Hi all,

Run into a rather strange problem and just wondering if any of the Tamiya owners out there has ever experience this. So I picked up a Sherman M4A3 from Russ who got it from Jack, and will be using it as a base for my "Fury" build. I know that the Tamiya M4A3 does not come with recoil, so I took a chance, got a recoil (from Jack also) and plug it in and see what happens.

Lo and behold there is no recoil from the Sherman MF unit, so I turn off the tank and that's when things got weird:

The MF goes from green to orange, but instead of fading away, it stays blinking orange even though the on/off switch is in the off position.

After about 15 seconds, when I turn on the radio again, instead of turning green, it turns blinking red, and the barrel flash start firing (with no sound), and the recoil working along the same. It will keep doing this (i.e. barrel flash and recoil) until I unplug the battery.

Clearly I have a fault on the on/off switch so I will replace that, but the silent barrel flash and the recoil is interesting since I couldn't get the recoil to work when it is all functioning properly, but when it is not, it starts working.

So basically my questions are:

1. WTF is going on ?

2. What does blinking red means on the MF ?

3. What does the little white switch control (next to the recoil plug on the MF).

Regards,

MikeC.

Okay kinda figure it out.

The little switch is the self check switch for the MF. when you switch it to on, it will override the power on/off, and will fire the flash and activate the recoil.

The interesting part is, if the MF support recoil in testing mode, why won't it work when it is normal function ?

Does your M4 have the Tamiya MF-02 and T-05 Control unit?

Yup, and if I look at the Sherman instruction, the recoil port (CN6) is being used for lights. Still bags the question, why does it sync to the recoil on self testing mode ? Would the lights be flashing then on self testing mode in the Sherman ?

Maybe someone with a Tamiya Sherman M4A3 can give this a try.

I will have to go with your Sirvoe suggestion. Already order one from Kevin at RCTA.

I was just looking at my Pershing instructions to see how similar. Not very. MF-03 and DMD T-06.

i guess i need to check my other sherman

poring over all the Tamiya manuals I have. I guess for the Pershing which does have lights and recoil it uses the CN3 port for lights.

I am quite amazed at the differences between the various Tamiya MFs. I guess they turn off the recoil function on the Sherman and made it into a light port, but keep the self test routine. That's the only explanation I can conclude.