How to get more power into a larger Slot Car layout
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.พ. 2017
- Another Atco's Collections Video - I've made my slot car layout about as big as I can out of my 8' x 4' platform. Problem though is that the longer track was losing power. Here's a way to fix it cheap! See ya -- Atco
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When I was about 17, my friend and I bought a 4 lane HO track that used to be at the hobby shop for racing. They had taken it down due to the noise kids would make. We set it up with 4 terminal tracks "two on one straight and two on another part of the track". This was connected to two car batteries wired in series and would jump the voltage to over 24 volts. Those cars would scream around that track. Never had a car burn up either. As long as the cars gearing was smooth, no problems. They might get hot to touch but ran great. The track was mounted on two 4x8 sheets of plywood. Have fun!
It sure was something to have those big slot car races you'd rent time to play your car with others! Just a few years ago a train shop opened up a room to start renting time on slot cars. I was looking for that to open up, but Covid killed that, and even worse, he even closed the whole train store. See ya == Atco
I used to connect an old tyco train set power pack to my big layouts
I have an old lock and joiner aurora track. I use the aurora power pack at 20 volts. 1 for each lane. I have 3 "terminal or power point" tracks which serve as a jumper. I used a solid 14 gauge house wiring to connect all the terminals. This has led me to almost 0 voltage drop on my track anywhere.
A great tip Atco. I'll remember it should I someday have this problem.
Hi RPM - Well, it sure made a difference to my track! See ya -- Atco
Hey Atco could you call me I got problems with my set 480-570-1927 thanks
Hey, Atco, another idea: In model railroading, if the track becomes too long, trains stall due to track resistance. The answer to that is to have multiple feeders along the track. Copper wire resistance is much lower than track resistance, so power loss from the throttle to the feeders is negligible. And so the track gets fed from multiple places, and trains don't get starved.
Hi George - Yeh, I've had that comment quite a few times. It does work. Had planned to do that for my layout until I saw this power hack. For me, it's done the job, and don't have to go thru all the work of wiring. Yet, one day I will add some feeders. Can't hurt, and I want to see what the difference is. Thanks for your comment! -- Atco
Hi, George and Atco! I'm having this problem with my SCX 1/32 slot car. I'll use George's solution with a more powerful psu (voltage regulated from 10-15V/5A). Do you guys think I'll be able to solder coper wires to the track? I will do the soldreing on the back of the track. Thanks a lot!
So in simple terms, what you're saying could be true for the following example; if you have 2 sets, each coming with a power track with terminals (presume these are the feeders?) and 2 adapters, space the power tracks (feeders) and each of the 2 adapters on opposite sides of the track? Would that work?
That is a wonderful idea , thankyou very much mate ...awesome 😎😎😎
Hi Pete - I haven't run that slot setup for a year and a half. It's about time to clean the track and get back to it again! See ya -- Atco
Thanks brother, I built a table with two levels, a tough race track on top and a small town track with three trains on the second level, and your right, the race track is losing power, thus I will tray your idea.
Hi Solo - Hmm... two levels. I might have to think about that! See ya -- Atco
More power is always good. Other ways of handling the voltage drop would be one or two power taps (google it) as well as using dielectric grease at every track connection. Glad you're enjoying your track!
Hi John - Using dielectric grease at the track connections? Wow, that's a great idea. Thanks! -- Atco
I had an AFX 4-lane track. I was having power issues with the power supply that came with track. A friend that raced slots in competition told me he runs his track off a deep cycle marine battery. I switched, and it was awesome how much better cars' performance was. Also, cars didn't rob power from one another. The stock controllers couldn't handle the power. I had to buy heavier duty Parma controllers. I kept track powered 24/7 it was always ready for action.
Hi Richard - Wow, that's really cool. Never heard about that before. Thanks for sharing that info! -- Atco
Thank you! Man you are the best bro 😀😊😃
Hi Jung - Thanks for the nice comments! See ya -- Atco
22V 1A in each lane is pretty awesome !!! ;)
Not for the MOTOR!!!!!!!!!
