Radio Controlled Cars
Help!
Updated April 2008.
Cars bought from
the recognised shops or catalogue outlets are covered by a one year warranty.
If after checking the following lists or calling the help-line
01582 609853, there is no cure for
the problem, cars should be returned to the place of purchase for a replacement
or repair. Outside the warranty period,
most cars can be repaired at our workshops in Dunstable. The cost of repairs (October 2007) for the
1/11th scale to 1/20th cars (including the Radical
Machine and Tumbler) is £16.25 inclusive of
For customers in the
So that two cars
can be operated together at the same time, all the Hitari range of cars (with
the exception of the Acrobat, Mercedes Knight Rider, General Lee and Mega
Grinder) are available in the UK on two frequencies (27MHz and 40MHz)* **. It
is not possible to switch a car between the two frequencies. The cars are
manufactured to operate on one of the two frequencies. Check when you purchase
the models to ensure you have got the correct frequency.
*The proportional
control models – Bentley Continental and Honda NSX-R are
manufactured on one of three frequencies.
27MHz band 1, 2 or 4; this allows
up to three cars to operate at the same time.
**The Mini
Cabriolet, Lotus Exige, Bentley Convertible and the 2005 TVR Tuscan are
manufactured on 27MHz and 40MHz (49MHz in the
Please look for help under the
relevant headings.
Turbo King | Black Monster | Crash up | Tumbler | Chaos | Ejector
| Exchanger | Acrobat
| Mercedes | Astra | Radical Machine | Mean Speed Machine
| Micro Tumbler | Honda Civic R
| Mini Cooper | TVR Tuscan S | TVR T350c | 1/64th Scale Subaru and
Honda | Micro Honda Speedboat | Honda NSX-R | Bentley Continental | BMW M3 | Lotus Exige, Bentley Convertible
If you require spare parts please turn to the Spare Parts List
From November
2000 until the final imports in August 2003, imports of the Turbo King car used
a 6V rechargeable battery pack in the place of the 8 AA size rechargeable
batteries used in the earlier models. This change has been demanded by the
retail outlets. The car and the controllers are NOT interchangeable between the
two types as far as the electronics are concerned, but mechanically the models
are virtually the same. Please note, in
the 6V battery model there is no battery cover on these cars; the battery is
held in place by the cam screw at the end of the battery box.
|
Q |
I've just bought a new Turbo King. It doesn't work |
|
A |
1.
Have you
charged the batteries? - rechargeable batteries are supplied in a discharged
condition. 2.
If your car is
the type which takes AA size batteries (not the 6V battery pack) check that
you have fitted all 8 batteries in the car. Two batteries are fitted
under the six top-most batteries. The car will not work without these. 3.
Check the
hand-set. Remove the battery. Look between the two battery contacts in the
hand set. There is a white piece of plastic between the contacts. The two
battery contacts should stick out as far as the white piece of plastic. Lift
them up if they don't. 4.
It is possible
that in the shop, before you purchased the car, the hand set from a 27MHz car
was exchanged for one from a 40MHz car or vice versa. Ensure that the
frequency markings on the car and hand set (27 or 40MHz) are the same. 5.
If the car has
8 batteries, make sure that the on-off switch in the car is turned off and
try to charge the batteries again. After three hours you should find that the
charger is getting warm and that the batteries in the car are getting warm. 6.
If the car
uses the 6V battery pack, the charger used for the single 6V battery has a
light to show that it is charging correctly. Check for correct connections
and electricity supply to the charger if the light does not come on. Make
sure the battery is pushed firmly into the charger, especially if the charger
/ battery is new. |
|
Q |
Is it true that the car will only run for 12 minutes on a fully charged battery? |
|
A |
No! The instruction sheet supplied with the first 6V power-pack Turbo King cars was wrong. The time will be in the region of 90 minutes of normal use - certainly well over 45 minutes even if it is used in high gear over rough terrain. The 8 AA battery type of car should also last over an hour on a single charge. |
|
Q |
I've got the car wet. It is doing strange things. |
|
A |
Stop!!! Take
out the batteries. Water and electricity do not mix. Keep the car warm and
dry for at least two days. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CHARGE the batteries until it
has dried for the two days. Try the car again after two days. YES TWO DAYS IN
A WARM DRY PLACE! If the car does not work correctly -
reverse or forwards sometimes fails - sorry, but you've lost your warranty as
it should not have been used where it could have got wet. However repairs are
always possible. Check with Fowler Electronics for
current repair prices. It is quite easy for us to tell if a car has got wet and caused a failure, so don't try to hide the fact! |
|
Q |
I've had the car for some time now. Suddenly it has stopped working. |
|
A |
1.
