Sherman M4A3 problems

Discuss the good old Heng Long electronics here, whether its mods on them or anything else, it goes here!
AndyC
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Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by AndyC »

My BiL has landed me with sorting out issues with a HL Sherman he's bought. It's the upgraded version with metal tracks & gears, the sticker in the battery compartment indicates that its 2016. I'm guessing its a v5.3, the transmitter has the machine gun and BB fire buttons on the top.

The tank starts and drives fine, the problem is that operating the left joystick to raise/lower the gun barrel results in the turret turning, operating it to turn the turret produces the correct sound effect but the turret does not turn. Operating the top MG fire button results in the MG sound effect and also starts the barrel elevation motor which then runs continuously. Operating the G button also results in the MG sound effect but does not start the elevation motor. Front lights and MG led don't work. BB fire doesn't work, no recoil.

Wiring looks to be correctly located, faulty receiver?
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

I'm guessing this tank was second-hand.
With no way of knowing its past history?
You say it has a 2016 sticker, I'm wondering if that's earlier than v5.3 and its had an electronics swap. If that's the case, the fault could lie with the little eight way socket board in the hull next to the turret rotation. Those boards are not always wired the same way.
It may be worth investigating there first.
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Son of a gun-ner
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by Son of a gun-ner »

There is one more thing to consider. It is possible that the wrong controller was supplied.
During the changes Heng Long did to their 2.4gig upgrades, up to and before the 6.0 board, they only changed the way the top hull and turret functions were operated, and therefore only the left stick operations. I'm assuming they didn't change the operating signals from the right stick as lower hull left stick functions were the same during the changes. The only lower hull changes were volume and smoke switching, but that became button operated.
This comes to mind because I once purchased a second hand tank with the incorrect controller.
Mick - The grit in the underpants of life!
And always happy to spare the bytes

TOTM needs YOU :thumbup: support YOUR TOTM competition, I'm doing my part, are YOU?
john1970
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by john1970 »

Dont think its anything wrong with the receiver or transmitter sounds like its not wired properly.
check your 8 pin connections on the upper hull your getting the sounds for the operations but not the actions.
AndyC
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by AndyC »

Thanks for the replies. Yes, he bought it secondhand with no history. Any advice on checking out the 8-way connector wiring?
john1970
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by john1970 »

can you post a picture of the upper hull wiring
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by john1970 »

Image

if its 5.3 it should look like this
2 pin turret is rotation
AndyC
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by AndyC »

john1970 wrote:can you post a picture of the upper hull wiring
Yep...
Sherman_upper_hull_wiring.jpg
Sherman_upper_hull_wiring.jpg (89.49 KiB) Viewed 2375 times
john1970
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by john1970 »

ok you have 5.3 8 pin connector but have a pre 5.3 turret your bb gun and elevation are on a 3 pin plug and are plugged into headlights and mg socket your turret rotation is plugged into gun elevation.
remove the 3 pin plug and move the rotation unit plug 1 across then check if you have lights,mg and rotation working

EDIT

its possible the tank has be upgraded from 27mhz to 2,4ghz but they didnt know how to wire the turret
AndyC
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Re: Sherman M4A3 problems

Post by AndyC »

john1970 wrote:ok you have 5.3 8 pin connector but have a pre 5.3 turret your bb gun and elevation are on a 3 pin plug and are plugged into headlights and mg socket your turret rotation is plugged into gun elevation.
remove the 3 pin plug and move the rotation unit plug 1 across then check if you have lights,mg and rotation working
No lights, mg led or turret rotation :(
EDIT

its possible the tank has be upgraded from 27mhz to 2,4ghz but they didnt know how to wire the turret
I think so - just found the instruction book in the box, it's for the 27MHz crystal version...
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