[joeymorgans]

Hi everyone,

I've just got back into Scalextric digital after a few years and am building a circuit in my attic to race together with friends using SSDC.

I have 6x of the standard C7002 hand throttles which I bought about 10 years ago, but they ALL have the same problem:

-They sometimes apply power to the car when the trigger is not depressed!

This means the cars can randomly fly of the track as they carry on accelerating once you brake for the corner.

Does anyone know a modification for this?

I decided to take one apart to have a look as shown in the pictures, I think it might be a problem with the wiper, can this be replaced or lubricated?

If there is no fix for this, can you recommend some cheap replacement controllers for Scalextric digital?

Appreciate the help and glad to be getting back into the hobby!

Joe

 

[GregK]

Hi Joe ..... Welcome back, after all this time .... :thumbsup:

As you have found out, the sliders are the weak link with these throttles. The surface on the sliders have probably accumulated a fair bit of crud over the years and so require a good deep-clean. I would start off with a good shot of contact switch-cleaning spray or get hold of some acetone-free nail polish remover and some cotton buds and gently wipe along the tracks, taking care not to be too vigorous.

If you have any, then one drop of Inox M3 on the track and repeatedly squeeze the trigger. Finally wipe off any excess.

 

[Billy_Cart]

Ditto on Greg's advise, they tend to need a regular cleaning regime and INOX worked well for me when I used these controllers.

 

[MrFlippant]

There was a wiring mod that could be done to them as well. had something to do with linking the poles at the end. Hopefully it's still linked in the useful threads post.

 

[RikoRocket]

Its not there Greg, and its not in the old one. RichG mod as far as I can remember. But it might be buried in another thread...

 

[MrFlippant]

Time to go hunting, then.

 

[Ade]

Yes Richg mod

could it be in his thread for his wireless throttles

Richg wireless throttles

 

[joeymorgans]

Thanks guys, I've cleaned all 6x of them up. There was some oxidisation on the wipers which came off with contact cleaner.

4x of them work flawlessly now, but 2x of them still have the same problem, I think these have oxidised worse than the others.

Maybe the wiper boards can be replaced? But I'm not sure what they are actually called or where to buy them, does anyone know? I've looked online for B5K but it only comes up with potentiometers.

I'm interested in the wiring mod also, will have a look

 

[MrFlippant]

Yes Richg mod

could it be in his thread for his wireless throttles

Richg wireless throttles

Yep! Here it is:

https://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62735&page=6#entry709358

Try that on the two bad throttles, Joe.

 

[Ade]

Yep! Here it is:

https://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=62735&page=6#entry709358

Try that on the two bad throttles, Joe.

Good memory recall Mr F

, I'd forgotten that one

 

[RikoRocket]

Well done Mr Flippant! I'll pin it.

 

[RikoRocket]

Done. Now in the pinned "Really Useful Technical Links" thread.

 

[Billy_Cart]

OK I did some testing of my old stock of SSD controllers with APB.

First Test Batch - Controllers previously in use (approx 4 years of non-use)

CONTROLLER 1 - on track car stuttered, RCS64 Throttle Calibration reading showed noise before and after running the calibration and car still stuttered, visual internal inspection showed mildly dirty wiper, applied Electronic Cleaning Solvent only both noise & stutter gone.

CONTROLLER 2 - on track car did not stutter, RCS64 Throttle Calibration reading showed a small bit of noise before running calibration and wouldn't reach the max 64 step with full throttle held in, after a few laps that bit of noise increased and the car would keep going very slowly when throttle released, this was a bit intermittent but registered as a constant increased low noise on the RCS64 calibration. These issues were fixed after running the throttle calibration. Visual internal inspection showed same mildly dirty wiper, applied Electronic Cleaning Solvent only both noise & stutter gone.

CONTROLLER 3 - on track car OK, no controller noise but wouldn't reach the max 64 step with full throttle held in, also couldn't calibrate throttle because when I tried to start the process by pressing both Brake and LC buttons only the Brake button light would show green along with registering a full 64 step throttle response (crazy), I eventually got the calibration to run by pressing Brake, LC and full throttle but the calibration couldn't get to the max 64th step. Visual inspection showed a much cleaner wiper, applied Electronic Cleaning Solvent only and was able to calibrate car normally with Brake and LC buttons, full throttle got closer to max position but just short, applied INOX no further improvement.

CONTROLLER 4 - same story as CONTROLLER 2 above, except after applying the Electronic Cleaning Solvent and running a dozen laps all of a sudden the throttle went haywire, car braking at full throttle, running at approx 40% at no throttle, stuttering through the throttle range and the RCS64 calibration graph had lines up and down all over the place and I couldn't use the Brake and LC buttons to re-calibration and kept getting errors. Next a couple of drops of INOX was applied to the wiper and back to the track and all good and have run 50 or so laps and no change.

I was quite surprised initially at how well these controllers performed with minimal effort required to get them going again, but then I thought I used to regularly clean them and applied INOX so this probably has protected the wipers during last 3 to 4 years of no use. This testing has allowed me to maintain them so they should be right for a few more years of storage now.

Next I am going to pull out my discarded controllers that stopped working properly years ago and I have kept them for spare parts, I will post those test results later.

 

[Billy_Cart]

Second Test Batch - Controllers discarded because they didn't work properly (approx 10 years of non-use)

I have only tested the one controller in this category because it took a far bit of time, but first up the the car on track took off like a bullet and the RCS64 calibration graph was all over the place and nothing I tried was going to allow an initial calibration to be completed.

Next I opened up the controller (very dusty) so blew out the dust and tried again, no change.

I then applied the Electronic Cleaning Solvent and this removed the erratic behaviour but the controller was fixed at about 50% speed with no throttle pressed and a max speed at about 40 of the 64 steps, I was now able to do a re-calibration and this improved things but still had a fixed minimum at approx 15 and max at 45. Re-calibration error read "Bad in zero area!".

Next I applied the INOX and got a further improvement reducing the minimum to nearly zero (car on track just humming and not moving) and max up to nearly 50. this time the Re-calibration error read "Low OK - Bad in max area!".

Next I cleaned the controller wiper with Isopropyl Alchohol on a cotton bud and re-applied a few drops of INOX, this saw success getting the minimum throttle down to zero but couldn't get max over 55 (top is 64).

I then did the RichG mod and got mixed results with controller being OK or just fixed at top speed, the later being most common, so I undid the mod and have ended up with a very usable controller with all aspects working but just can't get it to the top throttle poition.

I might have to try the RichG mod again and make sure I didn't have any bits touching that shouldn't have been, I'm just a bit restricted with soldering ability and seeing the very small things.

Hope this helps, it occupied a Sunday afternoon of social isolation in the garage for me so was well worth it.