Have you
changed the battery in the hand set? It may have run down. 2.
Did you leave
the batteries in the car for several weeks (months)? Check that the battery
contacts are all clean and that corrosion from discharged batteries has not
occurred. 3.
Remove the
battery from the hand set. Look between the two battery contacts in the hand
set. There is a white piece of plastic between the contacts. The two battery
contacts should stick out as far as the white piece of plastic. Lift them up
if they don't. 4.
Does the
steering work? If the steering works but the drive does not work, there is a
fault with the drive system. |
|
Q |
The car only goes backwards (or forwards); |
|
A |
1.
Does the car
go backwards when you tell it to go forwards? If it does, telephone
for a simple cure. 2.
Does the
steering work correctly? If it does not work, try to recharge the batteries
again, there may be a run-down battery – if it is an 8-battery type car,
ensure all eight batteries are fitted and that all battery contacts are
clean. 3.
Have you got
the car wet (honestly)? If yes, see above answers. |
|
Q |
I've broken it / jumped on it / run it under a real car / lost part of it / dropped it over a cliff / melted it / broken the aerial / control knobs. |
|
A |
Don't worry, you're not the first to do it. Check the spares price list or contact us and we can get it working again. |
|
Q |
I have a Turbo King which uses one battery
pack. The battery keeps falling out of
the car when I use it. I think the
battery cover must be missing. |
|
A |
When you put the battery in the car, you
must turn the large screw behind the battery one quarter of a turn to lock
the battery in place. No battery cover
is fitted to the 6V pack car. |
|
Q |
The charger will not fit into any of the
sockets in my house. |
|
A |
The charger is supplied with a protective
covering over the three plug terminals.
Remove this cover before attempting to insert it into the supply
socket. |
|
Q |
My Turbo King, which uses a 6V battery is
slower than another Turbo King which uses 8 AA size batteries. |
|
A |
You are quite right. Blame the retail outlets for demanding the
change to a 6V battery (against the wishes of the manufacturer). |
Black Monster Top of page | Hitari Ltd | Home Page
The Black Monster car is no longer sold in the UK. Some spares are still available.
|
Q |
I've just bought a new Black Monster. It does not work. |
|
A |
1.
Have you
charged the batteries in the car? - rechargeable batteries are supplied in a
discharged condition. 2.
Have you
fitted all 8 batteries? Check that you have fitted the two batteries to the rear
of the front 6. 3.
Check the
hand-set. Remove the battery. Look between the two battery contacts in the
hand set. There is a white piece of plastic between the contacts. The two
battery contacts should stick out as far as the white piece of plastic. Lift
them up if they don't. 4.
It is possible
that in the shop, before you purchased the car, the hand set from a 27MHz car
was exchanged for one from a 40MHz car or vice versa. Ensure that the
frequency markings on the car and hand set (27 or 40MHz) are the same. 5.
Make sure that
the on-off switch in the car is turned off and try to charge the batteries
again. After three hours you should find that the charger is getting warm and
that the batteries in the car are getting warm. Check for correct connections
and electricity supply to the charger if they are not. |
|
Q |
I've had the car for some time now. Suddenly it has stopped working. |
|
A |
1.
Have you
changed the battery in the hand set? It may have run down. 2.
Did you leave
the batteries in the car for several weeks (months)? Check the battery
contacts are all clean and that corrosion from discharged batteries has not
set in. 3.
Remove the
battery from the hand set. Look between the two battery contacts in the hand
set. There is a white piece of plastic between the contacts. The two battery
contacts should stick out as far as the white piece of plastic. Lift them up
if they don't. 4.
Does the
steering work? If the steering works but the drive does not work, there is a
fault with the drive system. |
|
Q |
The steering has stopped working. |
|
A |
1.
Does the car
work correctly in forwards and reverse? If not, try again after recharging
the batteries. 2.
Can you hear the
steering motor trying to steer? (put the car in 'winch' mode to stop the
sound of the engine). If you can hear the steering motor, call for advice on
possible steering gear problems. Otherwise, you may have a servo motor
problem - call for advice. |
|
Q |
I've broken / lost parts of the car or controller. |
|
A |
Check the price list or call for current spares prices. |
Crash-up cars Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
There have been
so few faults with these cars to perform any diagnosis of faults. Most problems
occur because of an incorrectly inserted battery in the handset; check,
re-check and check again that you've got the plus and minus connections
correct. For spares check the current price list
or telephone for advice.
