[tDI_Fahrer]

Heyz,

As some of you allready know, i just recently re-discovered slotracing, so i'm learning every day now...

I have a not permanent 17meter ninco track. Me and some friend have loads of fun on the track. I switch tracks every week, to find a perfect one to build the permanent track.

But we have a little problem... the power. The normal Ninco power supply doesn't quite do the job anymore. When we race "on the edge" (most of the time

) we are very disapointed in the power. When one car goes off the track, the other one gets more power en jumps off the track too (when driving in a corner).

Now, someone told me that a stabilised regulated power supply could work. Should a 1-15 Volts (regulated) and 2 ampere power supply do the job?

Or if you guys don't thing it'll solve the problem, please tell me what you use on the permanent home track...

Thanks guys...

Gunther

(with a lot of starters questions)

 

[Silberpfeil_pt]

Hi!

I think the best way to solve the power problem is use one power suply per lane.

 

[tDI_Fahrer]

Pictures of two different tracks:

With the Le Mans start, bought at the Rotterdam fair this weekend:

and the other side of this last track:

Greetz

G.

 

[fred42fr]

Hi Gunther

I also have a 17 meters Ninco track. The cheapest way to solve this problem is to use a second Ninco standard power supply, even with the standard connections straight : it's what I've done from the beginning, and I haven't got anymore troubles ...

Fred

 

[tDI_Fahrer]

@ fred42fr:

I allready use a second ninco power supply...

I even got a Ninco "power-boost"...

But nothing helps...

What do clubs use for power supplies?

G.

 

[peter]

mm, since the track is similar in size as the maximum size I can normally make myself there are a few points I would go through if I had your problem.

1) Two 'standard' powersupplies should for 'normal (?) driving be reasonable. are they working alright? Are the lanes correctly connected and isolated from each other electrically?

2) Are the connections between the different parts of the track in good condition? I would also get some extra electrical cables and connect between the powerbase track and the furthest part of the track. Some people do this every on every fifth meter track.

3) If 1 and 2 are sorted above and there still are problems then I would wonder what kind of 'cars' and 'engines' I am using... Probably not your average Ninco or Scalextric car then... I would suspect.

4) Maybe your demands are much higher then mine and in that case you would not be happy unless you get yourself a proper staibilized and regulated powersupply. I would not myself recommend a supply with less than 3 ampere at 16 watt. But if I HAD to buy a supply for this purpose I would go for a 1-20 watt with 5 ampere at 20 watt.

hope this makes any sense at all. There are others at this forum who might be better suited to give a more detailed explanation and recommendation to your help you solve your problems though.

//peter

 

[Fergy]

I pretty much agree with Peter.... but, in point 4, I believe he meant to say "volts" not "watts".

 

[peter]

duh... yes point 4) should be Volt - (must have been a brain blackout or something...) sorry for not paying attention.... It should read 1-20 Volt with 5 ampere at 20 Volt.

I think that it was Kipling who ones said something in the style of ' there are many reasons but not one really good excuse' ...

//peter

/gosh I AM confused today...

 

[ProfFate]

Hi

Hobbiest electronics shops usually have cheap 12 volt(nominal actually 13.5") volt 3-10 amp supplies for people who enjoy building their own circuitry. The 12 volt nominal thing is due to these supplies being derived, essentially, from 12 volt battery charger designs(you need the higher voltage to "push" through a battery's internal resitance and leave a 12 volt charge).
As a note: watts=volts x amps. Thus, a 12volt, 3amp supply is 36 watts of power.
This is plenty for all rtrs on a two lane track.
You need to note on the specifications" Filtered and regulated". And it is easy to just attach the pack to your old plugs to keep your configuration unchanged.
Fixed supplies are usually cheaper. One problem with adjustable supplies is that the dials are not particularly accurate ("mine goes to Eleven") So, to be sure you get the same thing every time, you have to adjust with a separate volt/ohm meter(available from the same hobby shop).

Fate

 

[jonny s]

Got to say that in my experience the older Ninco PSU were awesome. They were rated at 15 plus Volts but deliver a lot more. I`ve been told and seen from club members experiences that the newer down rated 12 Volt Ninco PSU is not good at all. European regulations

 

[Mecoprop]

I see a pretty fair standard of agreement here, to which I would add mine, that 12 volts is plenty as long as there is enough amperage and I agree with 1.5 amps per home set car. Without sufficient amperage, it doesn't matter if 12, 20 or 40 volts are there, the cars won't have sufficient power to perform properly.

Separate supplies to each lane can eliminate inter-car surges but the problem then becomes one of ensuring that each separate power supply produces exactly the same output. Unfortunataly, no matter what is printed on their labels, the true output can vary some. A single good regulated PSU of adequate amperage, eliminates that possibility.

 

[tDI_Fahrer]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the replies!!!

Gerard from Racebaan.com helped me too during the day.
We sent a few mails, and he says about the same things as you guys!

I think I'll buy regulated stabelised power supply.
I found one in the brochure of my local electronics store:

Regulated voltage: 0-18V & 18-36V
Amperage: 5A & 3.5A
Display: LED
Weight: 5.7 kilos
Price: 119.95 Euro

What do you think about that? Should that thing do the job?

@ Peter:

I drive normal Fly's, Ninco's, SCX's and Scalextric's, and the power I get for the moment is reasonable... we have lots of fun... we can race quite good...
The only thing I hate is when one car comes off, the other gets more power and goes off too...

The lanes are not divided yet, I can do that too, but then I have the problem that the two ninco supplies (probably) won't give the exact amount of power...

The cars drive quite well, but they have to go really good if you know what I mean... and the races have to be honest too...

Please give your opinions!!!

G.

 

[peter]

The phenomena you describe does come across to me as a rather typical result of sharing power between the lanes. Ok it could be solved with a better powersupply. BUT if you try to isolate the two lanes from each other with one powersupply dedicated to each. You might be rather pleasantly surprised and more than happy with the result. I know that there probably are differences between the supplies, but to be honest these might not be very noticable. If they are not an issue for you then you have just saved yourself some money... If they still are an issue then go for a good power supply. I do not know what other forum members think but the powersupply you mention seem to be more than able for the job required. As others have said before 3 Amp at 12 Volt (or above) means 1.5 amp per car and this should be sufficient for any 'normal' slotcar from the main manufacturers. The reason for me to have 18 Volts available fo my own purpose is mainly that I then can run the 1/24 scale cars from Carrera... For 1/32 scale cars I do not see any reason to ever have to go to more than 16 Volts and as has been explained elsewhere it is the AMPERE that makes all the difference (and 12 Volt would be sufficient).

//peter