49 replies to this topic

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Thanks I'll try to find that stuff locally!

I tried using the router bit and it got real chattery where the glue was thick and I worry it'll burn up the bit or router.

[MarkH]

If your router has variable speed try slow the RPM down so it does not heat the glue up as much.

 

Outside corner walls: I used rubber moulding from HD or Lowes. The stuff that is put under kitchen cabinets. It will protect the walls and give the cars something softer to hit. Trim to fit. Clean with naphtha then use double sided carpet tape and staples to hold it on. 

[Jay Guard]

A.J.:

Sorry about the delay but here are a few pictures I took about how I made the connections at the track drop-thrus....

 

Power Taps w/Drop-Thrus:

 

Section Drop-Thrus only:The black strap at the bow-ties is just a regular tie rap.

 

Hope this helps a bit and just ask if you have any other questions.

 

 

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Hey everyone! So I'm at the point of getting the slot car track painted, but after sanding it I've got quite a few areas that are bare mdf.

What primer should I use?? I'm using the rustoleum 5300 epoxy as the final coat. Thanks!

[MSwiss]

I've used Kilz with good luck, on both my tracks, which are 2 part, water-based epoxy.(Both Rustoleum and Sherwin Williams)

https://www.kilz.com...r/kilz-original

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Thank you MSwiss!

[MattD]

On the current track  used Home Depot latex with primer built in.   Worked fine for me and is still fine after over a year of  weekly racing.   This is a home track, not commercial.

 

The previous routed track I built was in 1975 and it still is fine with gloss latex white.

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Hey everyone I need some help! 

 

As you can see in the pictures, the drop thrus are staggered 2' apart at the drivers stations. My question is, will that make any difference when adding the power taps? 

 

My second question is, can I put the power taps in a straight line and have the positive and negative next to each other? I've been told that most tracks split the positive and negative power taps, granted I don't know if that is something that has to be done.

 

Questions three is do I need to keep the power tap wires the same length at both spots in the track where I"m putting them, or just keep them the same length to each section? 

 

I'm kind of stuck waiting to braid till I know what I should do here. The one picture shows where I want to put the 2 power tap drop thrus in orange. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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[MattD]

I only know what works on my little track.    I only have one set of taps and they are at a track joint and are inline with each other.    I ended up with 4 controller stations in a row just like you have.    I have a drop for a second tap, but with the short track length, 75' or so and using braid, there was no drop off in response time or speed and I never put jumpers to the second taps.     I also added extra controller stations  by just using jumpers off the main controller hook up for that lane.   Wasn't sure about that, but the response and speed seem equal to all us racers.    At the other end I had a controller with about 6 foot hook up wires and I put it on  the outside lane at the controller station and put a hanger outside that end of the the track.    There seems to be no issues with the longer hook up leads to the other end of the track and the longer leads on the other controller don't seem to affect  the racing much.   This is on my little track running 20K Chinese motors.

 

The advantage is guys are not stacked on top of each other and trying to look past somebody, everybody has a clear track view.   If somebody de-slots there is a driver close  by that can get the car and nobody has to walk around the track to get a car.    I still have the 4 in  row driver stations, but there are three other hookups to spread everybody around.

 

This shows the original 4 in a row drivers stations, now the green lane controller has long leads and is at the outside of the bank at bottom of the picture.   Orange has a second hook up station at the outside of the main straight entering the bank and the yellow has a second hookup at the outside if the flat curve. 

 

 

 

[Ramcatlarry]

There are several good functioning methods and theories for slot car track wiring:

 

1) Equalize the power tap wires lengths to make the same power for everyone.  A few inches difference is not critical.  Usually the taps start at a centralized bus bar and 'spiderweb' to the tap locations.

2) The shortest length of wire has the least resistance and therefore the most power.  If you have the first tap close to the driver panel, that follows this idea.

3) The power tap is the right(+) side and it should give most power in acceleration zones - where you fully pull the trigger.  The left (-) common ground tap also give better braking if it is placed in a braking zone - at the end of a long straight.

 

Depending on how much speed and power your motors are needing, you can increase the tap wire sizes.  Many home set 1/32 cars can race quite well with 18ga wiring.  Most commercial tracks are wired with 12ga minimum with 2ga battery cable from the power source to the relay distribution to the controller white posts.

 

I would put three power (+) taps in and three (-) taps, based on your track design. 

 

When you are under the track, trying to hook the wires up in the correct braid, you will appreciate staggering the locations.  Power taps should have continuity with the right braid and only the proper colored driver station.  The left braid can have common continuity with all red posts and other left braids.

[Steve Ogilvie]

I have not chimed in here because there are a lot of great suggestions but one thing I never do is use a belt sander on a track surface. Block sand by hand and then finish with a vibrating sander. Belt sanders remove material very quickly and can cause dips.

 

To remove old glue from reliefs I use a small base router with a plastic electrical outlet cover double sided taped to its base. Covers used to be available with a round hole in the middle, that or cut your own hole. This allows the router bit to follow a bank curve without rising up too much as long as the cover is kept  at right angle to the slot. Set the depth so it is only deep enough to remove the glue and leave the paint on the relief. 

[MattD]

I  second what Steve said about a belt sander.  If you use one, be sure you keep it flat. Don't let it lift at either end.    Don't ask me how I know this!   

