I'm confused, what did they do wrong? Not to sound critical, but they disassembled and tested the equipment you sent them. If it wasn't under warranty, $25 is pretty mild to charge for their time. It's not their fault it was a power supply issue on your layout. Or did they do something else that I missed?
Why, because they couldn't find the problem on your home layout? Your throttle worked fine on their system. I've been a Digitrax user and customer since 1996. I can say honestly that any trouble I've ever had was caused by my own misuse or mistake. BTW, they have only charged me one time to repair a PR1. Martin Myers
Because they were unable to diagnose a common problem, instead telling me to send it in. I guess I have to use them to fix actual broken stuff, but I can't rely on them to figure out what the problem is.
They couldn't diagnose it as a common problem because they don't know how your layout is set up. Since they tested the part and found it to be in working order the cause of the problem MUST be on your end. They did their job whether you're satisfied with it or not. I was having a problem with my Zephyr mysteriously overloading for seemingly no reason. I thought it must be a problem with the Zephyr. It was tested and found to be in perfect working order. The problem turned out to be a bad connection on my layout that would intermittently short out for just an instant. I couldn't blame Digitrax for that nor could I blame them for not spotting the problem for what it was. Their job was to see if it was caused by their product. Having done this they told me the cause had to be on my end.
Without knowing the details of the interaction, probably the best thing we can say is: it's overreaction to say Digitrax tech support is useless, and it's overreaction to say they can't help with a layout problem. They can certainly ask questions and troubleshoot layout issues. What I suspect happened was a bit of hastiness by one or both parties with regards to "send it in". I suspect troubleshooting 101, Step 1a from Digitrax is "plug it straight in to the command station". But if the customer is frustrated/doesn't have time, some techs (Digitrax or othewise) will just have them ship it....to avoid the verbal lambasting. (And I'm really not suggesting that happened in this case....not at all. But sometimes the tech's just get comfortable with that being the easy way versus a long phone conversation.) I see this--on both sides--in my work as an IT professional. For example, more than once I've had vendors that--after about two sentences from me describing a problem--said "we'll cross ship you a new one". Really? What if that isn't the problem? I could write a book about the subject, so I won't delve deeper but I will say this....when dealing with tech support (of any kind) try to keep a cool head, and try to follow the steps the support guy asks. Most of the time there is method to the madness. I know it's hard to keep cool when you're already frustrated enough that you have to call tech support. Especially when they are asking the "early script" questions that make you feel like an idiot. But, in my expience that is the best approach. Remember that the goal is to do whatever possible over the phone to get the problem resolved. Otherwise you have to pack, ship, wait, etc. (and in this case that still didn't work) While the support team's goal is to help, having to ship the item doesn't impact them one bit. So we have to be willing to do a little bit of (level-headed) troubleshooting to avoid being inconvenienced further. The other advantage to this is, you have the high ground! If you've gone through all the steps, (and haven't been a jerk! lol) and they are satisified that your installation is by the book, and they are still unable to help...it's easier to negotiate with them on how the problem is solved and how much it will cost. :shade:
Your UP5's and UR91's have to be powered from an auxillary power source. These devices with the throttle plugged in will overload your command station and make your throttles malfunction. Thas what happened to mine, Also Digitrax puts this in their set-up instructions,But they do not tell why the PS12 should be connected or what will happen if it is not.
And as another note, if not powering a UP3/5 is bad, it is even worse if you have a UR90,91 or UR92 and don't supply the auxiliary power. A multitude of very strange things will happen including intermittent control of the locomotives and even a full on LocoNet failure. Throttles will go haywire too. This also includes bringing down the controller or the booster and requires the removal or powering of the UR device, and then rebooting the entire layout, This was demonstrated at NTS over the weekend by the NTrak layout. Digitrax did send some folks over to help, and got things squared away. They helped find and fix some wiring errors and did a great job of mentoring on the fly. So if they are able, I think they do bend over backwards to help as much as they can.
I asked our local expert here which system was the best. (He is a Digitrax dealer.) He said, "The more you know about your system, the more it will do for you." Seems a wise saying.
Don't blame the manufacturer if you don't follow the instructions I have been using Digitrax products for years and have sent back 3 items An AR1 that was defective at purchase. After a couple emails (no phone calls) and trying what they suggested (I swear I did it LOL) they asked me to send it in. Within a week I had a new unit and a note saying that the other one could not be repaired. The controller 7 days after I mailed it off it came back fixed and was charged a small fee compared to purchasing a new one. A throttle and again a week later it came back fixed and was charged a small fee compared to purchasing a new one. With the controller and the throttle I have no idea what they fixed. Just a note stating that they replaced unnamed board and tested. That seems to be the extent of their documentation that they send out. I have dealt with companies that the only way they want to communicate is either by fax or Email. That includes companies that were placing orders with my company. A phone call would mean that they would have to interact with someone else and that it would be an inconvenience. The problem with that type (fax or Email) of communication is that The receiving party can choose to ignore it if they want, and many seem to. After they answer the phone they have to communicate with you. It can take longer to get all the information passed. Multiple exchanges of info Does not allow confirmation the a question is either understood or answered completely Does not permit instant followup questions. As having a company that made products for the MR world has well as others, sometimes items passed through that were not 100%. Yes that was our fault. On the other hand we would have we would get calls from customers that where having problems with the product they purchased. Since we can not see how they wired the product into there layout, and the customer swears that they wired it correctly (and we have to that their word for it) we would have the customer send the unit back in. Sometimes during the trouble shooting of the returned item we would find that an electronic part had failed, but more often then not, we found nothing wrong. After sending an item back that we could find anything wrong, we would sometimes hear back from the customer. This followup would for the most part be positive with the customer telling us that everything was working as it should. Nothing wrong with the unit but now everything is working fine. Could it be that the customer did something different the second time the unit was installed? If all else fails, READ the directions. Don't blame the manufacturer if you don't follow the instructions. Gary
I had a very similar experience with a UP-5 yesterday. I was at the club. I had already disconnected the battery in my DT-402 throttle and was getting ready to leave when I remembered that we hadn't turned off the track power. I plugged into the nearest UP-5 and got that gobbledy-guck nonsense where the screen blinks and almost all the littled LCD screen things flash at once. Aha! I just found another UP-5 that needs power. Once I put the battery back in this problem went away. Good luck to you on all your future DCC projects!
And then, there are the rare occasions where you've ended up trouble shooting with a tech support guy on the phone, then getting passed to the designer, all of whom swear what you see can't be happening. You can tell their frustration when they finally agree to swap the unit -- and you get a very unexpected call from the designer 2 weeks later, sheepishly telling you the ROM chip had the incorrect program for the unit! I already had a working unit with the swap (which I told them), but that call letting me know what the problem really was went a long way to assure me they knew what they were talking about, too. Both of us were surprised it could actually work at all! (this wasn't Digitrax - but shows how the best tech support can be stumped by something completely out of left field)
i started using digitrax when their bigboy system hit the streets. quite a lot more than a decade ago. didn't have to use the support too many times. but when i did, they were really helpful. replying to emails within hours (despite the fact i live in europe). i will stick with digitrax in the future. oh, btw, after a really bad experience (actually no support at all) with tcs i ripped out all tcs decoders and threw them in the garbage bin. replaced by digitrax now. so far close to 400 digitrax decoders are installed in my locos.
I realize that may have over-reacted, Digitrax called me back yesterday and was very nice despite the angry message I left for them on Saturday. Now all I have to do is figure out how to program their stationary decoders. Oy. :tb-hissyfit:
