us FREE on 00800 22 42 72 76. All items are sent out at a cost of £1.50 to cover postage and packaging."
If you would rather write, their address is:
Hasbro Consumer Affairs Department
PO BOX 57
Newport
Gwent
NP19 4YE
Hope this helps! Top | |
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How do I join rods to connectors? If you are finding that the K’NEX End-on connections are too difficult, you are probably not positioning the rod correctly over the slot before you push the pieces together. Look at the second photo for Handy Hint L1. Try putting the connector on a table-top before you try and join the rod to it.
If you are finding Side-on connections are too difficult, you may be trying to join the connector too close to the end of the rod, where there are no ridges. Try attaching the connector near the centre of the rod, and then sliding it to the right position. If you are still having problems, look at the photo and information for Handy Hint L1. Note that younger children may not have the strength in their fingers to make this type of connection. Top | |
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How do I join purple and blue connectors? Make sure you have put the slot on one connector inside the slot on the other connector, then push hard enough to hear a click. If you are still having problems, look at the photos for Handy Hint L3. Top | |
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Why is my model not strong enough? This is a very common problem. There are lots of ways to make your model stronger. These include:
- Don't use orange connectors in your model. You should replace them with connectors that can be connected sideways as well as lengthways, to give greater strength.
- Use squares in your model, not rectangles. Squares in K’NEX can always be joined across a diagonal for greater strength.
- Check that all connections in your model have been made correctly. If there is a rod anywhere which is not correctly snapped into a connector, this will reduce the strength.
- If you are making a 2-D model, see Handy Hint L2.
- If you are making a 3-D model, see Handy Hint L4.
- If you are still having problems, try using shorter rods. A model using grey rods will bend more than a model using only shorter rods.
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How do I connect K'NEX motors to my model? If you would like some general guidance on connecting a motor to your model, see Hints M1, M2, M3 and M4 on the Handy Hints page.
If your motor is attached and turning, but the wheel on the rod connected to the motor isn’t, there may be one of the following problems.
If the rod isn’t turning:
1. On the Spring or Battery motor, you haven’t pushed the rod right through the hole in the middle. You must do so, or the rod will slip.
2. On the Battery motor, if you are using the hole at the end, you have not pushed the rod in hard enough.
If the rod is turning, but the wheel isn’t:
3. You have probably not used a tan connector to join the rod to the wheel (see Handy Hint L6). Top | |
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How can I purchase online? Making a purchase online could not be easier. Just browse our store, and add any items that you wish to buy into the shopping cart by using the "Add to Cart" button.
After you have finished your selections, click on 'Checkout' and you will be asked for a few details that we need to be able to complete your order. Top
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Can I order offline? You can easily order offline via our Printed Order Form. This is a .PDF file (95Kb) that can be printed out, completed, and faxed or posted to us.
Note however that K'NEX parts and Kid K'NEX parts cannot be ordered via this form. Please order these online, selecting a payment method of Credit/Debit card, PayPal or "Invoice after despatch". Top | |
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Can I just ask for a quotation? Yes - just add products to the cart in the normal way, proceed to checkout, and enter your name and address, and the other details requested on Checkout page 1 of 3 and Checkout page 2 of 3.
Then on Checkout page 3 of 3, select a Payment Method of "Quotation only".
You will immediately be sent an emailed quotation for the products you have requested. Top
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Can I order from more than one of your websites? We operate a number of websites, as shown in the "More websites" box on the left hand side of every page.
Occasionally, customers wish to order items from two or more websites at the same time, and ask us "Can the items we require from multiple websites all be added together into a single shopping cart, with a single shipping charge?".
The answer to this question is "no", as each website has its own warehouse, and independent shipping arrangements. You will therefore need to place separate orders on each website, and each of those orders may incur a shipping charge. Sorry! Top
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How do I search the website? The first option Search in the top navigation bar gives you access to a powerful search facility. This allows you to:
- Search the entire site using one or more Search words
- Search for K'NEX and Kid K'NEX mini sets, parts and guides in the online shop, via any combination of Search words, Price range, Age, Subject and Type of packaging
If you can't find the information or the products you are looking for, you may also wish to consider carrying out the same search in our four other websites, links to which are provided via the icons at the top of this page. Top | |
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Do you deliver overseas? We deliver orders all around the world (except USA/Canada), and aim to ship your order to you at reasonable cost, whatever your location.
