Back to the Photo Gallery
On/Off Switch for Digitrax Throttles
Photos by Ali Shahriary and Glenn Koproske
Vic Speck and Chef Sven-Erik Engdorf got tired of the procedure Digitrax makes you use in order to turn the battery power off in their DCC throttles. You have to force the battery compartment cover off, rotate the 9 volt battery completely over, and struggle to get the cover back on again. And be careful never to flip the battery end for end. Enough was enough.
An On/Off switch was the answer.
There are two examples pictured here. The first uses a toggle switch and the second example makes use of a slide switch. Most model railroaders may have these parts in their home workshops.
Vic Speck figured out how to remove the back plate of a DT402D. A hole was drilled in the top of the case to fit the round shaft of a mini toggle. Wires were connected from the battery contacts and routed across the main circuit board to the switch. The result has the toggle next to the LocoNet tether. This location protects the toggle bat.
Slide switch installation: To make the switch fit, Sven had to remove all Digitrax battery holder hardware from the back of the throttle. A rectangular hole was made in the side of the throttle case and mounting holes were drilled. The battery is attached with a Radio Shack 9 volt battery snap-on connector.
Warranty be dashed. Digitrax should have done something like this to begin with.
Back to the Photo Gallery