19 replies to this topic

[Wannabe80]

Hi,

 

I have been using a older 2011 era genesis difalco controller that was gifted to me when i got back into slot car racing recently.

 

It is the kind with fixed individual resisters soldered to the board.

 

It was too on and off for my brushless cars and setting the brakes to full off and the sensitivity to full low, as google suggested to do, sort of fixed it for my 3000kv car made it easier to drive.

 

Then bought a 6500kv car and it was terrible to drive and kept coming off as slow down for a corner and then back on it and there was nothing and then bang was everything.

 

Thought the control being sol old was not suited for brushless cars, so i bought a 1350A mid america controller which i am yet to actually try out.

 

While i was at the track on the weekend another racer had the same old controller and was running a 6500KV wing car and was flying around the track with no problems.

 

Which lead me to check my control as there must be something wrong with it.

 

Found that the number 4 resistor is broken and not making contact at all.

 

Would this cause the control to perform like that?

 

Google said to just join it with a wire to number 5 for a short term fix, would that work and ok to do?

 

Would replacing that resistor with one of the same value actually fix the control for use with brushless cars and then i wouldn't need the 1350A, or should i keep the 1350A, fix the difalco and use it as a spare controller.

 

I have no pic of it, i will take one tonight when i get home and add it to the post tomorrow if i can that is.

 

[Guillermo Suar]

You can just use a piece of wire to make a bridge where the broken resistor is. You will lose one band (not sure how many bands that specific controller has), and you also will have a higher step when you go through that band. It may be noticeable or not depending on how many bands you have. I doubt you will notice it. 

[blue&orange]

Damian -- You can contact DiFalco directly and he is really good at working out problems.  Look for his website and send him an email.  You can also PM him here on SlotBlog.

[stoo23]

Would this cause the control to perform like that?

Yes it would.
Because with the broken resistor, the controller is not functioning in the lower (slower bands), so it is only becoming 'active' from the 'band' the 5th resistor is connected to and onwards to full power.

Kinda like the 'throttle' only starting a 3rd of the way into the power band,... so quite a sudden and abrupt power delivery. Obviously, when trying to drive slowly, if the wiper goes below the 5th resistor band, it is no longer functioning, until the Wiper makes contact with the Brake band.

 

It CAN be Fixed by replacing the broken resistor with another of the Same value, which if everything else is ok, it should once again perform like a normal controller

DiFalco's work great with Brushless cars.
Depending on your track voltage and motor kv you may develop issues with the standard (Economy) Brake Pot, although so far, I have not had any.

 

Hope that helps but as suggested it IS easy to contact Jim DiFalco either here on Slotblog or via his website and from my limited experience, he appears to be very friendly and helpful !!

[DocSlotCar]

I would send it to Jim DiFalco for an update. Jim is reasonable and you know when it comes back that it is perfect. 

[Wannabe80]

Yes it would.
Because with the broken resistor, the controller is not functioning in the lower (slower bands), so it is only becoming 'active' from the 'band' the 5th resistor is connected to and onwards to full power.

Kinda like the 'throttle' only starting a 3rd of the way into the power band,... so quite a sudden and abrupt power delivery. Obviously, when trying to drive slowly, if the wiper goes below the 5th resistor band, it is no longer functioning, until the Wiper makes contact with the Brake band.

 

It CAN be Fixed by replacing the broken resistor with another of the Same value, which if everything else is ok, it should once again perform like a normal controller

DiFalco's work great with Brushless cars.
Depending on your track voltage and motor kv you may develop issues with the standard (Economy) Brake Pot, although so far, I have not had any.

 

Hope that helps but as suggested it IS easy to contact Jim DiFalco either here on Slotblog or via his website and from my limited experience, he appears to be very friendly and helpful !!

 

Thank you for the clarification my thoughts on it were correct, and the past few months here i have been thinking that the control was just too old for the brushless cars.

 

As it works ok for the old mura 20d car i have.

 

I assume that it would also make the braking harder than normal as its going straight from band 5 (16 band control) to brake without the slower 4 bands, hence why the 20d seems to be ok as it has rolling time in that time where the brushless is more instant stop and de slots alot too.

 

I will join it to another band in the short term but i will replace it and keep it as a spare controller.

 

i would have to join it to band 5 yeah? if so exactly how would that happen, would i have to the bottom of 5 to the bottom of 4 and then that one to 3?

 

Sending it to Jim would cost me more than the control is worth with me being in Australia freight/shipping to the USA is not cheap.

 

 

The 3000kv it was manageable, but when i got a 6500kv nope it was so bad.

 

Thank you all for the help.

[Mike Patterson]

I'm sure there's somebody in Australia who can replace a resistor on a PCB. It's not rocket science.

[Wannabe80]

I'm sure there's somebody in Australia who can replace a resistor on a PCB. It's not rocket science.

 

Oh yeah there would be a heap of people.

 

I will change it myself no dramas with that.

 

Now that i know that it will fix the problem just wanted to know if that was the cause of my problem and if it would fix it if replaced.

 

Seems like it should as long as there are no other broken ones on there that is.

 

Will have to pull it off get a new one and go from there.

 

Will be a few weeks until i get to it though.

