A few general questions from a newb

[Tom-375600]

I've had an Arc Pro set for around 4 months now.  Combined it with an old sport set to make a decent track.  Couple of things I was hoping to get some clarity on:

1. The track seems slippery.  I have sanded the tires down so that there is a lot more tire contact to the track. It made a difference, but its still hard to control. Does this get better with time as the cars get broken in and rubber builds up on the track? 

2. Digital cars are hard to drive. Analogue cars are really nice. Good throttle control. Digital cars on the other hand, I'd say I can't use more than 15-20% of the trigger travel, and on some its less than that. The range is so narrow it makes it hard to slow down for a corner (without stopping) and then trying to accelerate again, if you go to far its screaming.  Its like a hair trigger. Now, I don't tend to use the APP or the Magic App because I haven't found a great way to set everything up. I just want to go upstairs, turn the the thing on and run some laps. But is the only way I'm going to get better trigger control is to always run the app when the digital cars on on the track? 

3. I get power surges. From what I read, this is where the braids lose contact and the chip reverts momentairly to analogue, which means full blast.  The worst area is right around the XLC after crossing the following lane change triangle bit. Is my only option to move the XLC to someplace with a larger straight after? Oddly enough, I do not have this problem on the pit lane pieces, nor after crossing over the inside to outside crossovers I have in the corners. Its mostly just the XLC piece. 

I was stoked to get the digital set. But now I'm thinking I made a mistake. Changing lanes is cool, but driving is so much more difficult, even with practice, that I don't know how I can just casually fire it up and do laps with anyone else. 

[Andy P.]

Hi there and welcome.

About 1: Newer Sport track is very smooth. Some would say the smoothest in the industry. Another thing that might be causing you problems is Classic track has higher "magnetism" so the cars will be pulled down harder plus surface is rougher. Some options are using silicone tires or polyurethane tires that have more grip than the standard rubber ones. Also try putting a little bit of an angle on the tires so that more rubber hits the road on corners. I also use black gloss nail polish on the surface of the front tires so minimize grip in the front.

About 2 and 3: That behavior is unfortunately normal when a chipped i.e. digital car runs in analog mode. In digital mode though they should behave fine. It is important to remember that in digital, unlike analog mode the track is under full power all the time and you pulling the trigger just tells the car how much power to "accept". Mixing classic and sport track means the power is undergoing different levels of resistance (see the comment about magnetism). 

The digital signal is really a set of wavelengths much like radio stations. If you remember analog TV or radio you might remember that putting aluminum foil would allow you to get more stations. When you use different types of track you might be affecting these wavelengths ever so slightly causing the odd behavior.

I suggest setting up the smallest oval possible with only Sport track and then expanding it to see if the behavior changes...

If the digital cars still won`t behave there might be a problem with a transistor or capacitor in the power base...

Good luck!

[Tom-375600]

Thanks for the thoughts, Andy.  

I don't have any classic track, maybe I can try rounding the tire edges a bit. I have read about that. 

I may end up having to break things down a small oval. Really hoping to avoid that. 
 

The digital cars.. I did some more experimenting last night.  I think I am having power connection problems between the track/braid or braids/pickup.  Some of the digital cars run really well. Ironically, my two best ones are dallara indycars (old) that have been converted to digital.  The cars that were actually DPR seem to have the most issues. 

I will keep working at it.  I did play a bit with throttle profiles in the Magic Arc App.  The Scalextric App is buggy for me.   

[Expidia]

6 hours ago, Tom-375600 said:

Thanks for the thoughts, Andy.  

I don't have any classic track, maybe I can try rounding the tire edges a bit. I have read about that. 

I may end up having to break things down a small oval. Really hoping to avoid that. 
 

The digital cars.. I did some more experimenting last night.  I think I am having power connection problems between the track/braid or braids/pickup.  Some of the digital cars run really well. Ironically, my two best ones are dallara indycars (old) that have been converted to digital.  The cars that were actually DPR seem to have the most issues. 

I will keep working at it.  I did play a bit with throttle profiles in the Magic Arc App.  The Scalextric App is buggy for me.   

Hi Tom.  I'm new to the hobby, but I'm asorbing as much as I can as especially with their app that is not very user friendly along with being new user frustrating.  I can't use the Magic App as it is not on the iOS app store in New York (says not available in my region) Every device I own is iOS.

Since you have been using the Pro Arc for 4 months now I'm sure it goes without saying that you have your profiles set in the Arc App at 25% and are using the Throttle profile A (which dampens the trigger from those fast starts).

The other thing that I learned from the posters . . . is the speed of the car (if I understand correctly) only works when you are "running in an event".  What I found with my Digital Pro Platinum set up is if I just turn the system on and take a few laps around the track the cars are hard to control which means they are probably getting 100% power.  But if I choose as example Grand Prix and set it for 5 or 10 laps the cars are more manageable which means they are running at 25% tmax power top end.  

I also have a full analog Scalextric Sport Track set up that is 20 years old that I picked up 2 weeks ago.  But I moved up to digital as the analog was already getting boring to me.  Maybe it's the older worn motors on the 9 analog cars that were included because the 4 new cars that came with the digital set are so much peppier and handle so much better.

