on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

I was working on a Helicopter setup... everything was fine, turned radio off and it will not turn on again. I checked battery voltage, almost full charge. The charger will not light the light on the radio when plugged in. I did not hear or smell anything burn and it was quiet when it happened.

Is there a fuse the user can change in the back of the radio? I do most radio repairs myself, have done it for years. Just don't want to crack the radio if someone knows there is no fuse to be replaced.

Am I SOL and have to send it in?

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Answer is NO. There is not a replaceable fuse in the Spektrum DX18 radio.

pilotpete2

One thing you could try would be to disconnect the battery for around 30 seconds, reconnect and see if it powers up.
Pete

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

I did that last night... nope it did not work... took radio apart, wiggled all the connectors... radio is now working again. But, can I trust it. I will have to take it easy and go slow.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

Absent finding the problem and fixing it, I personally would not use the radio again until it was checked out. It's possible that there is/was some corrosion on/in a connector, if you can find that as a problem and clean the connectors, that would be a different story.

AndyKunz

There is a fix for this - please contact Product Service and they can work you through it.

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

I just got off the phone with the guys at Horizon... they had no idea of what this "fix" is. Maybe you could enlighten them, and then I can get the problem resolved. I just don't like the idea of flying this radio at the moment.

AndyKunz

Who were you talking to?

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Did not ask, he went around the shop and asked others when I told him what you said. Who should I ask for?

AndyKunz

I'll talk to them. PM me your name or customer number or however you identified yourself to them.

Andy

AndyKunz

You were talking to Support. I said Product Service.

Anyway, I talked to the guys in Service for you and they said it needs to come back. Just follow the process.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/content/...service-center

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

If I might inquire... Is this all on my dime? I get a bit anxious not having a clue about that.

AndyKunz

I can't give an official answer, since I don't work over there. There are an awful lot of guys who report that all they have to pay is shipping TO Horizon. Do a little searching around.

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

bump

AndyKunz

Did you use this link? They need you to do that to get the RMA in the system.

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Now, I have others messaging me to find out what the cause and fix was... your response is to just send it in. I don't like being kept in the dark either.
What is the cause of this problem? I don't know if I can ever trust this radio again... maybe it is time for Futaba.

AndyKunz

If I knew the cause, I could suggest a remedy. The guys who would work on it said it needs to come back - my guess is because they need to talk with you while they have it in their hands to see if they can duplicate it. It's impossible to fix something if you can't find the root cause, and a web forum isn't going to do that.

Andy

on_your_six

My Feedback: (11)

Sorry, I disagree completely... an internet forum is exactly the place to talk about these intermittent issues. I cannot duplicate it flying my micro copters. I will be damned to trust it flying a large 800 sized helicopter. What is tech support going to say?... well we can't reproduce it here... and send it back? That is not a solution. The more people are aware, we might run into a lot of people experiencing the problem... Then, you might believe me.

If I say it happened, it happened. I care about a fix, and letting others know there is a problem and not sweeping it under the rug.

nellsey

If there is a fix for this then it must have happened on a few occaisions.
Can this be avoided prior to it happenening rather than waiting for it to happen?

AndyKunz

It had something to do with replacing the switch. It's only happened to 2 or 3 radios so far - it looks like something they just need to fix as it occurs. Nothing you can do pre-emptively.

Hopefully by now you sent it in and have it back. That was back in last July when you asked about it.

Andy

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

Well, austin jetlag jet rally is this weekend, went to charge my gen 2 dx18 up last night, noticed charging light did not come on, unplugged tried again, no light. Turned transmitter on to check voltage and the transmitter won't power up remove the battery and check voltage and it's at 8.25 volts so the batteries good I guess this is a common problem with these radios

raron455

My Feedback: (38)

And then even scarier the next morning I power mine up and it Powers up and works fine and charges fine I've cycled the switch at least a hundred times everything is working just like it's supposed to not very confidence-inspiring

AndyKunz

Sounds like you fixed a corrosion problem on the battery contacts when you removed it from the radio.

JMCHASE

Could also be that the plug from the charger is wearing out or the charger needs replacing. I've had my transmitter recepticle wear out replaced it worked fine after.

chuiho888

I suffer same issue of my DX18 just used only 2 years before and now shipping to Germany Center for repair !
Very sad.................