110 volt compatibility

[Alastair-1281252]

I want to buy a set in the UK to take to grandchildren in Costa Rica where the electricity supply is 110 volts. Would there be any problem connecting it up or would we need some extra equipment to make it compatible?

Excuse my ignorance but they could use their pads as controllers on a digital system?

Thanks.

[Andy P.]

Hi Alastair,

There are a couple of things to unpack here.

The analog systems, which is everything except ARC PRO actually run on DC power.

The exact volts and amps depends on the set that you by.

There are power supplies that exist that can convert any AC supply (240 or 110) to DC.

You have a few options:

1. Buy a power supply that can handle 100-240 Volts AC and convert to the correct amps and volts DC. In the past this was fairly easy as the jack on the power supply was an industry standard and you only had to be careful of whether the postive or negative was on the inside or outside of the barrel (jack). (If you look at most round aka barrel jacks there is a black ring on the end and the inside will be either positive or negative and vice versa)

Unfortunately the newer Scalextric sets (with the exception of ARC AIR and ARC PRO, they use standard power supplies) power supplies use a proprietary plug.

If you are savvy with wiring this is not a problem and you can wire this in.

2: Get am American power supply. Hornby has a US store that might be able to supply with the correct power supply and have it sent to your grand kids in advance.

3: Get a battery powered Micro set.

For your last question we need to know which system you are referring to. Is it Spark Plug? ARC AIR? ARC PRO? Something else?

https://uk.scalextric.com/community/advice/app-race-control

https://uk.scalextric.com/community/advice/meet-spark-plug