richard_wardley2 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 I have 2 cars with the Digital Retrofit C7005 thing.Both register lane changing fine, but only 1 registers laps on the app.The car which does register laps has had its lights stop working this afternoon.I also have a 3rd car with a C7005, which starts when the car is paired to a controller, but then just stops and doesnt start again. Also - calibration doesnt do anything - I suspect this is perhaps a bad C7005. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcote Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 The ARC Pro powerbase uses the chip's LED and the guide passing through a infra-red beam to count the laps. Both have to be working to get a lap counted. Looks like the LED is working if you are lane changing. It's more likely to be the guide not triggering the beam. That can be because the guide isn't black (Scalextric blue guides won't work and neither will red or white guides from some other manufacturers). Or it could be because the guide is lifting up when the car is accelerating - always best to have the powerbase towards the end of a straight rather than at the beginning. Anything that could be lifting the front of the car at that crucial point could be the culprit. Don't know about the lights... could be an iffy connection. I think it's just a co-incidence... The third car - does it work okay before you launch the app? The calibration things can be a bit mind-boggling with more than two cars - you need to check the colour of the car on the app screen, then match that with the controller on the same colour and ID the car onto that colour too. That 3-way process has tripped me up more than once. Hopefully it's that and not the chip - if it shows some life, then that's a good sign! But maybe a check of the soldering points is in order? And a bit of TLC on the braids, just in case the connection is not good. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_wardley2 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Hi Woodcote, thanks for the pointers - i have checked the guide on the car which changes lanes but doesnt register laps - and its black (was really expecting to see another colour once you said about the colours).Its a Fly Lister, not that that makes any difference.The LED is quite some distance back from the guide (cos there isnt anywhere towards the front of the car to fit it)Does the LED play any part at all in the Lap registration, or is is purly a a physical thing with the guide passing over the sensor to cut the beam ? Perhaps the guide isnt deep enough to penetrate down the slot enough ? or perhaps the black plastic isnt black enough ?Its got me foxed.The lights - well - I'll put that down to co-incidence - but just thought I'd mention it as I wondered how well the Pro base contols voltage and wondered if it could have blown them.3rd car I think needs some TLC and need to get the hot glue gun out again and de-rig the chip and make sure it runs without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcote Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 The lap counting with ARC Pro is a two-stage process - it requires the guide to trigger the IR sensor and then the car's LED to tell the powerbase which car has gone through. It was the same on the digital Advanced Power Base (APB), although a firmware update for the APB removed the need for the IR sensor and counted laps only from the LED. If your car is lane changing okay, then the LED is functioning. The fact your LED is "some distance" back from the guide (how far?) could be an issue if your powerbase is positioned after a corner and the car tends to 'tail-out' or 'fish-tail' out of that corner. The LED needs to be directly over the sensor (ie. over the slot) to register a lap. The ideal place for the powerbase - considering car/LED straightness & guide depth - is at the end of your longest straight. With the wireless controllers, powerbase accessibility becomes less of an issue in track design... I have recently noticed my ARC Pro failing to register laps. I figured out that if the lane change button is held down as the car passes over the powerbase, then the lap is not registered. I had that confirmed with another ARC Pro user. I doubt if that is the problem for you, but worth checking if you have a lane charger very soon after the powerbase... Or you are noticing that the car is randomly changing lane without you using the button (that will be a chip thing...). I've found all my retro-fit chipped cars are working fine on ARC Pro, but the C7005 are not considered quite as reliable as the current C8515 digital plug chips. There's also the issue of DIY soldering causing issues. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_wardley2 Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Of course - it just dawned on me that the base would need to know which car broke the light - and the only way to tell is via the LED.The TVR which works and is retrofitted is 2cm from the back of the guide to the LED.The Lister LED is 3.5cm from the back of the guide - but I really dont think I can get it any closer, any further forward is where the motor is mounted.I could possible get the LED to sit under the back of the guide, and maybe take a slither off the guide, so it can see the track - its all a bit tight there with the motor mount!So - its either the guide not breaking the LED light - or the LED not registering quickly enough after its broken it.I will see how slow a car needs to drive over the LAP LED to make it register - which may help determine if its a distance between break and LED.It makes sense I guess that pressing the Lane Change stops the registering of a lap.As far as positioning of the powerbase, I get it that the cars have to cross the sensor in a straight line, and wouldn't work if they are a little sideways..I will persevere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy P. Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Just for kicks, test the cars in analog (ARC AIR) mode and make sure the register laps.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superturtle Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 did u get a resolve on this pls? having same issue, and yes they do work fine when running in air modeonly fault is failing to register laps in pro mode, all other workings: lane change, braking etc is fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodcote Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Having the LED too far back from the guide certainly causes problems with the ARC Pro lap sensors. Anything more than an inch (25mm) from the trailing edge of the guide blade and lap counting won't happen. If that's the case with the LED on your car, try and re-locate it. The other issues might be a non-black guide or the LED in front of the guide. Neither will trigger laps. And you have to be very careful setting up the cars in the app. Have a read here: slotracer.online/arc-pro-guide/preparation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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