15 replies to this topic

[Michael Jr.]

I was shown a device that can adjust voltage on the track down. I have searched and can't fine that message anywhere and I did a basic search on here and found some ways to install diodes but not an actual plug in device.

Does anyone know where that can be found? I'm sure somebody is using one that is still commercially available. Or has a used one sitting on the shelf.

[Steve Ogilvie]

I do not know if there is anything that is plug and play but you can make your own. Or you can get 8 individual adjustable 10 amp power supplies on Ebay and put a bypass switch on each lane to go from high to adjustable power. I put a diagram on how to build a power reducer on here quite a while ago but I do not know if any one has actually built one. Except for me

 

 

It would be a lot more compact if I had some individual transistor heat sinks. These heat sinks are two 4 transistor units cut in half. To get the lanes to be individually controlled, the heat sinks can't touch each other.

 

The problem with using a diode or a resistor is your power reduction is fixed. This can be set for the speed you want your rental cars to go at but that still won't help you when you have eight 4 year olds on the track. 

[Michael Jr.]

That might be a project for me waaay down the road. I'm still in a set up phase right now. I have my last track arriving next week and I'm still putting your Orange together.

But I will keep your post and picture for my future reference.

 

I could kick myself for losing the message I was sent by a guy about a year ago. He had a post in one of our forums....or maybe on the other blog most of us are on. He was selling a unit he himself constructed. But that was years ago and he forgot it was posted and said he didn't make them anymore. But he gave me a link to a plug and play device that he said worked and was used by other tracks. I put it somewhere safe so I would never lose it of course.

 

Speaking of your orange....there are low impedance jacks, like microphone jacks on the driver panels. Was that your design or a later add on?

[Michael Jr.]

I found it!

 

http://www.volteq.co...protection.html

[mreibman]

To add to this discussion, there's some terms you might be interested in.

"Boost Converter" and "Buck converter".

A boost converter is DC-DC stepping the voltage up.

A Buck converter is DC-DC stepping the voltage down.

 

About the biggest out of the box solution I have seen is 750W capacity, or 15A.

https://www.amazon.c...r/dp/B0744BT79M

 

There's more out there... Much more common for less amps. like the 3amp models are about $15.

Mouser and DIgikey both have them, you can feel free to search around....

As always, your mileage may vary.

[Steve Ogilvie]

I might have put the jacks on for rental car controllers. We used to also put on single outlet 220V receptacles for controllers to plug in to. The logic there is most raceways will not have a receptacle in the store that a controller can be plugged in to. And when all your rental controllers have plugs on them, they can't be hooked up wrong. The transistors in my power reducer are rated for 40 A. But to run high current you need a big fan to keep them cool. I am hoping to avoid having a fan with these oversize heat sinks.

[Don Weaver]

I would think that a 220v plug would be illegal as hell to use for anything but a 220v circuit.  My opinion...

 

Don

[slotbaker]

I might have put the jacks on for rental car controllers. We used to also put on single outlet 220V receptacles for controllers to plug in to.

Instead of the 220AC, how about XLR plugs/sockets

 

or,

IEC connectors?

[Phil Smith]

Probably, but Steve's reasoning for using them makes perfect sense to me.

[Steve Ogilvie]

The outlets were always optional, some people wanted them some people didn't bother. The one problem with the phone jacks is that they briefly short out as you push the male end in to the socket. The 220v plug caps were only used for rental controllers and not sold by the raceways to the public. All tracks came with conventional posts for people with their own controllers. Those XLR connectors look real good, and for rentals probably within the current rating of the connector sets.

[Ramcatlarry]

Many new stores setting up have had the local 'Building Inspector' have serious issues with nonstandard electrical outlets.  The latest ISRA socket is better......

 

Mike - are you using the 'Bulldog' style power supplies that have the plug-in voltage shifter?  They can be wired for a trim pot resistor to allow a few volts up and down for the whole track.  It is the same basic tech of the trim pot on transistor controllers.

[Steve Ogilvie]

I have found that just reducing the voltage down 2 Volts or so still does not slow a rental car enough for young kids. That is why we invented our own individual lane adjustable power control. I tried a few available units but in most cases they either did not even work or the amount of adjustment was minimal. Rivergate supplied us with a very good adjustable 75 A supply for a while that did the trick but it got discontinued. We supplied our units as an intregral part of the track wiring as a 500.00 option on new tracks, and Donn Bryans put them on his tracks too. The parts to make these are readily available and cheap. They were not indestructable but we made them so the parts were easy to replace. We used to scratch off the ID on the transistors so that people would have to buy replacements from us. In the raceway we had upstairs in our shop I never had a failure because we mostly ran lower powered cars.

 

In among the piles of parts that I inherited after Brian Crosby passed away I found 6 of these:

 

 

 

I can only assume that he was experimenting or maybe added these to some tracks as a power adjuster. Maybe less work because the pot and heatsink etc were all on one board. I looked them up online and there are many versions of these units, 15 to 40 dollars each.

[Ramcatlarry]

Steve- I agree that a few volts does not cut it for the youngest of the bday rentals.  If the 'tuner' is at the drivers station, the older rentals turn them up to crash ANYWAY.

 

I started out with the 36D Parma whisperjets that ended up punching through the MDF track walls.  Tried in-car resistors and in controller resistors.  I also wired in two 3 amp diodes in the track for a 'grey power' controller post for a 3 volt drop with a 3 amp choke effect.   A better option was to put the slower homeset motors from the 16D group...still too fast, but fewer daily rental repairs.  A great option today is the 18 - 25,000 rpm motors from homeset cars, H&R,  and MidAmerica Products.

[Steve Ogilvie]

We always installed the hi/lo switch and adjuster panel for the individual lane controls behind the sales counter. The length of the cable going to the track did not matter as they carried almost no current. Cheap communication cables is what is used.

 

So only the people working in the store could adjust power to the track. A controller like mine gives a maximum of 12 volts. People with their own cars can go on the track with rentals but they are 1.8 volts or so below the output when the track is at high power running on a power supply. With this type of setup you have the advantage of using any type of rental car you want to use. Except for 27/7's because they cause problems on low power.

[Steve Ogilvie]

 

After running the track for a while, I had to change to this size of resistor. Once I put the Bulldog on the track, there was more power available at a higher voltage than what the old booster batterry put out. So even turned all the way down, the cars were too fast. Now we have a full range of power levels, from stopped completely to slightly less than full power.

 

This is not a voltage regulator. It is a power regulator that operates by having the transistor  determine the power available to the slot. I am not an electronics expert by any stretch but when I measured voltage at the slot going up and down with the lane pot, voltage stayed the same. I believe the transistor restricts current flow and thus the amount of power available.

 

For most tracks, probably a resistor halfway between these two would work best. Right now I have to turn the pot about an eighth of a turn to get a car to move at all. The big heat sinks are doing a good job of keeping the transistors cool without a fan.

[Ramcatlarry]

Lower RPM motors make slower cars much easier today.