I did sand the tires on the analog cars and that made a world of difference in their handling and I was amazed how tightly they now stay on the track's curves.  I'll lightly sand the 4 new digital cars tires too, but I have to wait until I'm beyond my 30 day exchange period in case any other issues come up.  It really is night and day in handling after you tape a piece of 220 grit sandpaper to a track section and lightly sand one tire at a time.  I'll never be a competitive racer, so tire "truing" is not a concern to me . . . but sanding does help to remove the mold release stuff that is inherently on new rubber tires (or so I've read).

Paul

Edited February 26 by Expidia

[Tom-375600]

Finally had time to do some experimenting.  

I think the majority of my issues are car specific. I have a Ford GT GTE that is just too much.  When I calibrate the car, it makes a full lap at 11% and deslots at 13%.  That seems a bit tight on the tolreances.   

For my test today I wiped down the track and then ran about 120 laps in each lane with a variet of analoge cars.  
 

Fired up the Magic Arc App and calibrated the Ford as above. Then set it for a 40 lap race with just the one car. And on the normal profile it was hair trigger still. The diffence in squeeze between stop and too fast is minute. I did try to change the throttle profile in a second race, but that made it worse. I may have to go back to that. But its not good to have to have a throttle profile for one car. And this car still has the worst "connection" to the track causing surges over the lane changer. 

I ran another digital car after it, and the calibration spread was a bit higher. And the surges, while not completely gone, were a lot less and a lot less harsh. 

Thinking maybe its time to pull the plug out of the Ford and just run it analog. 

I still think my track is too slipery.. but maybe the Ford is just too light in the backend, even with the magnet? 

[Paul-346202]

On 25/02/2024 at 16:48, Tom-375600 said:

I've had an Arc Pro set for around 4 months now.  Combined it with an old sport set to make a decent track.  Couple of things I was hoping to get some clarity on:

1. The track seems slippery.  I have sanded the tires down so that there is a lot more tire contact to the track. It made a difference, but its still hard to control. Does this get better with time as the cars get broken in and rubber builds up on the track? 

2. Digital cars are hard to drive. Analogue cars are really nice. Good throttle control. Digital cars on the other hand, I'd say I can't use more than 15-20% of the trigger travel, and on some its less than that. The range is so narrow it makes it hard to slow down for a corner (without stopping) and then trying to accelerate again, if you go to far its screaming.  Its like a hair trigger. Now, I don't tend to use the APP or the Magic App because I haven't found a great way to set everything up. I just want to go upstairs, turn the the thing on and run some laps. But is the only way I'm going to get better trigger control is to always run the app when the digital cars on on the track? 

3. I get power surges. From what I read, this is where the braids lose contact and the chip reverts momentairly to analogue, which means full blast.  The worst area is right around the XLC after crossing the following lane change triangle bit. Is my only option to move the XLC to someplace with a larger straight after? Oddly enough, I do not have this problem on the pit lane pieces, nor after crossing over the inside to outside crossovers I have in the corners. Its mostly just the XLC piece. 

I was stoked to get the digital set. But now I'm thinking I made a mistake. Changing lanes is cool, but driving is so much more difficult, even with practice, that I don't know how I can just casually fire it up and do laps with anyone else. 

Hi Tom, 

The track has low grip levels so make sure you true and treat the tyres. Use 3 in 1 oil, get the tyres very soft and they will grip fine. 

[Tom-375600]

I finally cracked it. 

I've trued (sanded the tires) already. But what really helped, of all things, is to use the damp cloth and wipe it down before I use it, even if its only set for a couple of days.  Do that, and wipe down the tires and all of a sudden, they have grip. 

The second thing I realized, for some of the digital cars, you gotta run it through an app so you can set a throttle profile.  The Ford GTE is driveable now. Its still the most challenging, but its not a nightmare any more. I have some digital cars that I can just drop on there and they run/control fine without. But that Ford, the throttle profile did it. 
 

So now its just down to the small details to try to get worked out.  

[Andy P.]

The Ford GT`s motor is of a slim can type that revs higher faster than the other 13D/Mabuchi style motor.

You may want to explore different gearing (whether it is called higher or lower depends on whom you ask) i.e. have larger pinion or small crown gear to slow the acceleration down. This will mean you will have a higher top speed but on most home tracks that is not usually an issue.

On tires/tyres: Most racers wipe them down after truing. Some use alcohol or white spirits. Personally I think that dries them out. Some use suntan lotion.... I use a lint-free clothe with the smallest, thinnest drop of Ballistol on it. I run the car a few laps and then wipe with a dry cloth. I then use masking tape on the rears to get any lint or dust off of them. I repeat that after every stint.

Some argue that you need to get rubber on the crack and have a "mule" car (or two) that has the widest tires possible and run it for a few hundred laps, wiping and/or cleaning (using masking tape) the tires every 10-20 laps.

I personally don`t have time to run mules usually...

 

[Tom-375600]

I do like to fiddle with the cars, but not sure I'm up for replacing gears yet. Seems like a good way for me to end with broken stuff! 

Its getting close to the point where its running well enough to invite the neighbor over and run some cars with another person, not just solo or with a pace car. 

[Paul-346202]

11 hours ago, Tom-375600 said:

I do like to fiddle with the cars, but not sure I'm up for replacing gears yet. Seems like a good way for me to end with broken stuff! 

Its getting close to the point where its running well enough to invite the neighbor over and run some cars with another person, not just solo or with a pace car. 

Don't worry too much, having fun is the most important thing!