dedenbear box

[gnicholson]

im using an older dedenbear delay box tstop timer in my s street car. i havent had it checked for calibration tested etc but im not having any problems with it. just wondering if there is any advantage to replacing it with a new unit. can the electronics degrade over time etc.

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by gnicholson

im using an older dedenbear delay box tstop timer in my s street car. i havent had it checked for calibration tested etc but im not having any problems with it. just wondering if there is any advantage to replacing it with a new unit. can the electronics degrade over time etc.

There are some who argue that the really old boxes were better/more accurate. I don’t know if I believe that, but if your old box is working fine, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you are lacking features you would like to have.

I’d wondered where you’d been at some point during this season, so it was good to see you going rounds in Earlville!

[Steve Stasko]

Is it a thumbwheel box? I was told to periodically cycle through the entire range of the wheels just to keep the contacts clean. Other than that, mine has always been good to me.

[SST159]

This is an interesting and ironic subject.
I have been chasing erratic reaction times since mid summer this season.
I use the Dedenbear Lightning plus in Pro Tree (NHRA Super Street) trim.
Historically I would carry between .095 to .105 in the delay box for several years which normally would put me in the .0 teens to low .020’s
Now all the sudden first two hits I would see average mid-teens in reaction time which is common but then first and second round bang huge swing in high reaction times. (yes I got lucky and still won the round)
Now I say to myself know I am getting old but not consistently old LOL however round two I find a very similar high reaction time.
This has been going on the rest of the season.
I have since replaced the Trans solenoid and made no difference.
Then I changed the button using the same brand button (Biondo Double 0 button) and no difference.
My question is has anyone ever experienced delay boxes going bad?
I did call Dedenbear and they told me anything could be possible and to send it to them and they would check it out.
The trans temp is all staying normal so I don’t think heat is culprit.
The converter is my next direction, but the data recorder does not show any change from older runs.
Just looking for anyone with similar experiences and what they may have found to be the culprit.
Any suggestions?

[Lenny5160]

Anything is possible, but it doesn't intuitively make sense that a bad delay box would produce a repeating pattern as far as not doing what it is supposed to do. It isn't like the box gets hot the more you use it.

[Charlie Yannetti]

My car was originally built in 1996, and one of the "OLD" blue K&R boxes was installed.. it was marketed by Biondo Racing back then.. fast forward 25 years, and I began questioning the box, as well as its capabilities.. sent it to K&R, they checked, and sent back a report that it was as good as the day it was built..

Being a doubter, I rewired the car in 2020, and installed a brand new K&R Pro Cube.. put all the numbers in from the "OLD" box, and lo and behold, same results.. nothing wrong with the "OLD" box..

My point being, change your box for piece of mind, but I doubt your problems are contained in your box..

BTW, I still have that "OLD" blue box, should anyone be interested..

[The Hawk]

I`m running an RTD-7 in my car (purchased a couple of years ago- the RTD-6 was starting to act up) and have the old 4 stage throttle timer and both seem to be working exceptionally well.....Super Street or Super Pro

[gnicholson]

Originally Posted by Lenny5160

There are some who argue that the really old boxes were better/more accurate. I don’t know if I believe that, but if your old box is working fine, I wouldn’t worry about it unless you are lacking features you would like to have.

I’d wondered where you’d been at some point during this season, so it was good to see you going rounds in Earlville!

thanks tony allways great to see you

[gnicholson]

the box im using is push button not thumbwheel. like any electronics i think heat could effect an electronic component going bad and cause erratic switching speeds. in my mind checking the calibration and operation isnt a bad idea if you have access to the equipment or just send it to someone if you suspect problems. i just thought i would get other opinions