[Jim Difalco]

Damian, if you or your track has an ohmmeter just measure one resistor right on the circuit board and that will tell you what to replace it with. 1/4 watt is fine for the size. Did you remove the old resistor? If not un-solder it and remove the short lead that is in the circuit board. Now cut the wire lead that is sticking out of the resistor, bend it in half and solder it in the two holes that the resistor came from and this will restore the controller function. 

 

If you want to update it I make the dd261 30 band replacement circuit board for $62 that you can use to upgrade the wiper bands from 17 to 30 bands. 

 

If you email me a few pictures of the controller I can advise you about it's condition and if it is worth the upgrade.

[Wannabe80]

Hi Jim,

 

No i have not removed it yet, i was going to look at it on the coming weekend.

 

I have an ohmmeter yes. If i were to measure the back side of each of the remaining resistors i should get the same reading from all of them is that correct?

 

One end has snapped off at the resister itself, looping the wire into the spots seems like an easier way to go. Will look at doing that when i pull it out.

 

Will that cause that one band on the control to have full power then drop back down again for the ones either side of it?

 

I will get some photos and send them to you for you to have a look at and let me know your thoughts.

 

Will try and get you the photos sometime over the next few days.

 

Thank you.

[Jim Difalco]

adding a jumper to replace the resistor will just result in the sensitivity jumping to the next wiper band and not full power or a dead band. Yes, all resistors were the same, possibly 3.9 ohms each if it is a really old controller.

[Wannabe80]

Hi, 

 

had a look and a search and it seems it is a 7.5ohm resistor.

 

Also used a multi meter and got 7.5ohm also.

 

see photos attached, hopefully they worked.

 

 

[stoo23]

So where do you normally race Damien ??

[Wannabe80]

So where do you normally race Damien ??

West Sydney, Penrith Slot cars https://cuy0b8-yq.myshopify.com/ 

 

Only just started getting into it again. My Uncle was the one that got me into it, go to the track every second Saturday.

 

 

They do a happy hour friday nights, im attempting to try and get to one of the soon.

[Wannabe80]

Damian, if you or your track has an ohmmeter just measure one resistor right on the circuit board and that will tell you what to replace it with. 1/4 watt is fine for the size. Did you remove the old resistor? If not un-solder it and remove the short lead that is in the circuit board. Now cut the wire lead that is sticking out of the resistor, bend it in half and solder it in the two holes that the resistor came from and this will restore the controller function. 

 

If you want to update it I make the dd261 30 band replacement circuit board for $62 that you can use to upgrade the wiper bands from 17 to 30 bands. 

 

If you email me a few pictures of the controller I can advise you about it's condition and if it is worth the upgrade.

Jim i sent you an email also.

[stoo23]

West Sydney, Penrith Slot cars

OK, cool   

[stoo23]

So,.. have you managed to replace the broken Resistor and fix your controller ??

[Wannabe80]

Hi,

 

Yes i did and i tested it Saturday and it worked whoo hoo.

 

They were all 7.5ohm resistors, i couldn't get them without buying a full set of over 500 resistors.

 

So i replaced the first 2 with 12ohm, then the next 3 with 10ohm then that is all i had time to do before i went to the track to test it.

 

It worked great, it was hard to believe this entire time i was driving without the first 4 bands working, i just assumed it was the way the older controller worked with brushless cars.

 

I actually dropped my lap time 0.2 too which i was surprised about.

 

Last night i changed the rest around, and will test it out in 2 weeks.

 

So the control is now as below.

 

Bands 1/2 are 12ohms

Bands 3/4 are 10ohms

Bands 6-9 are 8.2ohms

Bands 10/11 are 7.5ohms

Bands 12-14 are 4.7ohms

Band 15 is the factory trim pot set at 24ohms as that is what it was set at.

 

I bought a new 68w digital temp  soldering iron station, wow much easier than a hand held pen type iron that is for sure.

 

Thank you to all for the help and to Jim for sending me the instruction booklet for this controller, it's not one that can be upgraded with the 30 band upgrade though.

[stoo23]

Yes i did and i tested it Saturday and it worked whoo hoo

Cool, great to hear it is Now working .... as it should

 

Interesting you have now also changed the 'Curve' of the controller, compared to how it was.

I would probably have tried it prior to making such a change but if it's working for you and you are happy, then it's all good
 

[Wannabe80]

Cool, great to hear it is Now working .... as it should

 

Interesting you have now also changed the 'Curve' of the controller, compared to how it was.

I would probably have tried it prior to making such a change but if it's working for you and you are happy, then it's all good
 

 

There is no way to try it without actually doing it though.

 

Unless you meant try the controller with the first changes first?

 

If that is what you meant then yes, i did try the controller with the first 4 bands changed to 12,12,10,10.

 

It worked great, i could feel the drop from the 10 to the 7.5.

 

I'm hoping the new changes will make that drop less noticeable and a more smoother curve. It does have the adjustable trim pot which i can use to tame the curve a bit more if needed.

 

If it does not work i can just unsolder them all and put all 8.2's back in as they are much easier to get a hold off than the 7.5 that were in there.

 

Looking forward to getting back on the track in a fortnight.