Troubleshooting Walthers 130 ft. turntable

[jecorbett]

Last spring I ordered Walthers 130 ft turntable. I got the turntable pit installed several weeks later but just recently got around to powering it up. As directed by the instructions, I kept the center hole covered to prevent dust from accumulating on the electrical contacts. When I first wired it up, it worked fine but after programming about a half dozen stopping points, it went dead. I turned off the power, waited about a minute, then powered up again. Power returned to the turntable but the programmed positions were lost. I began reprogramming and the same thing happened again, and then a third time. The first thing I did was make sure that the the no track positions were properly located. Then I referred to the troubleshooting tips in the instruction brochure which suggested cleaning the contact points and also checking the wipers in the turntable pit to make sure they were all at the same height. I noticed a few that looked a little low so a gently bent them up in accordance with the instructions. Now when I power up the turntable, the power light blinks and the bridge won't turn at all. Electronics are not my strong suit. I would appreciate any tips from anyone familiar with this product. As it is, I have a $300 turntable that is totally useless.

[selector]

I wish I could help. There was a thread about this TT roughly two weeks ago, and indexing and memory were very much an issue. You will get responses, but you may have to cool your jets for a couple of days.

As a suggestion, there are other model railroad forums, and you might ask your question there as well. Otherwise, what most people do is get ahold of Walthers directly and pose their question.

[Anonymous]

One frequent criticisms of Walthers is that they're a bit expensive.

But nobody questions their customer service (and I postulate the two are related).

Having paid the price, take advantage of the benefit. Call Walthers. I bet they'll find a way to help you out.

[davekelly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kchronister

One frequent criticisms of Walthers is that they're a bit expensive.

But nobody questions their customer service (and I postulate the two are related).

Having paid the price, take advantage of the benefit. Call Walthers. I bet they'll find a way to help you out.

Well said.

[dinwitty]

the club layout I was in had no auto indexing, all manual by sight.
just like the prototype.
If you can disable the indexing and have manual powered rotating, do that!

[rolleiman]

I don't have one and I'm afraid I won't be able to offer much without knowing more but this sounds typical of Walthers operating accesories to me. I have the Bascule bridge that is supposed to raise and lower.. Well, the motor that runs it is junk, the contacts that allow it to start and stop don't even measure up to junk.. The result is, it's a static model.

Already suggested but give walthers customer service a chance and then report back to us so we can learn from it..

Good luck,
Jeff

[jecorbett]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried contacting Walthers customer service via e-mail. That was last Friday and I got an automated response. Their website promises a representative will reply within 24 business hours but that has come and gone with no response. I guess I'll try contacting them via phone.