On the page "Checkout 1 of 3", you will be asked which country you wish us to deliver to. Please enter this, and select "Next". There are now two possibilities:
1. If you are based in Europe, or beyond Europe and your order weighs less than 2Kg, the shipping cost will be calculated automatically. You will then be asked to enter details such as address and payment method, prior to confirming your order. Orders to Europe will be shipped by airmail. Orders outside Europe may be shipped by surface mail (select "Standard") or by airmail (select "Express").
2. If you are based outside Europe, and your order weighs 2Kg or more, you will be asked to email us details of the products you wish to order. We can then advise you of the shipping costs and options. For instance, there may be a significant cost saving to you if we ship any K'NEX sets you require without storage boxes.
Please note that we only accept Payment Methods "Credit /Debit card" or "Paypal" on overseas orders.
Shoppers in the Euro zone of Europe may prefer to purchase the products on this website in Euros from our Technology 2 enjoy (Euros) website.
If you are based in the USA/Canada, and you are looking for K'NEX products, we recommend that you visit www.knex.com.
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Can I view prices in different currencies? As we are based in the UK, the currency showing in our shopping cart is in GB Pounds, and all credit/debit card payments and invoices are processed in GB pounds. As a not-for-profit organisation, this helps us to keep bank charges down, and our prices as low as possible.
However, many of our overseas customers prefer to see the prices in their local currency before purchasing.
One way to do this is to start up the Reuters Currency Convertor
This opens up in a different window, so you can switch to it at any time whilst you are browsing through our online shop, or when you are viewing our shopping cart or checkout pages.
Note that the currency rate shown should only be used as a guideline. The actual conversion rate you pay will be determined by your credit/card company, at the time you make online payment. Top | |
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Why do you request my phone number and email address? When you place an order with us, we request at Checkout your organisation name (if any), contact name, address, postcode, email address and telephone number.
Your telephone number is optional. However, it can help in situations where we need to resolve a query on your order, or the carrier cannot find your address. This happened recently for an address in Runcorn, which has rather odd street names! Rest assured, we will never telephone you for any other reason, or pass on your telephone number to a third party.
If you order online, your email address is essential, as this is how we will send your order acknowledgement. If you order offline, your email address is also very useful, as it is our preferred way of resolving any order queries, and keeping you up to date with the status of your order.
We also use the email addresses entered with orders to email our quarterly newsletters. You can opt out of this service if you wish. Top
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How do I change quantities ordered? Any item you add to the shopping cart will initially have a quantity of 1.
To revise the quantity for any item, change the value in the "Quantity" box for that item, and then click on the "UPDATE" button at the bottom of the page.
Items can also be removed from the shopping cart if you wish. Simply tick the "remove" box for the item, and then click on the "UPDATE" button at the bottom of the page. Top
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How do I navigate around the site? We have tried to make navigation around the site as simple and as quick as possible. The main navigation features of the site are as follows:
- The navigation bar and icons at the top right will take you to the main information pages for the site, the shopping cart, and a comprehensive Search facility.
- The navigation bars on the left will take you to the different sections of this website.
- The icons at the top centre will take you to our other websites.
- When you are browsing through the different sections of the site, a breadcrumb trail will appear at the top left, showing how you got to the current page, and Prev/Up/Next options, which allow you to view adjacent pages and the page above.
Please email us if you have any suggestions for improving navigation around the site. Top
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Why do I get an error message? There are two main reasons why you might get an error message whilst accessing our website:
1. Despite extensive testing, an error has crept into the website.
2. The system settings on your computer or network prohibit you from accessing certain types of web page.
We are always very concerned if anyone receives an error message when accessing our website. Please immediately if this happens.
Any website errors can be fixed within minutes, and if your system doesn't allow you access to certain types of web page, we can nearly always suggest a way of working around this problem. For instance, if your computer doesn't allow you to access web pages that contain a shopping cart, we can explain how you can download an offline order form. Top
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Can the site be used by the visually impaired? We have done our best to ensure that this website can be accessed by the visually impaired, and is compatible with all Microsoft Windows accessibility features. In particular, we try to use text links rather than just links under graphic images, as the former are required for accessibility features such as "extra large font size".
Please email us if you think we can make our website more accessible in any way. Top
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