Chaos, Tumbler and Acrobat Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
For the Micro
Tumbler, please see below. The Tumbler and Chaos cars use the same mechanical
parts for the car, but until July
|
Q |
I've just bought a new car and it does not work. |
|
A |
1.
Have you
charged the battery? - rechargeable batteries are supplied in a discharged
condition. 2.
The car will
not work unless the car battery cover is in place. 3.
Check the
hand-set. Remove the battery. Look between the two battery contacts in the
hand-set. There is a white piece of plastic between the contacts. The two
battery contacts should stick out as far as the white piece of plastic. Lift
them up if they don't. 4.
It is just as
likely that the 9V battery supplied for the controller is defective as that
there is a fault with the controller; try a different 9V battery. 5.
It is possible
that in the shop, before you purchased the car, the hand-set from a 27MHz car
was exchanged for one from a 40MHz car or vice versa. Ensure that the
frequency markings on the car and hand-set (27 or 40MHz) are the same. 6.
Does the
charger light come on? After three hours you should find that the charger is
getting warm and that the battery is also getting warm. Check for correct connections
and electricity supply to the charger if they are not. Check also that the
battery is pushed fully into the charger. New charger / battery combinations
are sometimes difficult to engage fully. 7.
Be careful not
to over-charge the battery; the instruction of ‘four hour charge’ means four
hours. An overnight charge will damage
the battery. |
|
Q |
Is it true that the car runs for only 15 minutes on one battery charge? |
|
A |
Yes - under extreme conditions, but it depends on what you are doing with the car. If you run it mainly in straight lines, it will last much longer than if you are continually 'spinning' the car. Whilst the instructions suggest that 15 minutes is the expected run time, I believe for normal use, 1 hour can be expected for cars with the two lever hand-set and 20 to 30 minutes are often achieved with cars with the two button hand-set. |
|
Q |
My car only goes in straight lines, only goes in one direction, or only two wheels operate. |
|
A |
Check, with the car off the floor, that
all four wheels operate. If they do, try recharging the battery; it may be
low in power. If only two wheels operate, check if any of the tyres are
slightly off the hub and rubbing on the body-work. The most common cause of
this problem is when a tyre has come off. Continued running of the car with a
tyre rubbing on the body will overload the circuit and cause failure of the
motor or drive circuit. Contact the Help-line for further information. |
|
Q |
The charger will not fit into any of the
sockets in my house. |
|
A |
The charger is supplied with a protective
covering over the three plug terminals.
Remove this cover before attempting to insert it into the supply
socket. |
|
Q |
I have put the battery in the car but I am
unable to get it out. (Tumbler & Chaos cars only). |
|
A |
When you take the battery cover off the
car, the spring behind the battery should push the battery towards the back
of the car as far as the two black ridges which are on either side at the
back of the battery compartment. Until the battery is back against these
ridges it will not be possible to remove the battery. If the battery has
become stuck, the simplest way to encourage the battery to move backwards, is
to hold the car by the front bumper, allowing the back of the car to hang
vertically downwards. About |
|
Q |
The battery is too big to fit in the car. |
|
A |
1.
Check you have
got a 6V battery (not a 7.2V battery).
Its size should be 55.5mm wide, 72.5mm long, 12mm thick. 2.
You have taken
the battery cover off the car, haven’t you! |
|
Q |
The tyres on my car are quite soft and are
not hard and inflated. |
|
A |
The tyres are ‘air filled’, but are not
meant to be inflated under pressure.
They return naturally to their original shape after they have been
squashed due to the resilience of the tyre wall. Check that the word ‘Hitari’ is moulded
into the outside tyre walls. There
have been a few rogue tyres produced which do not have the word ‘Hitari’ and
they are too soft. |
Ejector Top of page | Home Page
| Hitari Ltd
There have been
too few faults with these cars to perform any diagnosis of faults. The only
problem that has been noted is due to a miss-reading of the battery connection
picture in the hand-set. Double check that you have put the battery in the
correct way round - and then check it again! For spares and advice please telephone.
Exchanger Top of page |
Home Page | Hitari Ltd
From August 2002
the Exchanger cars have been completely redesigned. None of these new cars have been imported to
the UK. Older cars (pre-August 2002)
have suffered from three main faults. The problems reported so far have been:
Mercedes CLK, BMW M3 Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
There have been
too few faults with these cars to perform any diagnosis of faults.
Astra TOCA, Mini
Cooper and Honda Civic R Top
of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
There have been
too few faults with these cars to perform any diagnosis of faults. Please note, there is no battery cover on
these cars; the battery is held in place by the cam screw at the end of the
battery box.
