Amber light of death

[ejaf]

Figured out just what that piece is supposed to make contact with...made sure the two pieces were touching, but it didn't help.

Oh well...

[SLVRBULLET]

Hi All, I recently discovered the world of Zip Zaps. I picked up quite a few SE's from liquidation world. My kids and I luv'em and have started swapping motors and gears. We even got one of the kits with the purple motor.

I'm running the Mazda Rx-7 with the orange motor and green gear set.

Unfortunately, we've had about 3 cars go into the "yellow" mode. I've swapped controllers and batteries etc. but it's definately the cars.

Has anyone had any luck trying to reset the micro in the car? Seems to me that it's some kinda program problem rather than a hardware prob.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks

[SLVRBULLET]

Originally Posted by SLVRBULLET

Hi All, I recently discovered the world of Zip Zaps. I picked up quite a few SE's from liquidation world. My kids and I luv'em and have started swapping motors and gears. We even got one of the kits with the purple motor.

I'm running the Mazda Rx-7 with the orange motor and green gear set.

Unfortunately, we've had about 3 cars go into the "yellow" mode. I've swapped controllers and batteries etc. but it's definately the cars.

Has anyone had any luck trying to reset the micro in the car? Seems to me that it's some kinda program problem rather than a hardware prob.

Any help would be appreciated!!

Thanks

ok update, I just disassembled 2 cars and stretched out the wiring. Success, the cars program ?!?

[Azimov]

I don't think it's a code problem in the chip. The amber light comes on when the charger fails to connect and charge properly. There could be many reasons for this. The car needs to be switched on. The contacts on the bottom of the car need to clip down on the charger contacts just right and the contacts need to be clean. The batteries in the TX need to be new and the battery in the car needs to be good, connected well, and able to charge. Outside of something broken in the charging circuit or in the car itself, these are the things you need to check. Try wiggling the car around and pressing down lightly as you try to charge it and see if the light goes red to indicate a charge. Clean the cars bottom charging contacts and check the internal battery for leakage. If you have a battery that you know is good, pop it in the faulty car and see if it will charge. Try charging on a different TX. That's one to try first I would think. And above all, make sure the batteries in the TX are strong.
The answer is one of those variables IMHO.

[SLVRBULLET]

I opened up the 3 failed cars. They are all now working great

Each car had a different wiring issue, but they were all wiring issues. You just have to have a lot of patience finding the issues! All three would work with the pcb and wiring stretched out but failed when I clamped them back together. I'm not 100% but possibly the wires would short or lose contact.

Thanks for the great advice, we're back to racing.