[woodcote]

I have a Super 3 in front of me (a racer left it behind at our race night this week). I don't have any experience of running them. They do have a bit of a poor reputation for quality control. And AW aren't great at responding to emails

Your heat problems are a bit of a mystery. The Super-3 has strong neo traction magnets, so running on the track for say ten minutes or so and you'd be getting heat. Tight gear mesh won't help - and the mesh of this one is poor. Neither should kill the car. The rear tyres rubbing on the body could.

But you're getting heat with no rear axle in so...

Could be that there's friction on the armature - does the armature turn freely when you turn it by hand? If not:

• The front brass bushing might not be sitting right - get a small screwdriver and push down.
• The motor mags might be wonky and rubbing on the arm - it will cause a shiny patch on the arm. I can't see how they come out and go back in. But if you do that it might help.
• A shiny patch could also be a sign that the armature shaft is bent. The pinion would turn a bit wonky if that's the case.
• The brush tension could be too tight - I'm not sure it's possible to alter them. It looks like there's a cross-thread on the grub screws you could use a small screwdriver to turn them anti-clockwise a turn or two. You'd need to remove the coating that's covering the screw.

A very small drop of oil on the brass bushings (front and back) might help, but lack of lube shouldn't be causing the big problems you have.

Good luck. In an ideal world AW should send you a couple of new ones. They could start by replying to your email.

Maybe get some Life Like Nascars, they are good fun and more reliable

 

[woodcote]

I would avoid 3 in 1 and WD40. You ideally want to get a needle-point applicator and a synthetic oil that is good with plastic. You don't want to over-oil an HO car, so getting that one drop into the right place is vital.

I use the Parma TQ oil and I also have one of the precision lubricator / oil pens that are on eBay in the model railway or slot car sections and cost about £5. It'll last for ever.

Your story into HO sounds very similar to mine (including the same book). Don't be put off by the Super-3 - there are some great cars to try

Have fun

 

[woodcote]

That's good news

You can have too much or too little brush tension.

Too little and you get arcing and a very inconsistent motor tone (slowing and speeding up) when on a 9V battery and a lot of blackening on the commutator. The comm will eventually get damaged.

Too much and you get overheating and the commutator and brushes will wear out.

To get the tension in the right range, you're looking at a steady motor tone with the car on a 9V battery and just a little arcing. Try a half or quarter turn of each until it sounds a steady high-pitched whine.

Some of us run in the motor on 3V (two AA batteries in a pack) and without the rear axle in from 30 mins up to a few hours. It helps bed in the brushes. But not everyone does it.

Always put the + terminal of the battery to the left pick-up (UK passenger side) to mimic the direction the armature will turn on the Tomy power packs.

 

[woodcote]

What's the news? Did you get the Super IIIs going nice?

And did you get some more cars

Don't forget some of us are up your way on 20th May doing the HO Zone at the Slot Car Festival at Gaydon.