Radical Machine Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
So far there has
been only two reported faults with the Radical Machine. Please note, there is
no battery cover on these cars; the battery is held in place by the cam screw
at the end of the battery box.
1/64th
scale Mean Speed Machine, Subaru and Honda Top of page | Home Page
| Hitari Ltd
|
Q |
I can not get my Micro car to charge; neither the steering nor motor
operate – the charging light does not come on. |
|
A |
1 It is important that the
instructions are followed in order to charge the cars correctly: First insert
the batteries in the charger. Next
turn on the charger switch. Finally
put the car on the charger unit. If you have
attempted to charge the car and not followed the above operation order, take
the car off the charger and remove one of the batteries from the charger for
ten seconds (to reset the charger) and start again. 2 There has
been a very small number of cars where the battery in the car was not making
good contact with the battery contacts.
If this is the fault, the car will operate correctly when the car is
first placed on the charger (for 40 seconds), but stops as soon as it is
taken off the charger. It is possible
to correct this, but I would recommend asking for assistance before starting. Please telephone for
details. |
|
Q |
I can not get my Micro car to charge; neither the steering nor motor
operate – the charging light does come on. |
|
A |
There has been a small number of chargers supplied which have
incorrect wiring in the charger. It is
a simple matter, using a screwdriver, to correct the fault. Please telephone for
details. Otherwise the unit can be
returned for replacement. |
|
Q |
I am unable to get the car to drive forwards or backwards, but the
steering does work. |
|
A |
It is possible that one of the two contacts that press onto the end of
the car’s motor are not making good contact.
Take off the car bodyshell (unclip the front first is easiest), undo
the knurled screw which secures the metal plate covering the motor at the
back of the car and remove the motor from the car. Carefully bend out the two
contacts which are in the car moulding where the motor fits. |
Micro
Tumbler Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
|
Q |
I can not get my
Micro Tumbler to charge – the charging light does not come on. |
|
A |
There are two possible reasons for this problem. 1
It is
important that the instructions are followed in order to charge the cars
correctly: First insert the batteries in the charger. Next turn on the charger switch. Make sure the car switch is turned
off. Finally put the car on the
charger unit. 2
Check that the
central pin in the charging connection on the car has not broken off. The socket on the charger should have a
hole down the middle. The car plug
should have a central pin. If the pin
has broken off the car, (it may be left in the charger socket) the car will not
charge. A repair is required; telephone for assistance. |
Micro
Honda Speedboat Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
|
Q |
I can not find out
where the charger plug fits into the boat |
|
A |
The charger plug
(which is stored in the compartment at the bottom of the remote control unit)
fits into the socket beneath the two passengers in the boat. Carefully pull the passengers straight up
out of the boat. Turn the boat switch
to off and the controller switch to on before connecting the plug to the
socket in the boat. It takes about 40
seconds to complete the charge. After
this time the red light on the charger should go out; the green light on the
charger should remain on. |
TVR Tuscan S and TVR T350c Top of page | Home Page
| Hitari Ltd
So far (October 2007)
there has been only one fault (except accidental damage) reported with these
cars. The fault has occurred in the
drive gears. Spares gearboxes are
available – see our parts list. Faulty cars which are still under warranty can,
of course, be returned to the retailer for replacement. The latest cars with the A-B-C switch on the
controller and car will fail to work if you have not set both the car and
controller switches to the same letter.
Bentley Continental and
Honda NSX Top of page | Home Page | Hitari Ltd
The proportional control
models – Bentley Continental and Honda NSX-R are manufactured on one of three
frequencies. 27MHz band 1, 2 or 4. If you have three cars, one on each
frequency, it is possible to run three cars at the same time. It is not possible to operate successfully
two or more cars on the same frequency.
There are small preset
controls on the controller for the steering and throttle trim. These allow you to centre the steering and
adjust the forwards / reverse motion so that the car is stationary and steers
in a straight direction when the controller is turned on but the controls are
not being used. For example if the car
moves forwards (or backwards) when the controller is on and the trigger is in
its rest position you should try adjusting the throttle trim in order to stop
the car.
The run-time per battery
charge is between 10 and 20 minutes. The
7.2V battery Hitari supply with the car has a capacity of 1600mAh and this is
the only battery available from Hitari.
However, batteries with capacities of two or three times that of the
Hitari battery are available from shops such as Toys R Us and dedicated model
shops. You should ask for a 7.2V Tamiya
battery. Remember using the Hitari
charger, the charge-time will increase in proportion to the battery
capacity. Remember NEVER OVERCHARGE a
battery as serious damage to the battery may result.
