[Olsen]

I am still new to slot car racing. I've got 4 of the same digital cars (Porsche 997). Bought them from new. The ones that I have used the most are not starting to perform badly. The ones I haven't used a lot are performing better. I have tried to clean them. Can it be the motors?
The feeling in the hand with the good cars are more like you can control them better. They seem to run more smoothly and you have more power controls. You can drive slowly more controlled. The good cars top acceleration is also a better. I use the APB and if i setup a good car and a bad/poor cars as pace cars, then the poor car will need much more percentage of power than the good one to run the track. It's like 25 % vs. 45 % difference.

Any ideas why there is this difference? It is not fun to drive with a car that perform significantly worse.

I have tried to replace the rear axel but with no effect. I also tried to change the controllers, but with no effect.

Can it be the motors? Do they need oil?

Can INOX help to get better connectivity?

 

[Ade]

hi
it's usually the braids that cause these power drop off's. Motor's last a long time if there not abused.

Motor abuse can be to much mag or binding axles wich causes excessive heat build up wich is bad for the motor magnets (weakens them) and not good for the motor windings..

New braids and a bit of the magical inox should work wonders. Pace cars need top notch braids and conductivity to make reliable lap times..

 

[Martyn_]

Agreed, definitely the braids. My view USED to be Inox on the braids, but I now only put that on the rails. I was shown by members at a Slotcar club I joined that cleaning the braids with lighter fluid or isopropyl alcohol worked even better than using Inox.

Whichever liquid you decide to use, apply it with an old toothbrush, but be careful, it goes everywhere!

 

[300SLR]

Start by looking at the pick ups as the above posts suggest - that's the most likely cause of the problems.

It's much less likely to be the motor getting weaker over time - but to answer your question yes that does happen.
There are many causes of motors "getting weaker" - brush gear wearing out is among the most likely. Also the bearings can wear, particularly if they are not lubricated (but they should be oiled very sparingly, too much oil can do more harm than good). Motors can also fail by windings coming off the arm or insulating chafing through. As I said, not all that likely in your cars, but it can happen.