51 replies to this topic

[Mark Onofri]

I picked up a couple of ~3 ohm Koford controllers with brakes. They weren't cheap new, however many years ago that was. I figured, for what I paid for them, I couldn't buy one break! I wanted them for my 1/32 home track so"friends" don't destroy my good ones (with a earth shattering KABOOM)

Anyway, the handles SUCK unless, your a robot*. Any one swapped out this ergonomic failure of a handle? Something simple, no cnc, no kevlar, no resin casting. Unless, someone has done any of the aforementioned cures and, Is selling them reasonable priced.
Granted, not a state of the art controller but, not bad for someone who probably last used a yellow A/FX 1,000 ohm controller. The only one that I would not consider is a 3 eyed handel. Although not as bad, it runs a close second.
* There's a test available if you're undecided if you're a robot or not.

[mreibman]

over the last couple of weeks I repaired a couple of handles that had the interior plastic broken - and other nonsense from the poor design of things in there.

 

I should have gotten pics.

 

In one case, the posts where the white and red wires connect were both broken (and one of the resistance wires had burned through the insulation. I was able to use a hand drill, drill out where the posts go through the handles and use standard machine screws and nylon spaces to replace the posts. I relocated the red and white wires to the ends of the wiper block (yeah, I would still call that a wiper block).

 

On the second case, the 3rd post (that acts as a trigger pin) was also broken... this was a little trickier, but a 10-24 machine screw made a nice hinge pin there. Now I have screw heads and nuts on the outside of the handle, sure, but that was 2 controllers saved from thh scrap heap.

 

Side note, I added 12v LED's to both of these so we know when the lane has power vs when your time runs out.

 

I'll get pics, because I did these for the local raceway.

 

If you want to go a different direction, though, I have taken parma turbo controllers and retrofitted the koford "resistors" into them in a couple ways... basically, a parma with a koford resistor instead of the ceramic one that it comes with. Also for local raceway.

 

However, the koford design is build around their handle plastic. So you're kinda stuck with that.

 

Fortunately, none of these types of controllers are too hard to understand if you pay attention.

[team burrito]

the koford controller itself works great, but the handles are the worst, next to the slotworks controller (now professor motor).

[MSwiss]

Koford controller handles.....not a fan.

As Mike B, I've repaired quite a few of my rental controllers by installing a screw as the pivot.

I was the one who came up with using resistence wire on the circuit boards, when we ran out of the anodized gold heat sinks.

We still had plenty of the circuit boards/switch blocks, from our higher end controllers that used the long 100 watt, hanging resistors.

I suggested to Stu, using the resistance wire between each band, inspired by Stu's personal controller he had made himself, years before, when I first met him.

It was frictionless, with the wiper arm a non -flexible piece, rotated 90 degrees from the orientation of a normal wiper arm.

It pressed up against a series of spaced leaves, made from copper or brass strip, that were oriented in the same direction of the wiper arm.

Those spaced leaves had the resistance wire soldered between them, and as each leaf was pressed against the subsequent one, the resistance was reduced.

[Eddie Fleming]

I know they don't fit but has anyone tried to put the Koford works in a Parma type handle with an adapter board of some sort?

[Mark Onofri]

I'm tempted to attack it with a roto tool and form a hand grip with epoxy. It only took a few minutes to figure out that a Parma handle is a no go. Grafting the grip from a Parma to the Koford would more than likely result in (2) two junk controllers. Hmmm, it's going to require thought, not good. I'm more comfortable with a NO BRAINER!!!(get it?)

[MSwiss]

I thought I posted to this, about combining the two, but I guess I got a call that interrupted me.

I'm sure I looked at it years ago and seemed like a phenomenal amount of work.

The other plus feature of the Koford is the fusable link/something with higher resistance, soldered into the wiring, that will melt, if the controller is hooked up wrong on a track without some sort of fusing at the panel.

[John Luongo]

i have always been a big fan of using fusible links on the + power side. or a resettable cb. a diode to control (block) power flow would save a controller too. i liked the older style koford "planar" handle because i could build in additional wiring and features inside the handle such as a 3 position brake, high and low "speed" resistance and a track voltage reducer for my over 40 eyes. The Parma and Slotworks handles felt good as well. 

[Mark Onofri]

Like I said previously, not a bad controller, one(1) Koford break (pot?) alone would cost me more than I paid for the two (2) controllers . Mike,I'm with you. Far more work than it's worth to adapt it to the Parma handel. If I see another one (Koford)dirt cheap, I'll try to reshape the handle and Bondo the s**t out of it. I'm sure there's not a lot of manufacturers rushing to meet the (nonexistentant) demand for a better handle. Do they even make them anymore?
PS. I'll try to post a picture,so anyone who hasn't seen this will know what we're talking about.

