Speed surge on lanechangers

[Jonas-545089]

Hi guys. I recently purchased my first slot car set a month ago, a second hand scalextric set. Got instantly hooked and just received the Platinum GT ARC Pro set and a few extra cars and pieces. My kids and I are having a great time so far!

I'm still learning about the slot car hobby and are searching the forum everyday for tips and answers.

One thing I haven't found an answer to is this:

when I drive in digital mode and especially at cruise speed, the cars get a small speed boost when driving over the pitlane trackpiece and the lanechangers.

it doesn't affect the driving as it is only for a millisecond, but the sound of it irritates me.

is there a solution to this?

it doesn't happen in analogue.

Jonas

[Andy P.]

Hi Jonas,

Glad you're having fun!

Does it happen to all the cars and all the switches?

Usually there is a drop in power when the cars cross the lane changes as they are unpowered.

The usual tip of cleaning the track often helps ....

What might possibly be happening is they are touching both lanes at once and while both lanes are supposed to have the same power all the time (in digital mode you are essentially tell the car how much power to consume rather than as in analog mode controlling how much power the car gets....) there is a small chance there is a difference and this might cause a small "blip" of power...

The easiest way to check is trim the braids as narrow as possible and make sure that the slot around the switches is clean and free from dust/lint/small bits of braid.

Then move the car at the absolute slowest speed (maybe even push it) to the lane changer and change lanes and see if it happens.

If you have a multimeter (sometimes called a voltmeter) you can also go around checking the power around the track to make sure it is the same everywhere.

You can also check if maybe it is a case of one side has higher resistance which will affect power flow. To do this power must be OFF: In fact unplug the track to be sure.

Set your multimeter to test Ohms (usually an Omega symbol) and check if the track before or after the switch has a different level of resistance.

Maybe the steel is better on one side of the switch or one of the rails is better...?

A final issue could be there is a dip in the track and the cars wheels are just spinning and it sounds like a surge.

I think that set has a BMW GT3 car and some them have a slightly oversized bump in the back that may cause the car to bottom out, hop and thus cause a wheel spin ....

Let us know how you get on!

[Jonas-545089]

Hi Jonas,

Glad you're having fun!

Does it happen to all the cars and all the switches?

Usually there is a drop in power when the cars cross the lane changes as they are unpowered.

The usual tip of cleaning the track often helps ....

What might possibly be happening is they are touching both lanes at once and while both lanes are supposed to have the same power all the time (in digital mode you are essentially tell the car how much power to consume rather than as in analog mode controlling how much power the car gets....) there is a small chance there is a difference and this might cause a small "blip" of power...

The easiest way to check is trim the braids as narrow as possible and make sure that the slot around the switches is clean and free from dust/lint/small bits of braid.

Then move the car at the absolute slowest speed (maybe even push it) to the lane changer and change lanes and see if it happens.

If you have a multimeter (sometimes called a voltmeter) you can also go around checking the power around the track to make sure it is the same everywhere.

You can also check if maybe it is a case of one side has higher resistance which will affect power flow. To do this power must be OFF: In fact unplug the track to be sure.

Set your multimeter to test Ohms (usually an Omega symbol) and check if the track before or after the switch has a different level of resistance.

Maybe the steel is better on one side of the switch or one of the rails is better...?

A final issue could be there is a dip in the track and the cars wheels are just spinning and it sounds like a surge.

I think that set has a BMW GT3 car and some them have a slightly oversized bump in the back that may cause the car to bottom out, hop and thus cause a wheel spin ....

Let us know how you get on!

 

 

 

 

Hi Andy, thanks for the reply.

 

 

a blip of power is a very good description of what I’m experiencing.

 

 

just had a quick go with the four cars that came in the set and they all experience the issue, but the Mustang GT4 and the Continental GT3 are the worst.

 

 

from my logic sense it seems as when I’m driving at a cruising speed and the car looses power at the dead spots it gets a small blip of full power before it recognizes how much power I’m giving it.

if that makes sense.

 

 

I will do a bit of troubleshooting during the weekend to see if it matters wich app I’m using and even chancing the digital chip among the cars.

 

 

Jonas

[Jonas-545089]

So I have done a bit of testing, and it affects some cars more than others. all of the cars experience the "blip" but a few of the cars are far more responsive, and one of them is actually hard to stop sometimes due to how litte throttle it needs to maintain speed. and it means that when it goes over the track where the pitlane merges back to the track it sometimes goes of the track in the following corner because of the speed "blip" it gets.

It really takes away alot of the fun at the moment, so hopefully there is a solution to the problem.

[Andy P.]

Could you please film it and upload it somwhere?

[Jonas-545089]

Could you please film it and upload it somwhere?

 

 

I’ve recorded a short clip...

 

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/S4kb2s0

[Nelson 1707822610]

Hello Jonas!!

I may have found the problem.

I had the same issue and in addition my cars would not slow down quick enough.

I ran the cars with no app which exaggerated the issue.

That lead me to the controller have a slight connection even when fully let OFF.

SOLUTION

Dismantle controller. Inside is a carbon pickup for the variable power that comes off the trigger.

This carbon slider must be completely grease free.

No grease no lube.

Use a good quality electrical contact cleaner on this and clean with lint free cloth to clean the contact.

I glued mine in place to stop it moving about.

Be careful not to get glue anywhere you do not want it.

Finally place controller in a warm place to dry for 30mins.

Hopefully this will fix your problem.

NELSON

[Nelson 1707822610]

P.S.

A lighter car

A de-magged car

Or a more powerful car will blip over the change over more than others.

And the blip will always be there, but will hopefully significantly reduced.

NELSON

[Andy P.]

Thanks Nelson!