Digitrax DT400 throttle not responding


NCRC5315

Active Member
It's been a few years since I've had my Digitrax Chief out of the box, but the last time I used it, it worked just fine. Tonight, when I powered it up, the DT400 throttle, flashes between these two lines: DT400 V 1D, and Pwr 12.1V. The very top line is all lit up, and the very bottom line shows 000000206. Any ideas?

By the way, it also does the same thing with my DT300 throttle, and there are fresh batteries in the Chief.
 
I'm inclined to think: corrosion. Are you plugging it directly into the command station or are you using a UP5/UR92?
 
I'm plugging it into the Chief directly, however, when I plugged the throttle into the PR3, then the PR3 into the Chief, the backlight would flicker/flash. This unit has been stored in a dry drawer. Might try a 9 volt battery tomorrow. But yeah, I'm starting to think it's bad/corroded connections.
 
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...when I powered it up, the DT400 throttle, flashes between these two lines: DT400 V 1D, and Pwr 12.1V. The very top line is all lit up, and the very bottom line shows 000000206. Any ideas?

By the way, it also does the same thing with my DT300 throttle...

Sounds like victims of the capacitor plague. Some DT300 and DT400 throttles got bad capacitors that fail before they should. (It was no fault of Digitrax's, it happened to a lot of electronics manufacturers and there was no way for them to know they got bad capacitors). You might be able to use the throttles with a battery in them, but this is just a temporary fix. As the capacitors continue to deteriorate, they will eventually quit working even with a battery. Digitrax will repair the throttle for a nominal fee. You can even repair them yourself if you're up to it. The capacitors that need to be replaced are surface mount, which makes them a little hard to get off, but they can be replaced with through whole components with the leads soldered to the surface mount pads.
 
Sounds like victims of the capacitor plague. Some DT300 and DT400 throttles got bad capacitors that fail before they should. (It was no fault of Digitrax's, it happened to a lot of electronics manufacturers and there was no way for them to know they got bad capacitors). You might be able to use the throttles with a battery in them, but this is just a temporary fix. As the capacitors continue to deteriorate, they will eventually quit working even with a battery. Digitrax will repair the throttle for a nominal fee. You can even repair them yourself if you're up to it. The capacitors that need to be replaced are surface mount, which makes them a little hard to get off, but they can be replaced with through whole components with the leads soldered to the surface mount pads.

Yep, that is pretty much what Digitrax Tech support said.
 
I got the DCS100, DT300, and the DT400 back from Digitrax today. They replaced the capacitors in both the DT300, and DT400. While they had it, I had them upgrade the DT400, to a DT402R. They also upgraded the CPU in the DCS100 as well.
 



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