My controller is dark - Everything worked for the last 6 months, lined up perfectly with the roundhouse - now nothing - if I play using my voltmeter probes touching the brushes, I was able to get an E6 message on the controller - that tells me my cable from the controller to the turntable is not bad. The track power is fine. I am using DC for now, but if I can’t figure this out, why upgrade? Any ideas?
Well, that sure sounds a lot like my problem back in 2018. Once I got the turntable working again, it was as if the control box had been in sleep mode. Give it another try and check that all connections are secure.
Rich
Baron987, Clean the prongs under the bridge and rings on the bottom of the bridge with alcohol and a Q-Tip. If that doesn’t work, make sure the prongs did not get bent.
The first few months I had mine I had to clean those items constantly which makes me wonder if some sort of film from the manufacturing process was involved. After cleaning it about four times in a short period of time it seems to be fine without the regular wipe.
This brings up something else. If the box was to totally fail, could you remake the controls with a couple of momentary switches?
While most of the electronics are in the bridge, there has to be something int he control box besides the buttons and the LED display, as there are not enough wires coming out to directly address the number of controls present in the box - it’s encoded somehow. I suspect whatever chip is int he control box is a bit more than just a logic chip, more like a small micro to endocde using some sort of serial protocol, meaning without that workign component, you would have a very hard time duplicating the box because the it’s not likely the protocol used is freely available.
It may be possible to use the enhanced interface they sell to connect your own sort of a DIY control box though. But a replacement control box might be the cheaper solution.
–Randy
I have the pre-DCC version RTR and it is just two buttons for rotation, dont use the programing feature.
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Just got a call - in only 1 Day! Thanked them very much - turns out the telephone type wire was not inserted (jammed) into the underside of the turntable enough - every thing fine now!
See update above
Exactly! My “Telephone” wire was not inserted all the way into the underside of the turntable - now, all functions work properly. Even the 6 stops I had set up before this problem! Once I reset the home position, all the other stops came back!
I want to thank ALL of you guys for your suggestions, I really appreciate the help, except it was MY screw-up - I did not insert the “telephone” wire strong enough - all is well!
Have another question - my bridge rails are lower than the pit edge where the service tracks attach - I had to Dremel out a slot for my rails to be lowered so they meet the height of the bridge rails. I checked the bridge rails with a caliper and they are code 83 as are my service rails. I did have to sand down the bottom of the ties to lower the track - Has anyone else had this problem or is there an adjustment - although it might be too late now, I have already made slots and attached the track - just for future reference. -thanks- Hank
Code 83 should be code 83. You just have the rails on the pit wall right ?
Absolutely - I removed the ties from the lead tracks to see if it would make a difference - it did not. I then checked the bridge rails against the pit wall and discovered that they were lower than the ring where the lead tracks would rest. It’s too late now, because I have already ground out small slots to lower the lead tracks to match the bridge rails - I was just wondering if anyone else had this issue and how they solved it. So what I did was cut slots in the pit rim, slightly filed down the tops of the lead tracks, sanded the bottoms of ties between the pit and the roundhouse and now I plan to fill in any gaps in the pit with gray putty. All is good & trains move smoothly across gap - I just wish it was a little easier! Hank