I may be in the market for a new turntable. My built up non-DCC Walthers 90’ HO scale turntable that will no longer index. Once started in either direction the bridge does not stop until I push a button to stop it. The TT was purchased new two to three years ago and was installed on my layout about a year ago. Although installed and powered up, the TT saw very limited use—I estimate 2-3 hours.
In August 2013, after talking to two repair folks at Walthers, I sent it for repair. Although no promise of free repair under warrant was made, neither was there any mention of the possibility of a repair charge. I have followed up two or three times over the intervening four+ months, being told each time that they are “really backed up” in the repair
I have the Walthers 90’ DCC turntable, and it works very well, including the indexing.
Dante
Skagit, if I were you listening to me, I’d listen up real good. $100 is a cheap upgrade for a TT you know works otherwise. Not only that, it ought to start the clock ticking on a new warranty. Delivered and on sale, you’ll still pay three times that for a new one.
Secondly, I found crud in my final drive housing on the very same TT after it had been used rarely, maybe 20 times, after the first two years of service on my layout. I don’t cover my TT, but I also never use it without removing the bridge, covering the well with tape, and then vacuuming carefully. Yet, it began to act up. I removed the cover and was astounded at all the dog hairs, bits of ground foam, and other stuff that a very tiny squirrel had stuffed into its new home over the past two winters. Either that or a beetle. Anyway, to be serious, the thing really needed to be cleaned out. I’ll probably tackle it again before I use it the first time on my new layout because it has been three years. The job takes maybe five minutes, double it to ten for befuddlement and apologizing to Honey for cursing out loud about it. It works fine when it’s clean, and that’s all the instructions say to do…
-Crandell
Just a side note. I have a Diamond Scale 130’ turntable that I saved from my old layout and have installed in my new N scale build. To stop it from collecting dust, junk etc. I saved a clear cover from a Subway party sandwich tray from a family gathering and I keep that covering the turntable when not in use. This also protects accidential hits to the mast in the middle and has taught me to be careful around the turntable with elbows etc. Doug
I second the motion to spend the bucks for the upgrade! I have had no trouble indexing either of my 90’ DCC TTs. The newest one is a pain to learn however but once programmed it is flawless.
Thanks for the comments. Maybe the upgrade route is the way to go.
That brings up another question: Walthers would charge me about 80 USD to install the upgrade. Would that be $80 well spent or should I save the money and do it myself?
I can’t answer that knowledgeably without knowing what portion of the bill would be for labour. What’s your time worth, and what are your skills like? Would they agree to warrant the upgrade at all? If so, would they still agree to warrant repairs performed by you?
If you have to send it to them, must you return the entire unit, or just the drive housing? Maybe they wouldn’t mind just shipping you the gizmo and letting you install it. It would be considerably cheaper for you, saving maybe labour plus shipping it all one way in a big carton…insured.
I know, so many questions…
Personally, I would feel in a stronger position to claim on one of their repairs if it goes south for some reason. They have qualified techs with the tools and experience. If you’d like to save a few dollars, the upgrade, itself, is looking even better now over forking out for three times the cost for a new one. IMO.
-Crandell
Sounds like they are trying to make it your fault, that way you are the one who caused the problem. Now, they can charge you to help keep costs down.
I had the 90’ RTR DCC Walthers turntable and it did not even index right for a week,. Walthers sent me about a dozen proceedures to try to get the turnatable to index. Finally gave up after a month and sent it in to get repaired. I did not notivy Walthers prior to sendint it in and it got lost somewhere.
Needless to say, I no longer have a Walthers RTR motorized turntable.
Seems a lot like the Bachmann products, if it works right out of the box great, but if it does not it becames a problem soon after you receive it. Quality control issue.
I just received a couple of the new CNR FP9’s from Rapido, they test each engine before it leaves their facility.
Crandall,
$80 is the labor cost i think my modeling skills are pretty good including working with electronics and soldering but I am strictly an amature. My time isn’t worth much but not knowing the complexity of the job makes me lean towards ponying up the bucks for a pro to do the job. I have not yet asked the warranty questions but you can bet I will.
