DT400R idle

got a stupid question,,,, I just upgraded to a DT400R throttle,,,,, if I have a train running in a loop and dont touch it for a while it goes into idle mode,,at least it says idle on it,,, I have to plug it into the loconet to get it to work again,,,, is this normal,, I couldnt find anything in the book about where it says idle mode,,,,, It would be nice if I could just push a button or somthing and get it to work again,,,,, ,,,, thanks,,,, ,,,,, ,,,,,, ,,,,, st
 
That happens to all of the 400's on our club layout. Sometimes it will come back if you just turn one of the knobs, but most of the time you have to plug it in.

Dick
Texas Chief
 
thanks for the info dick,,,,,,,,,, that is kinda what i thought,,, i tried turning the throttle knobs and most of the buttons,,,,,,,, I might give digitrax a call today and see if there is a secret to it,,,,, again, thanks for the info,,,,,,, ,,,,,,, ,,,,, st
 

NYNH&H

Member
Mine goes into r-ps (power save), and I hit pwr to wake it up. Maybe disable power save? If you do this, you have to make sure you take the battery out if you are not using it for a while, as it will drain down. You can use a F-F adapter to put a longer cable on, so if you are going to let a train loop, just plug it in and save battery power.
 
good ideal on plugging it in to save battery power NYNH&H,,, most of the time mine also goes into r-ps mode,,, last night i took the battery out and when I put it in this morning it said idle,,,,,I guess what I dont understand is I cant find the word IDLE anywhere in the book,,,,,,, guess that is what I get for actually trying to read the instructions,, lol,,,, anyway, thanks for the info,,,,, ,,,,, think I will still contact digitrax monday to see if there is a secret to it,,,,,, ,,,,,, ,,,,, ,,,, ,,, ,,, st
 

NYNH&H

Member
When you put it in, it is in IDLE becuase it has not been registered with Loconet yet, and does not know what it is doing. You need to plug into loconet, grab a loco, then you can use it. From there, you can unplug and go into radio, if you set the throttle down, it will go into r-ps. You get out of r-ps by holding down pwr. The LED flashlight on the top will go on for a second, and the display will be for running trains again, and you can keep running the train you already have acquired. I made a joke the other day to an NCE DCC user who is also a member of my (DC powered) modular club. I had brought my DCC gear to run on the outer line, which has a DC/ DCC switch for member provided DCC. I said, "The biggest advantage Digitrax has over NCE is that it has a built in flashlight on the throttle." Everyone had a good laugh over that one.
 
thanks NYNH&H,,,,, I pretty well have that all figured out,,,,but just a little bit ago I was using it and about three min. after not using it it said idle and I had to plug it back in,, im thinking it is starting to sound like a loose battery connection,,,,,,,,, other than that i love it,,,, the flashlight is pretty handy for putting the wheels back on when i forget to throw a switch,, now if it just had a magnifying glass,,,, ,,,,hopefully one of these day I wont need it as much,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,, ,,,,, st
 
Ok,,, for anyone wanting to know I called digitrax,,, they said the problem was most likely a weak battery,,,,,, not sure why i never thought to check it but guess I can blame that on my age,,,, anyway, I'm going to stick a new one in and see how it goes from there,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,, st
 

davidstrains

Active Member
sidetracked said:
Ok,,, for anyone wanting to know I called digitrax,,, they said the problem was most likely a weak battery,,,,,, not sure why i never thought to check it but guess I can blame that on my age,,,, anyway, I'm going to stick a new one in and see how it goes from there,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,, st

If there is a downside to the DT400R it is a battery hog. You do need to take the battery out when you power down overnight. I left mine in "power save" for a week and came back to a reading of 7.2 volts enough to not work effectively unplugged.:curse:
 
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