One problem reported with the cars has
been a missing aerial tube for the car aerial.
In every case where we have followed up the complaint, the aerial
tube has been in the packaging, but has not been noticed by the customer. The aerial tube is placed in a polythene bag
and is taped to the polystyrene packing which surrounds the car. It is attached just above the level of the
corrugated cardboard which separates the car from the controller, usually on
the right side of the car. If you have
thrown away the packaging (with the tube), new tubes are available from
stock. Please see our Bentley spare parts lists. Without the tube fitted, not only is there a
danger that the aerial wire will become snagged in the wheels and damaged, but
the control range will be greatly reduced.
Lotus Exige and Bentley Convertible Top of page
| Home Page | Hitari Ltd
The Lotus
Exige and Bentley Convertible are proportional control models. The controller has a trigger throttle control
and two steering wheels – one on the right side of the controller and one on
the left. This allows the controller to
be held by the left or right hand and the steering to be operated by the right
or left hand. Only one steering wheel
will operate at any one time. There is a
switch on the controller to change between left and right hand operation.
The models are manufactured
on the 27 and 40 MHz bands (49MHz in the USA), but by operating a switch on the
car and controller, three different operating settings are available at 27MHz
and three at 40MHz. This allows a total
of six cars to be operated at the same time.
Note: the switch does not change the operating frequency of the
car within the 27 or 40 MHz bands, but changes the pattern of the
control signals so that the differently set-up cars can recognise their own
commands.
There have been very few
genuine faults with these cars, but the following points may help solve any
problems.
|
Q |
The car will not
operate, neither steering nor drive wheels |
|
A |
Have you
charged the 9.6V car battery? The battery is supplied in a discharged
condition. Have you set
the A-B-C switch on the car to match the switch on the controller? The selected letter must be the same. Is the power
light glowing on the controller? Is
the brightness of the light constant, or is it flickering slightly? If the light is not on or if the brightness
is not constant, the controller battery is probably faulty. There have been a few instances where the shop has
supplied a 27MHz car with a 40MHz controller.
Check the coloured stickers on the car and controller. |
|
Q |
As soon as I turn on the car and controller, the
car mores off, - even before I touch the trigger control. |
|
A |
Does the car
stop when you turn off the controller?
If it does stop, switch on the controller again and turn the little
rotary throttle trim control on the right side of the controller fully
clockwise and note in which direction the car moves. Turn the trim control fully anticlockwise
and note which way the car moves. If
the direction in which the car moves changes between forwards and backwards,
you should find a position for the trim control where the car stops. You should turn the trim control quite
slowly otherwise you may miss the correct point. If the car
does not stop when the controller is turned off or if the car continues to
move in the same direction when you move the throttle trim control from
clockwise to anticlockwise, there is a genuine fault which needs to be
rectified. |
|
Q |
The car does not go in a straight line when it
moves forwards or backwards. |
|
A |
You should be able
to adjust the setting of the front wheels by using the steering trim control
on the right of the controller. If
this is turned from one end of its travel to the other, the front wheels
should move from the left to the right of centre. Once you have adjusted the steering trim
control to bring them to the centre position, the steering wheel on the
controller should operate normally. When the battery in the car is almost run-down,
the operating the throttle may cause the steering to pull to one side. Ensure the battery is fully charged. |
|
Q |
The control range of the car is very low – perhaps
only two or three metres |
|
A |
Ensure the car
aerial tube has been fitted and the transmitter aerial is fully
extended. If you have not found the aerial
tube in the packaging and have thrown away the packaging, new tubes can be
purchased. The black aerial wire
should be about 6cm longer than the aerial tube. Check the
light on the controller is not flickering slightly. If it is flickering, the controller battery
needs to be replaced. As with all radio controlled models, there may be
interference from other transmitters – CB radios operate on similar
frequencies to the 27MHz models and some baby alarms work on 40MHz (or 49MHz
in the USA). Try the model in a
different location. The operating
range indoors is totally unpredictable due to the building structure. Try the car out-doors. |
|
Q |
The car shudders and the steering flicks from side
to side. |
|
A |
This can occur when the car is at the extreme of
its control range distance or when the 9.6V battery in the car is nearly run
down. |
Hitari help-line
01582 609853, email Hitari@ntlworld.com
For customers in the USA there is now a help-line
number in the USA – (201) 984 5549. This
telephone line is answered by the UK help-line, so please allow for the fact
that the UK office is open 9:00am to 5:00pm UK time.
Radio Controlled Cars | Home Page | Hitari Ltd | Top of Page