Hi I'm recently bought a Digitrax Super Chief wireless system for my layout and it was recently installed by a good friend of mine. The throttle is the dual knob wireless one and it stopped working for some reason with the battery installed. At first I thought the battery needed replacing buthe still doesn't work with a new battery either. No power lights or anything comes on. However if I keep it plugged in it will work and operate the trains. What gives? I literally have to stand in front of the throttle jack just to operate the trains. My friend is the one who informed me and it was working fine last week.
Wondering if it's been dropped and Im not being told. Frustrated!!!
Regg
Sometimes the little rubbery buttons will stick and give you odd problems until you find the one that needs to get wiggled around to free it up.
Your problem sounds different, though.
Are you using rechargeable batteries? Double check with a known good battery. [edit] I see you tried that
It is easy to get the 9V battery in backwards, too. Sounds too simple but check to be sure. I use a red Sharpie or a red sticker to mark my PLUS side of the battery.
The smaller of the two terminals on the 9V battery is the plus + be sure it is toward the bottom-right terminal.
Even if the battery voltage is low, when you unplug the DT400 type throttles from the UP-5 or UR 92 it will briefly show the battery voltage.
Batteries will not last very long, especially if you turn the throttle knobs often as each command uses a bit of juice.
Rechargeables are the way to go. I have pretty good luck with the Powerex 9.6V battery:
http://www.amazon.com/Powerex-MHR9V-230mAh-Rechargeable-Battery/dp/B0002LAKOS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451250327&sr=8-2&keywords=powerex+9v+battery
Good Luck, Ed
I use the PowerEx batteries, too.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Check that the radio receiver is working. There should be a light lit on it. Sometimes the power supply to that fails.
Phoebe Vet Check that the radio receiver is working. There should be a light lit on it. Sometimes the power supply to that fails.
I second that. The green led on you UR91 receiver should be lit and in wireless mode, this green led should blink everytime you send a command by moving the speed control or pressing a function key.
My UR91 went out completely after 13 years of service and had digitrax fix it for a flat fee of $25. I agree that the OP should check the power supply to the receiver first to make sure it is OK.
Joel
Modeling the C&O New River Subdivision circa 1949 for the fun of it!
Its not the batteries. I tried that with two different batteries in all ways possible so sure its not that. Will check the receiver but will that have the throttle not even on at all but only when connected to the jack???
Remove the battery cover and look to see if the wires to the battery contacts are not broken. You can open the back of the case and check where the wires connect to the PC board there. But if it is under warranty you could send it to Digitrax.
Even with the system powered down and the UR 91/92 are off, the throttle will still show a display and the white LED will blink (in duplex mode) to show that it is looking for a Loconet signal.
Somewhere inside the throttle, the battery power is not getting to the PC board either through a broken wire, bad solder joint as retsignalmtr wrote.
When the throttle is plugged directly into Loconet it works fine.
http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB32/dt402-battery-installation/
http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB358/i-stored-the-battery-in-my-throttle-and-it-got-ver/
If it is a fairly new throttle digitrax may repair it under warranty. I have never had to open any of my DT 400s. I sent two of them back for Digitrax to do the Duplex upgrade.
[edit] It just occurred to me that maybe, your friend made some changes to the throttle options before he sent the throttle to you?
http://www.digitrax.com/tsd/KB451/dt402-dt400-throttle-option-2-default-decoder-stat/
You should look at the list in the Digitrax manual and be sure the default options are selected. I made a few changes to mine, shuch as disabling sleep mode and reducing the backlight display to conserve battery power.
If I recall there are some that Digitrax says NOT to change. I know there is a reset option for the command station but I can not say for sure about the throttles without looking it up. Just another possibility to look at.
[edit II] Yes, there is a reset for throttle options found on page 49 here:
http://www.digitrax.com/static/apps/products/throttles/dt402d/documents/DT402.pdf
[edit III] If you're still following along, read this post about how to open the throttle and check those wires. (similar problem)
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/15560
just maybe?
Regards, Ed
Plugged in Digitrax throttles do not need a battery. That's why it works plugged in. When you put a battery in, it should come up and show the battery voltage on the screen. It it's not doing at least that much, then it's getting no power from the battery. Most likely cause as mentioned is one of the wires broke off one of the battery contacts.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.