Q. Unit will not turn on.
A. If batteries are dead, recharge them with the supplied wall adapter or use the automobile accessory jack adapter.  Ensure there is power to the automobile accessory jack.  If the unit will still not turn on, make sure fuse in the auto adapter is good.  If the wall adapter is used, use a voltmeter to make sure the wall adapter is good.

Q. VC3000 has error message on the screen.
A. See the troubleshooting table in the manual.

Q. Does the VC3000 have to be perfectly level to be accurate?
A. No.  As long as the accelerometer was zeroed for the test surface which it does before every test unless it was disabled in the setup, the accuracy of the accelerometer will be off by 1 - Cos(angle).  At 3 degrees it will be 1 - Cos(3) = 0.00137.

Q. How many runs will the VC3000 store?
A. 255 runs or 1269 seconds, whichever comes first.

Q. The accelerometer seems to be locked up.
A. Some units purchased between January 1, 2008 and March 17, 2008 may have this problem. Click here for a solution.

Q. The locking lever parts are wearing out, can I get replacement parts?
A. Yes.  Call and get the parts you need or a complete locking lever kit.  The new parts are made of a much stronger and wear resistant Nylon material.  They have natural lubrication properties so the levers slide aqainst the washers more easily.

Q. The VC3000 will not shut off, or it does not respond to the keypad.
A.

1. Hold the power in for at least one second.
2. It is possible for older units to lock up if the battery was low but did not reset the processor.  Then if the battery was charged before it was completely discharged, the processor would remain locked up.  The only way to reset the unit is to unplug all power from the circuit board, including the battery pack.  To do this, unplug any power plugs from the power jack in the back of the unit.  Then remove the four screws on the bottom of the unit and pull the battery connector from the pins, located near the power jack.  Replace the battery connector to the pins.  Make sure the plastic pins and inside rubber washers are in place, then replace the cover and the screws.

Q. I triggered the VC3000 with an external trigger and the car stopped in 4 seconds, but the VC3000 ran for 10 seconds or more.
A. The threshold G must be reached or it will run for 10 seconds.  This is done so the hand held reaction time switch can be used without terminating the test early.  If you change the G Threshold, do not make it higher than the expected G force for the test.  0.50 G threshold is common.

Q. How often do the accelerometers in the VC3000 need to be calibrated?
A. The accelerometers are state of the art micro machined and do not need periodic calibration.  They can easily be checked by following the method from the manual or on the VC3000 Cal check web page.