[mINdAt3z]

Hi,

Santa brought me a nice christmas present, a set of Avant Slot cars, the 2008 Le Mans winners set with 3 cars. I love the design and the cars seem interesting with lots of abilities right out of the box for adjusting, but as soon as I put them on the track, I experience some problems. I run a Scalextric digital track with the advanced powerbase and to run these cars I put the track in Analog mode.

The problem is that the cars keep "jumping", as if they lack and gain electricity. If i put two cars on the same track, they stop jumping and run a bit smoother, tho I dont "feel" them as smooth as for instance my Slot It cars or my NSR cars.

What can be causing the "jumping" behaviour? Are they for some reason not liking the digital track in analog mode? Or is it a volt/amp problem? I think the advanced powerbase on the Scalextric produces 15v? Or can it be something more simple like old braiding or...?

I have 20+ cars something, and these are the only ones that behave like this and I am of course curious to find out why and solve it. Any suggestions or help would be much appreiciated.

// Micke

 

[RikoRocket]

I have seen this with some cars, it appears to get a circuit resonance with particular motors. Probably there is a hardware mod that could be done to de-tune against that particular motor, but then it might move to be in harmony with a different motor. When I get some headroom I'll have a look.

 

[mINdAt3z]

It really is a weird problem for a non-electronics guy like me. Even my seriously old Scalextric and Fly cars run perfectly on the track, it´s just these 3 new Avant cars that are showing this problem. I will try to hook up the Analog powerbase tonight and see what happens also, to see if the problem is isolated to the digital track and the advanced powerbase.

All your input is greatly appreciated Riko, I´ve read your posts on the board and I know that if someone can tell me what´s up, it´s indeed you.

 

[mINdAt3z]

Had some time over tonight and plugged in the old powerbase, and the cars run smoothly. So it´s at least related to the advanced digital powerbase in analog mode.

 

[PJF]

Im not to sure about the digital side of things but the avants will have motors rated 25k to 27k. The NSR's will be 22k so maybe the avants are pulling to much power for your track.

I have several avant rally cars & I swapped the motors on all of them for Ninco NC5 as they are to power full for me.

Cheers

Paul.

 

[mINdAt3z]

I was thinking the opposite, that it was delivering too much power (I am not into the electrical stuff and it doesnt make sense to me, but... it was a thought). I have two power supplies connected to the advanced powerbase, both delivering 15v with 4 amp each. I also run NSR Moslers on it with the Shark 25K rpm engines (and I agree, with 15v it´s way too much power on a plastic Scalextric track, I hardly can push the throthle to the half, good thing you can adjust the throthle levels on the 7042) without any problems what so ever, they run smoothly all over the track and goes like lightning.

I think Riko is on to something. It´s something with the engines that simply does not like the Scalextric digital layout. I switched to the old powerbase (the analog sports powerbase and adapters), and the cars ran very smoothly. Tho as you said, the powerbase did not deliver enough power to make it fun to drive. But the "jumping" behaviour vanished directly.

I will try to put a different engine into one of them and see if it runs more smoothly, it´s not a huge investment. I am more curious and wanting to know for the future if i should avoid Avant cars or not. Maybe it´s just a series of motors that has this problem...? I could not see any markings on the engines, but the information I have is that it´s exactly what you said, that it´s a 27k rpm "Hurricane" orange engine in them. Maybe they simply has issues with the advanced powerbase or the voltage.

 

[mINdAt3z]

Hi all,

The problem is solved, but I only have an IDEA what the solution was.

Simply put, I took the time today to take the cars down into pieces.
I removed the wiring and rewired and resolded the engines with Slot-IT cabling.
Then I put the car on the setup block and remounted the motor block and adjusted all (damn, it has lots) of the screws.
The pick-up got new brading (NSR).

After this, all the car runs indeed like a Hurricane. My theory is that it was a combination of problems, mostly related to tuning the screws. I think the power of the Advanced Powerbase (15v/4amp) in relation to a damn strong engine with huge torque created some jumping of the car or the engine blocks and making the car simply loose the power.

Or... who knows, maybe it was crappy solding or wiring problems.

They are still quite hard to control on the track since they are so strong and has less magnetic traction, but they are amazingly fun to drive and I think I will have a blast running these Avant cars together with my friends. They will not get the fastest lap times, but they will provide a fun race that takes some concentration and control to win.

Thanks all for your ideas and input. So nice to have a great community like this to batter out ideas with when you run into trouble.