Legacy remote

I had trouble when I got mine. I made sure the switch was set on the base to charge the controller. Then I put the controller on the base and powered up the controller. That was the only way I could get it to power up. I called Lionel and it had to go back to them for repair. It has worked great since. 

The reset button won't do anything that pulling the batteries won't do.  If putting known good alkaline batteries in the CAB2 doesn't allow it to power up, something is amiss.  With the rechargeable batteries in it, does the base start the charge cycle when you place the remove in the cradle?

I just tried new alkaline batteries and it did power up.  Guess I need to get new rechargables.  The unit did appear to be going through the proper charging cycle.  Thanks for your reply.  Here's hoping that batteries were my only issue.

Sounds like you may be on the road to happiness.  For the rechargeable batteries, put them in and see if the unit starts the charging cycle with the slow blinking red lights.  If so, give it a few hours and see if it completes.  It'll transition to blinking green lights and then steady green lights if the batteries receive a full charge.

I stopped using the rechargeable batteries that came with the system and when I did, I charged them in another charging unit. The legacy charging unit was not performing correctly and did not want to send the base back for something like that.

I see alkaline batteries as the remote displays the power level on those as well. MAKE SURE YOU SHUT OFF THE CHARGING SWITCH IF YOU USE ALKALINES.

I don't use the #990 to charge batteries, I use the #993 charging base.  It doesn't have any extra electronics to heat things up, I'm much more comfortable charging in that base.  I taped over the contacts as well as turned the charger off on my #990 base.