RaceAmerica Online Forum

My backup wireless hand controllers has been sitting idle for about 3 months since it last was connected to a charger. I plug it and wait for a couple of hours. When I disconnect it and press a button, the safety lights do not respond. How can I get the hand controller working again?

If the hand controller has been charged for more than a week, the internal battery will enter into a protect mode to prevent the battery from completely discharging during extended periods of idle. To get out of protect mode, first the battery must wake up, then the battery will respond as normal.

To exit protect mode, plug the hand controller into a USB charger for about 5 minutes. This will wake up the battery charge circuitry. Then unplug the charger from the hand controller, then plug the charger back into the hand controller. The battery will begin charging in a minute or two. Charge the battery for 2 hours to complete charge. When plugging the charger back in, do not leave the charger unplugged for more than 30 seconds or the battery will reenter protect mode.

To ensure the battery has woken up and is charging, power on a safety cube or safety light and press a button on the hand controller. When the battery is first woken up, it will not feed power to the circuitry and therefore the hand controller will not respond. Once the charger is unplugged and plugged back in, the battery leaves protect mode and the charge circuit will feed power to the hand controller circuitry and the hand controller will respond to button presses.

Is there anyway to monitor if the battery is charging? I want to be sure it is fully operational when I want to use it.

You can remove the battery cover on the backside of the hand controller to expose the charge light on the battery. When the unit has been idle for an extended period of time without the charger connected, the light will be off. When first plugged into the charger, the light will flash red at about 50% brightness. After unplugging the charger the light will be solid red at 50% brightness until the charger is plugged back in while still red. The light will flash red and brightness will increase over the next few minutes. The light will change to flashing yellow, then flashing green, then solid green when fully charged.

A quick test to determine if the battery is charging without removing the battery cover is to press a button and confirm the safety cube or safety light responds. Wait 2 hours for a full charge from completely dead. There is a button press sequence to display the hand controller battery level on the safety cubes or safety lights, Check the front of the hand controller for how to display the battery level in the hand controller.