A question for those with a Walthers DCC turntable: are there for direction issues?
Let me complicate your decision-making a little more.
I have a Walthers 130’ non-DCC indexed turntable. It works fine. But, I really don’t like the indexing feature because it stops at every stall. So, I disabled the indexing feature, and I do it manually, holding down the button until it reaches the desired stall. I got very proficient at aligning the track on the first try.
So, if I were you, I wouldn’t pay Walthers anything, and I would run the turntable manually.
Rich
That’s always an option as well, Rich.
Roger, I don’t understand your last question. They work, and will stop at indexed spots, in either direction.
-Crandell
Crandell,
I seem to recall a number of postings a while back on two or three different forums from folks who were having trouble with the bridge direction of rotation. I tried looking for some of them but cannot seem to find them now. But if I recall correctly it was something like if you were trying to move one end of the bridge three stall tracks to the right the bridge might get there by going left or the long way around the pit.
Roger
Roger, that I have not heard or read. I do know the bridge on the older indexed model that I have will go past its intended index point about four degrees, stop, and return to the correct stopping point. It does this no matter which way it turns. It is consistent and quite reliable behaviour in at least my case.
-Crandell
My Walthers 90’ DCC TT simply takes the shortest travel to the selected track without any intermediate stops. It stops exactly at the track without “seeking” back and forth.
Dante
It may do that in the DCC version, but in the non-DCC version it stops at every programmed index stop.
Rich
I finally found one of the posts I recalled concering mis direction:
"Personally, I’m NOT a fan of the latest version of the Walthers Built-up turntable.
The programming is for the birds, you have no idea which way the table will turn. They state that the control cab is, in effect, the ‘A’ end and if you want to table to rotate to a track, you address that track in relation to the ‘A’ end. That doesn’t always work.
The first version of the table control was far superior. You selected which direction the table turned and released the “Go” button just before the table reached the track you wanted. Now, with this pre-programmable stops, it’s hit or miss if the table will even go to the track you selected.
One more “female dog”, it’s DCC ready. Big deal. Who runs switches and turntable and accessories from a throttle. Real engineers do not do that so why should modellers? Besides, if it’s “DCC Ready” then why does the sound cut out half way around the pit? Becuase it’s set up for DC and polarity reversal, that’s why. You do not need polarity reversal with DCC.
Rant over."
Is anyone else having such problems. What, if anything, can be done to correct thhis?
Roger
As a long time owner of the Walthers 130’ non-DCC turntable on my DCC layout, I never understood what was supposed to be the big deal about going DCC with the latest version of the turntable.
The non-DCC version with its control box works just fine either in the indexed mode or manually by disabling the indexing function as I now have done.
Can someone tell me what the advantage is of a DCC turntable?
Rich
Hmmm. As I said earlier, the table takes the shortest route to the selected track. Why do you want to bother to tell it which way to go? And it stops precisely at the selected track-no “hit or miss” and no “seeking.” Finally, the sound on my one sound-equipped loco does not cut-out during a complete traverse.
That being said, I, too, prefer to use the control box and not the loco throttle (the Zephyr Extra CS). But I have a small doughnut layout with the TT control very close to the TT and the DCC co
I have the older version of the 130’ programmable tt and love it. I don’t understand some of the comments about it stopping at every programmed position. It does stop at the next position in the direction you select, but if you want to go past that to another position, you just hold the button down until you reach the stop you want (actually just before the stop) and it will stop and align with that track. The advantage of this control system over what I understand the DCC version is, is that you select which direction you want the bridge to go (presumabley the closest end to the destination track). Just my observations, but from what I am reading here I would prefer the non-DCC version.
-Bob
The only real difference is that it appears the DCC one allows you to spin the table via your DCC throttle as well as the control box. They may have made some tweaks tot he programming as well, but the real big difference is the control via DCC.
I wouldn;t see any reason to upgrade. Buy one new today and you get the DCC one - but you don’t have to hook it to DCC for power, you can wire it like the old one and just use the control box.
–Randy