DIFALCO DESIGN SERVICE AND SUPPORT

MAINTENANCE

IMPORTANT! Keep wiper bands and slots free of any dirt with lighter fluid! Lubricate wiper bands with very small amount of braid juice, work trigger back and forth a few times and wipe off excess with towel. Never use sandpaper on PCB! You may flip sandpaper (wet/dry-250 grit or finer) over to smooth out wiper button only if needed! Blow off sandpaper dust to avoid scratching PCB. Oilites need to be oiled only twice a year at the most! Every other month you should remove handle to clean brake contact surfaces on trigger and frame with sandpaper to remove arcing. Also check power contact surfaces for arcing and look for frayed trigger shunt braid while you have controller open.

TROUBLESHOOTING

PROBLEM: Relay does not operate.
SOLUTION: Relay is activated by piano wire on frame hitting trigger contact. Check if wire is touching trigger at full power. Also check for broken piano wire and control wire to relay. Bend new piano wire if broken using .015” wire available at raceway.

PROBLEM: Car gets small amount of power without pushing trigger.
SOLUTION: Clean circuit board of dirt between rest and first power band. Carefully take hobby knife and scrape slot between rest and first band to remove any wiper button dust that is causing mild short.

PROBLEM: Car gets no power until trigger is pulled to full power contact.
SOLUTION: First check small resistor between holes “D” and “H” on back of circuit board. If resistor has a black burn mark over color bands then this is a sign that transistor is damaged. Replace both. If resistor looks good then check for a broken control wire (skinny black or white) on controller. If you built a module check that skinny white wire from wiper is not broken inside insulation where it bends off trigger. Pull wire gently to find break or use ohmmeter to check connection between both ends of white wire. If there are no broken wires found then replace transistor since small resistor may still be good even though transistor is damaged.
NOTE: Replace with Difalco Design #DD830 transistor only! Failure to use original type transistor will result in immediate blowing of transistor, too low a power or wattage rating and different wiper band response! Also check resistor between holes “D” and “H” and for black mark (blown) and replace if needed with 10 ohm resistor in kit.

PROBLEM: Car gets full power without pulling trigger.
SOLUTION: Are you hooked up correctly and on right polarity track? If you are then first try removing screw that holds down diode to transistor heat sink. Lift diode lead so it is not touching heat sink and hook up black and white alligator clips to track. If car still gets full power then transistor is damaged, replace. If controller works normally then diode has shorted. Replace with a 3 amp diode available at Radio Shack (replace with silver band of diode screwed to heat sink).
NOTE: Controller can be used without diode but transistor will be damaged if controller is hooked up incorrectly without diode installed.

PROBLEM: Intermittent or no brakes.
SOLUTION: Clean brake contact surfaces on trigger and frame contact with sandpaper to remove any arcing if brakes are intermittent. Check pro rheostats visually next to full brake setting for blown winding. On economy rheostats you will feel a small rough bump just past full brake position if blown. If you have an ohmmeter connect it between red and black alligator clips and look for resistance on meter as you rotate rheostat. If you only get reading at full brake position then rheostat is damaged.
NOTE: Rheostat can possibly still blow if mild short occurs just below fuse value. You can temporarily fix an economy type rheostat by soldering a piece of lead wire between the two outside terminals. Rheostat will now work but full brakes will be on opposite side of rotation.

PARTS UPGRADES AND CUSTOM SERVICES

UPGRADE PARTS: DD806 - Pro Brake Rheostat w/Knob . Rheostat has special washers needed to upgrade models from economy brake rheostat to pro rheostat. DD228 - Mush Button. Installs right on rear edge of circuit board. Used in G27 and G7 glue racing to momentarily raise controller sensitivity to be able to slowly pull through glue zones after de-slotting and track calls. Stops car from popping and saves laps! Upgrade parts are available at your raceway.

REPAIR PARTS: DD830 - Power Transistor with 10 ohm and 13 ohm resistors. DD836 - Economy Brake Rheostat. DD807 - Pro Brake Rheostat . These are the only parts that would need replacement under normal circumstances. All repair parts are available from your local raceway. Contact Jim for other parts.

CUSTOM SERVICES: We build custom relay bypass chokes for the top racers in slot racing. We will also modify your controller just for you. Contact Jim for information.

HELP: Contact Jim at (772) 334-1987 if you have any questions. Call first before you ship controller back for repair or a problem, we can usually solve it over the phone.

REPAIR SERVICES: We can refurbish your old controller to restore it’s original feel, performance and reliability. Install any replacement parts or kits. Install one of our modules on your turbo frame. Upgrade your Difalco Design resistor controller to an “E”motion transistor model. Upgrade your “E”motion controller to a Fanatic version. Upgrade from our smaller to larger “E”motion heat sink to handle faster motors. Almost anything you can think of to improve your slot racing experience. Contact Jim for price quote or information.

SERVICE ESTIMATE: Call Jim for estimate on your repair or installation. We will usually be able to return your controller within two weeks by UPS COD. Ask about faster service. Always include your name, address, phone number and an explanation of problem with controller. We always provide a full invoice showing labor, parts and shipping costs. We also allow prepayment of repairs if you can’t receive a COD and will refund any overpayment. We do not accept credit cards at this time.