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Thanks for the input Steve! I ended up using an orbital sander to get most of it and then hand sanded the remaining areas. I'm very proud of the surface considering it's state when I began! 

 

I'm still wondering if it's common for the braid drops to be staggered in front of the driver stations. 

 

Also, should the wires between the driver stations and track be the same length? And would using 12ga for all the wiring be fine? Ive read people have used 16ga to the drivers stations but I've got the 12ga on hand already. Thanks again! 

 

AJ Fox

www.raceqcmp.com

[MSwiss]

Will edit voice post....

 

How many taps are you going to have?

 

Just one?

 

If so, definitely run your positive to the to the control panel, using that polarity as the one you are going to break with the White & Black terminals.

 

You use the positive, because most electronic controllers that are polarity dependent, are what you call, Positive Gate.

 

They will work, and not blow, when you hook them up.

 

Run your ground to the opposite side of the track timer, not worrying if you get it exactly in half.

 

Just fairly close, on what's convenient.

 

Having the negative/ground on the opposite part of the track will even out the power, according to people with more knowledge than me.

 

12 gauge is absolutely fine.

 

My King track has 10 gauge wiring and my Flat track is 14 gauge.

 

Don't worry about absolutely equal lengths of everything.

 

Just try to get it close.

 

If the power is a minuscule higher or lower, from lane to lane, with any normal race, you run every lane, anyway.

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

The top picture is what I'm wanting to do, but I figured I'd get input before doing it. Making all 4 lane drop thrus start at the same area to hook up to the drivers stations and PS seems like it would make wiring it easier than if they were staggered, like it was originally. 

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[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

MSwiss I plan on having 2 power taps on it. Refer to post 33's top picture and you can see in orange where I want to put them. There are already holes in one location and it works out perfectly if I use 2 power taps. The track is 88' and I figured every 29' would have a power input.

[MSwiss]

What you are talking about is actually 3 taps.

 

IMO, the tap going to the panel is fine as it shows.

 

If you wanted it super-even, each time, you would measure the run to the longest lane.

 

IOW, on the one running to the top straightaway, you would make them all the same length as the wire running to Red lane.

 

I personally don't think you'll see a difference, doing it that way.

 

Shorter is a cleaner installation, and as I said, most slot races include each racer running every lane.

[MattD]

Mike probably (actually does have)  a better idea to run one tap at the controller panel and the other tap half way around the track.   that makes really good sense to even out the power around the track.    I do want to add that you shouldn't over think this. I would drop all braids for power hookups right in front of the controller or as close as you can depending on where your power supply and main wiring terminal will be.   I think you will be fine and I would want them all in a row so you can keep the wiring as neat as possible .     If you need another tap half way around the track, I would just take it from the terminal strip and  to the nearest part of the track appx half way around give or take 10 foot or so.     Buying a box of 14/2 with ground is the easiest way to add a tap.   2 pieces will  be all you  need to add taps to  the other side of the track.     I think you have seen this picture, but I will post it again to show how I got my drops wired to a terminal and kept everything neat and short.  You can make this rocket science or you can just power up and see if it works fine, you can always change stuff.    If you are worried about power levels being different because wires lengths are different, just make them all the same length.   You can coil up the ones too long and wire tie them.   That will give you equal length wiring

 

 

 

[MattD]

This was the neatest track wiring I have ever done.    Usually my wiring has been  a mess of un-organized wire!  I got the Pro Motor 4 lane panel  cheap thru ebay and it really  made it easy to keep everything neat.   

[Jay Guard]

I don't know what lap counting system you are going to use but the old SRT system still works pretty good plus they have a nice relay panel that makes hook up easy.  Here's a picture of my panel mounted on a slide out shelf.  The only real negative to the SRT system is that it will only work with a dox matrix printer and those are hard to find and expensive.

 

[AJ_Fox_QCMP]

Thanks again guys! I'm an over-thinker and perfectionist so it's really hard for me to make decisions on things I don't fully understand yet lol. 

 

I bought the TrackMate timing system and the 30v 20amp power supply that I pictured below. Dan from Trackmate said this was a good setup so I took his word for it! Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated!

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[MattD]

Nice job Jay.   that wiring looks super

[boxerdog]

I don't know what lap counting system you are going to use but the old SRT system still works pretty good plus they have a nice relay panel that makes hook up easy.  Here's a picture of my panel mounted on a slide out shelf.  The only real negative to the SRT system is that it will only work with a dox matrix printer and those are hard to find and expensive.

 

SRT power panel.jpg

Nice drawer/panel, looks great.

 

BTW, you can use an HP LaserJet II with SRT and DOS if need be, and it's a much cleaner solution. Generally, any older laser with a parallel port connection can be used. 

[Jay Guard]

Wow, thanks for the printer tip Dave!  I think that there was a program written by Chris Radisich that would allow you to use a more modern printer but I don't know where to find that.  Guess I'll have to contact Chris and see if he still has that program file.

[boxerdog]

I set up the one at our track several years ago, using a Tripp Lite parallel switch to make it accessible from 2 track computers. I can't recall the DOS stuff it took to make it work, but it was pretty minor. Can't get in there at the moment, but PM me and I will see if I can find anything on my home computer.