Great idea. Just be careful not to short out the rails with something metal. With 5 amps in the supply you could see some real sparks!
Sure could make a cool car accident to watch. Might even take out the breaker. Hmm.. might have to think about that! -- Atco
great info
I used to have a 4lane track 117 feet of track each lane I used a deep cycle marine battery. I never had an issue with power any where on the track I connected it to the start finish and 1/2 way around the track. No power surges or any loss of power at any point on the track... Plus you don't have to plug it in any where and you don't use any electricity, that's a plus.. Give it a try, you'll never go back to any other power source!!!
If that fixes the problem, it wasn't a resistance problem. It was a lack of current at the supply. If you have slower parts of your track, you need to run booster cables which go from the power input part of the track over to the farthest parts of track to lower resistance. Otherwise, the ultimate solution is to solder the track joins or use small jumper wires across each join. Just did it to a 150 foot track and it's excellent all the way around
Hi Ten - I've had a few others tell me what to do with the track. All correct. I've gotten thru the problem with more power which helps as long as I keep the track clean. Next summer I plan to pull the whole platform out, and do some things for it. Might look into a few options to the track while I've got it in parts. Will see. Thanks for your comment! -- Atco
I haven't found an idea I had mentioned anywhere, but for those of us with temporary floor tracks, with stock power packs (1 per lane of course) and stock controllers, how's about splicing a controller wire a long-ish one) piggybacking the existing controller plug, and having that feed into another terminal track on the opposite side of the layout?
I'm yet to try it as I don't own enough terminal tracks, but I fail to see why it wouldn't work. It also gives the flexibility of it not being fragile (soldering to HO track isn't much fun either), and it can be dismantled and rearranged no differently to a conventional slot car track.
Sure, the stock power supplies aren't much good for a two lane track, as they can't supply enough amps, but a long track won't benefit much at all from a higher current. Increasing the voltage will certainly get the power around the track better (voltage is the cure for resistance, look at the long-distance power lines for proof), but that would alter the performance of the cars significantly, which isn't the right answer.
So, power taps, either soldered directly or made the way I described, is usually the only way to keep a steady amount of amps flowing around the track at the ideal voltages these little cars are made for.
Hi Alex - It's an interesting thought. I haven't seen any need to do anything for me. The bigger power pack has done a super job for me. Biggest thing to keep it running is to keep the track clean and running a few cars out at least once a week. If possible every couple days. Also I take a fast run thru the full track using a sniffer as well. Only need to run them around for even 10 mins and it keeps my track running without stalls. I'm sure there are things that would make it even better, but for now my layout is still working well for my use. If you try any of your thoughts on your track, let me know. I'd like to see what you did. See ya -- Atco
I subscribe beacse you are the best !!!
Great idea iam building a huge slot car track and that was my biggest concern . Thanks again you saved me a lot of aggravation!!!!😁😁😁😁
Hi Paul - I hope you'll put out a video about your track once setup! See ya -- Atco
Don’t judge me on this because I was about 7, I’m actually quite impressed with myself for coming up with it… but I used to use two scalextric transformers and hook pos to neg with a thick wire from one to the other… I’m not sure of the real world output but it certainly felt like double the power at the time. Don’t leave your kids unattended 😂
Hi Bob - I appreciate your comment! See ya -- Atco
well dun :) thanks man
Do you have a link to the YT channel you reference in the video?
Hey man! Got anything to play on that 8Track®?
Hi Rysh - I've picked up maybe 10 8-track players at Yard Sales over the last 10 years. But, probably not one in the last 3 years of hitting the yard sales. They are getting scarce, but still can find one on Craigslist and of course always on Ebay. See ya -- Atco
You are nice!!! Man
Hi Atco's my wife has a Scalextric GT.Lemons 30 from the 70's and I need to know how to connect to power supply to the track. It doesn't have a manual I hope you can help me. R
obert
Hi Robert - Naw, I never had one of those great Scalextric slot car racing sets. Man, those were the tops of the hobby. I hope you can find someone to help you with your track! -- Atco
I like your glasses and your hat
It's funny, now that I've had my channel for 7 years, I have been recognized on the road by people I didn't know before. Three times someone said something like "Are you the guy on TH-cam that has a hat and glasses?" Kinda surprised me, but that was cool! See ya -- Atco
I need the opposite: I want to introduce my grandkids to slot cars because they're car nuts. I need to reduce power so they can race without my cars going airborne. How do I that? Also, are there good in-car cameras? Thanks!
