Hello,
I am relatively new to digital and the family was having a race. 3 cars going after my car deslotted and got put back on the track, nothing. No power. Tried to reset the ID, nothing. Tried the controller with another car and it worked. Tried the car with another controller, nothing. I have NO clue what to do or test next. Took the body off and there appear to be no loose or broken wires. It is a SSD Porsche Boxster that comes with the old lane challenge set.
Someone have any ideas? Is the chip fried somehow?
Thanks!
Oddly enough I had the exact problem. The difference is that mine was with two new Carrera D132 cars last night. I could reprogram after a few seconds, but every time either car deslots it blacks out and has to be reprogrammed again. Waiting for answers from manufacturer. My guess is a bad chip, but really surprising to get two cars in one batch with that problem. I have 30+ other cars and they all run perfectly. I'll keep you posted on mine and please do the same for me.
It was the chip on my cars, being replaced under warranty
Last edited by carlosinseattle; 09-25-2012 at 09:58 PM.
Reason: Update
Could be a bad chip. It happens.
For the SSD car, though, one of the most common problems is that the thin metal "leg" of the capacitor used to hook into the guide breaks. Sometimes the break is inside the ferrite core, and so you can't see it. But if you pull gently, you'll find that one side has mode give than the other. If you unscrew the guide, take off the braid plate, and remove the bent metal "feet" in the guide channels, I bet one will come completely free and fall away. It's an easy repair, but does require some spare wire and a soldering iron.
If the car was already working, it's unlikely the chip just went bad unless you stuffed an extra magnet into it or something. But their desire to put the capacitor right into the guide rather than with some flexible wire had resulted in more than one "dead" car.
Thanks guys, I will get the car apart in the morning and take the guide apart to see if I see anything that looks broken. The car did get rear ended pretty hard just before this happened. I also need to get some soldering wire thin enough for jobs like this, all i have is the massive lead free stuff for plumbing!!
I will post what I find tomorrow!
Thanks!
you might try analog or using a 9v battery to the braid. If the car runs, the car is not the problem and probably the digital part of the chip is bad. I had an bad chip and it still ran on analog.
Swap the chip with another from a working car. i fried one in the first couple of weeks. Was a short in the car and the folks at Jadlam just swapped the car and replaced the chip
Well all, it is as Mr. F. said. A broken wire in in the guide. It was broken all the way up in the core and was not visible. A tiny movement of the wires and it pulled right out.
Now the question is... how on earth do you fix it if it is broken up inside the "core"? I know I need to get some wire but what next??
Thanks!
Here is a link to the pic of the broken wire: http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48b625fe.jpg
In cases like that I usually end up taking the whole thing apart and reassemble once I get a longer "leg" on the capacitor. I also take the opportunity to put flexible silicone lead wire between that assembly and the guide. It broke because of the repeated stress of turning the guide side to side is taken up by that single bit of capacitor "wire" and it breaks. If it fix it like it already is, it will happen again. I really like JP Slot lead wire, as it's not too thick, but very flexible and easy to work with. An inch or two on each side is usually enough. The hardest part is usually resoldering to the little "feet" that are in the guide blade (which the braid plate covers up). If you need, I can find a car that I've done this to and take a photo of it.
I got the guide assembly out today and I can now see how the whole thing fits together. I can see the capacitor I need to get and will purchase but I am wondering how you add the extra "good" wire? Are you cutting the capacitor legs short and then using the more flexible wire? And are you just soldering the legs to the end of the new wire? Oh, and what is everyone using to cover up all the solder joints? I notice a theme of clear "gunk" over most people's joints.
Thanks!!
These days I desolder the "foot" of the ferrite man (the combined capacitor, ferrite bead, little tin feet, and wire) from each side of the cap. Then I solder the new wire, usually an inch or two of flexible silicone lead wire, directly to the foot and the cap legs. If I can't solder wick the foot hole empty enough to stuff the lead wire into, or spread it open, I'll just solder right to the back of the "ankle" part of the little tin foot. The other end usually solders right to the leg of the capacitor. Depending on how much is left floating around, I'll snip it shorter, or cover it with heat shrink tube.
The clear gunk you see is usually hot melt glue, but is sometimes shoe-goo or other stuff. I usually use hot glue to hold a chip in, unless it's in a tight space that makes it hard to get the hot glue into, or it's in a stable location that I can allow the chip to sit in and glue dry.
Those are good instructions. I stared at the "foot" for a while as I was not quite sure about foot hole as there was so much solder on each foot you could barely tell there was a hole there!
Thanks for the help. Not sure when I will be able to get to buy the stuff I need but I will update once it is all done! or sooner if I run into any issues!
Here are a few pics of one of the Boxsters I had fixed.I took a few angles, and tried to get up close. You should be able to see red lead wire coming from the "feet" in the guide, then under the chip itself. I've put the ferrite man behind the chip. This was done to ensure that the wires would help keep the guide centered. If you just leave a bunch of wire coiled up in the front, the guide could do anything, and eventually probably will.
SSD Car died?
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