[Alan Dodson]

I converted a few Parma Turbo controllers over to the Koford wiper blocks and resistance wire by using the instructions that Mike Reibman described in a rental controller thread here on SlotBlog. It was really quite easy and has worked really well. You just need some square plastic tubing large enough for the Parma resistor bolt to pass through. I used some acrylic tubing I found on eBay, but Mike used some plastruct or evergreen tubing. Cut the tubing the same length as the Parma resistor and bolt it to the Turbo frame in the same place as the resistor. Then attach the wiper block to the plastic tubing. I used double sided servo mounting tape while I think Mike glued his on with some sort of silicone cement. You will have to reshape the wiper arm a bit and connect the wiper block to the white power wire, but overall it's pretty simple and works well for rental controllers. No more burnt resistors from driving for 30 minutes at half throttle!

 

Thanks, Mike!

[Jim Difalco]

Geeeze, you guys are gluttons for punishment.

 

Sorry to toot my own horn here but I must to save the track owners of America from wasting their time and money. Out of nearly 480) DD205 rental, DD206 and DD207 controllers built in the last year I only have one transistor failure that I know of for this new design. They are fully fused with diode protection as well. Simple to maintain with ball bearing triggers for a list price of $99, $129 and $159.

[MSwiss]

The Koford has held up for me amazingly well as a a "normal" rental controller.

Where they take 90% of their abuse is from birthday parties with 5-9 year olds, with 2 hand death grips on the controllers, trying to make the car go faster, during full on races, on 6-7 volts.

Or from them dropping the controller, or sometimes throwing the controller down in front of them, on red or white lane, when they lost a close 5 lap race.

With the easy access, they also like to pick at the blue wires, where they attach to the circuit board, in the short time between races.

I've actually considered putting fidget spinners at the drivers panel to combat that.

I missed where Mike B mentioned he converted the Parma.

It must of not sunk in when he added the comment:
"However, the koford design is build around their handle plastic. So you're kinda stuck with that."

Also Eddie made his comment, so he must of missed it also.

Alan, thanks for the description of what you did.

A pic or 2 would be great.

Jim, your new handle/frame design is terrific.

I might eventually add some of the $99 controller's to my rental fleet.

But was your "gluttons for punishment" comment necessary?

I really did need to use something from 2005 to 2021. Lol

Moving forward, let's say a guy came in with his old G20 car , and his Parma Turbo had a resistor that was blown, or too rusty to work, could he drive his car around, doing non-competitive laps, reasonable amount of time?

IOW, not your normal blip and punch, but where a good portion of the lap was holding the controller in the middle bands?

[jimht]

10ohm 100watt...Best for all rental purposes, may require special handle and heat sink:

 

https://www.ohmite.c...eostats/RKS10RE

 

[MSwiss]

Over 3" in diameter and over $100 each?

To do what?

[jimht]

Uh, when you turn the knob on the rheostat it varies the voltage to the motor in your car.

 

It might be overkill but it will handle just about everything and since there's no return spring it's quite aerobic.

 

 

[Jim Difalco]

10ohm 100watt...Best for all rental purposes, may require special handle and heat sink:

 

https://www.ohmite.c...eostats/RKS10RE

 

Sorry Honeycutt but it does not have brake contacts.

[Jim Difalco]

"But was your "gluttons for punishment" comment necessary?"

 

Necessary, no, but It just seemed a heck of a lot of effort was spent on repairing a handle instead of buying a replacement one.

[MSwiss]

Replacing the handle or buying your controller?

[Bill from NH]

It sounds as if Lexan handles were available for the Koford controllers, there might be a market for them.

[MSwiss]

It sounds as if Lexan handles were available for the Koford controllers, there might be a market for them.

There has been "improved material" handles and they are marginally better.

 

Expecting a relatively thin post, molded into the handle, acting as a pivot and have it hold up to kid use, is being overly optimistic, IMO.

 

The Koford drag controller is a very popular item with that crowd, with a fair amount of drag strips requiring the racers to use the "house" ones hooked up to the track.

 

Replacing the handle or buying your controller?

I'll answer both.

 

Replacing the handle doesn't fix the problem.

 

Kids will just eventually break that one.

 

Spending 15 minutes or less, installing the metal screw, fixes the problem and you are done.

 

Buying a new controller really does cost money.

 

Easy for a manufacturer who most likely works out of his home, to expect a raceway who pays rent, and has endured the Covid era, to just shell out $65 for a better item, rather than make do with a 25 cent fix and some labor.

[Mark Onofri]

You mean to tell me that a two handed death grip will NOT make it go faster? Now I've heard it ALL!!!
Only kidding.
I'll try to post a picture of a Parma and a Koford for comparison.
I think that Jim was trying to say, unless you have nothing else to do, the amount of time to convert it is ,is,is,a waist.( Not my first choice of words)

[Mark Onofri]

I forgot, this one has a tyre& rim for a nob. I think the last time I checked, the break was $59? And the nob was $16? If you know the exact amount, please correct me. Anyway, I could have bought (2) two nobs for what I paid for (2) two controllers .

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[Mark Onofri]

It's like the difference between holding a paint brush and a 2x4.

[MSwiss]

When I was GM at Koford, after selling Rolf Lundberg, our European distributor, some controllers, he faxed us and said he would be shipping them back.

When I asked why, his answer was "In America, your hands must be shaped differently, from driving tractors".

[Mark Onofri]

I was hoping that the second photo would illustrate the difficulty. Did it?

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