Hi Mark - That is a problem. As a matter of fact, they got so fast in the 70s that new people into slot cars decide they weren't interested any more. It kinda killed the slot car business. When I go to a slot car show, they don't show much of the fast ones, it's the early Aurora type that people still like to buy at the show. As far as slowing one down, I know of someone who used a dimmer switch for his fan. This would probably work, but I'm not an electrician so you might want to ask someone who know if it's safe to use it for the slot car and not get too hot. See ya -- Atco
@@atco21117 Thank you Sir!
MOVE THE SENSING WIRE FROM THE POWER SUPPLY TO THE CENTER OF THE TRACK. TRUST ME THAT WILL MAINTAIN THE VOLTAGE VERY MUCH EVEN TROUGH THE TRACK AND YOU WILL HAVE NO VOLTAGE DROP BECAUSE THE LENGTH OD THE TRACK OR DIRTY CONNECTORS
Hi MTA - I've never tried that, but I will. Anything that makes the layout work better is worth it. Thanks for the tip! -- Atco
what sensing wire? dont understand
Can anyone tell me what the new ho scale slot cars are like and can they run on older track styles. for instance I have an afx aurora ghost rider set from 1987 but have no idea if new stuff would run on it or the old cars run on the newer tracks. also what make or brand name do they go under now?
Hi Pel - The main type of HO cars are the early Aurora (T-Jet) and the more later Aurora (AFX). The T-Jets are in 1:87 scale and the AFX are 1:64 scale. They look similar, but won't work on the other's track. Most HO cars from AFX up should work with each like TOMY, TYCO, LIFE-LIKE, MATTEL. Easy to get new cars are AUTO WORLD, but I know mostly they sell T-Jet cars. There are some new HO car sets coming from China, very cheap. Quite often though they need their own track. -- Atco
New ho cars will run on old Aurora lock and jointer track. Will also run in the click track. The main difference between brands are rails height. Pick up shoes are easily adjustable to compensate.
Thanks for the tip. ☮️
why cant you just use 2 track connections with 2 power supplys ? put one track connection on this side and the other on the far side. plug them both in ?????
I have a train transformer hooked with 2 terminal traks still getting stopage and slow running cars ? I am going to a lap-top power adapter and see! Thank you for video! EAGLE
I dont think raising amps would affect track resistance. The cars engine's wont request more amps than their spec just because they cant get good connection. Single lane power and jumpers are key, aka reducing resistance
I've had some great tips to help the connections between tracks. Will try them once I set the platform up again. See ya -- Atco
lifelike is best brand I had 4x16 ft setup wit over 2 lifelike mega sets only 1 power terminal
Hi Brian - Man, I gotta get my set up again. Sure got it down for a few years now. Kinda miss it! See ya -- Atco
There is also this trick from the video below about getting individual power to each lane.
th-cam.com/video/_0c4AxdJmxM/w-d-xo.html
I just use 2 peices. I plug each one into the wall, and I just plug in one controller into each. That way the first piece powers the first lane, and the following one powers just the second lane. That way each car has its own power supply to itself. My track is 63 ft and it works for me. That way I don't have to modify any pieces.
You don't have to modify the pieces, I just cover the open end to avoid accidentally shorts
@@loganstaubus3375 Are both terminal tracks next to each other?
@@Chappy31x yes, but it doesn't have to be.
I think my track will be about 40ish feet
Og !!!! Get to the point or at least talk faster !!! My legs are going numb , taking a crap here
Why only 17? I run some cars at 22v just fine no heat no issues and they are more responsive.
Good to know! -- Atco
well dun :) thanks man