RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

As I mentioned over in the intro forum a few days ago I've got this 1/16 Tiger 1 to fix for a friend. As I don't know a great deal about R/C stuff I'm hoping to tap into your collective knowledge for some troubleshooting help.

From what I've seen it seem to be a basic model, no smoke or sound, and a A-B-C channel selector with no crystals.

First problem was that the controller was dead, this was due to leakage from a battery corroding one of the wires to the circuit board. I fixed that and the controller powers on - led lights up orange. However there's no response from the tank when switching it on and operating the controller. There's no instructions with this tank so the first Q is what do the 3 buttons below the on-off switch on the controller do? Operating the middle one turns the led from orange to red so presumably the transmitter circuit board is not completely dead?

Checking with my meter there is power to the receiver board in the tank when switching it on.

Where to go from here? Any troubleshooting tips gratefully received!

Andy

There are many different control boards for Heng Long tanks. If you are able, photos of the internals of the tank, particularly the receiver/control board, would be a great help. Does anything at all happen with the tank, for example, do the lights flash? It is possible that the receiver and transmitter are not bound to each other.

You mentioned Crystals so my question is does the word "SENDER" appear on the transmitter?
If so then the next question is are there matching crystals in the Tanks Control Board and in the Transmitter?
Analogue Tanks disappeared from Heng Longs line up some years ago being replaced by digital to the delight of many but replacement pairs of crystals are still readily available from http://www.forgebeartanks.com and http://www.rctank.de

OR



The difference is the spot on the right... One is to set three tanks up to be used on the same frequency different channels. Cannot change frequencies.
The 2nd one had replaceable crystals which allow for frequency swapping

silversurfer1947 wrote:There are many different control boards for Heng Long tanks. If you are able, photos of the internals of the tank, particularly the receiver/control board, would be a great help. Does anything at all happen with the tank, for example, do the lights flash? It is possible that the receiver and transmitter are not bound to each other.

Pic attached, the board is marked TK01. Nothing at all happens with the tank - no signs of life at all.

jarndice wrote:You mentioned Crystals so my question is does the word "SENDER" appear on the transmitter?
If so then the next question is are there matching crystals in the Tanks Control Board and in the Transmitter?
Analogue Tanks disappeared from Heng Longs line up some years ago being replaced by digital to the delight of many but replacement pairs of crystals are still readily available from http://www.forgebeartanks.com and http://www.rctank.de

Yes, it is 'Sender'. No crystals, just an A B C switch so I assume it's a single fixed frequency system.

This one:

Andy Hi,
I would give serious thought to replacing both the "SENDER" Transmitter and the control board, There is nothing to be gained retaining the system and a replacement RX18 Control Board and Transmitter changes everything into "Plug & Play.
Pre-wired JST Plugs are cheap as chips on E-Bay to replace the cables that are soldered onto the present control board.
You will then be able to plug a Smoker into the system
If you are in the UK I am sure you will be able to obtain the RX18 and Transmitter for the cost of the postage as many people have replaced them for later boards.
Go to the Electronics/Extra section of the Forum, The Heng Long sector has wiring diagrams and a wealth of helpful tips on the RX18 MFU.

An alternative to the Heng Long RX18 is Taigens V3 Control board which is the same size as the RX18 but offers more options including a sound module,
It is fully digital and unlike the RX18 it can be used with an aftermarket transmitter as well as Taigens own Transmitter,
About £ 70/£80 for a full kit from www.forgebeartanks.com or www.rctank.de
Both are reputable dealers and very helpful.

jarndice wrote:Andy Hi,
I would give serious thought to replacing both the "SENDER" Transmitter and the control board, There is nothing to be gained retaining the system and a replacement RX18 Control Board and Transmitter changes everything into "Plug & Play.
Pre-wired JST Plugs are cheap as chips on E-Bay to replace the cables that are soldered onto the present control board.
You will then be able to plug a Smoker into the system
If you are in the UK I am sure you will be able to obtain the RX18 and Transmitter for the cost of the postage as many people have replaced them for later boards.
Go to the Electronics/Extra section of the Forum, The Heng Long sector has wiring diagrams and a wealth of helpful tips on the RX18 MFU.

Well I guess that's an option. TBH my friend doesn't want to spend a lot on the tank.
Anyone on here got the bits needed? I'm in the UK, Oxfordshire.