Problem: In another thread where I posted I was having bursts of unwanted speed when passing over my Arc Pro, then I was also finding dead track sections.
In fact I found a portion of my 2nd lane was totally dead.
Posters (thx beardy) alluded me to the fact that I was having new electrical connection issues.
This was new to my layout and I traced it back to the 1/2 the track sections popping off the hold down puck system and twisting when I was lowering it off the wall where I store the layout vertically.
I have several times tightened all the metal tabs under each track section because 1/2 the sections were from a 20 year old set.
I've broken the layout down yet again, piece by piece and finding many floppy loose male pins (so loose like they are almost like they are not connected to the rails) and also raised female ends of the track which causes the clicking when cars pass over it. Now I can also see why my NSR cars were having sections of the pink motor wrap lifted because the motor is so low it's catching on these raised track connections.
Now I can see on closer inspection that those male pins are held in by only the overlapping of the rail. I thought before they were part of a metal rod system that went through each track section. Now I can see the rail itself is just in the shape of a lower case "n" with attached metal tabs to hold it to the plastic track.
Previously, I thought a metal rod ended into a male pin. Now I can see the male pin is just a pin crimped in place by the n shaped metal rail.
So all my efforts in the past pressing down on the metal tabs helped a little but I never got to the real root of the issue for a good connection, which was to make sure that male pin was solidly crimped and that the female section was also being tightly held down to the track too. Many of the ends of female sections are loose too causing not only a bad connection, but a raised rail where sections came together.
I can now also see that raising two sections up at any height to connect them back together is the worse thing I could have done to the connection ends. Do this just once and I was left with floppy male pegs all over again.
Pure laziness, when I needed to remove or replace a section instead of track instead of working the other sections away to the left and right . . . I've just bent up sections to connect them together (big mistake). Now I can see this Scalextric track design must be kept flat at all times.
And then the tracking popping off the hold downs loosened many many end connections.
So sorry for the long explanation of the problem (I hope this helps other newbies understand how these tracks fit together and how not to destroy the electrical connections), but what tips should I do before I reassemble the layout since I'm using both the pucks and the Scalextric track clips and I don't want to have to break it down yet again for dead sections or raised rails.
.1 Is there any tips or products to clean any oxidation off the connections before I reassemble?
There must be some type of oxidation or film just due to the 20 year old ages of some sections. I don't want to wipe them with say steel wool for fear of removing the finish. What would be a good product to clean the track end connections with? I have some small wire brushes that I was thinking of lightly pushing in and out of the female connection followed by dielectric grease.
.2 I have Inox (great stuff), but just wiping the connections with Inox I'm thinking that it won't last as long as using dielectric grease I have in stock (pictured).
So that's where I'm at before re-assembly. I'm tightening all tabs and making sure those male pins are held in place solidly now along with the female track ends. I still need to somehow clean the connections up and then wipe with dielectric grease.
Any suggestions welcome.
![Image]()
In fact I found a portion of my 2nd lane was totally dead.
Posters (thx beardy) alluded me to the fact that I was having new electrical connection issues.
This was new to my layout and I traced it back to the 1/2 the track sections popping off the hold down puck system and twisting when I was lowering it off the wall where I store the layout vertically.
I have several times tightened all the metal tabs under each track section because 1/2 the sections were from a 20 year old set.
I've broken the layout down yet again, piece by piece and finding many floppy loose male pins (so loose like they are almost like they are not connected to the rails) and also raised female ends of the track which causes the clicking when cars pass over it. Now I can also see why my NSR cars were having sections of the pink motor wrap lifted because the motor is so low it's catching on these raised track connections.
Now I can see on closer inspection that those male pins are held in by only the overlapping of the rail. I thought before they were part of a metal rod system that went through each track section. Now I can see the rail itself is just in the shape of a lower case "n" with attached metal tabs to hold it to the plastic track.
Previously, I thought a metal rod ended into a male pin. Now I can see the male pin is just a pin crimped in place by the n shaped metal rail.
So all my efforts in the past pressing down on the metal tabs helped a little but I never got to the real root of the issue for a good connection, which was to make sure that male pin was solidly crimped and that the female section was also being tightly held down to the track too. Many of the ends of female sections are loose too causing not only a bad connection, but a raised rail where sections came together.
I can now also see that raising two sections up at any height to connect them back together is the worse thing I could have done to the connection ends. Do this just once and I was left with floppy male pegs all over again.
Pure laziness, when I needed to remove or replace a section instead of track instead of working the other sections away to the left and right . . . I've just bent up sections to connect them together (big mistake). Now I can see this Scalextric track design must be kept flat at all times.
And then the tracking popping off the hold downs loosened many many end connections.
So sorry for the long explanation of the problem (I hope this helps other newbies understand how these tracks fit together and how not to destroy the electrical connections), but what tips should I do before I reassemble the layout since I'm using both the pucks and the Scalextric track clips and I don't want to have to break it down yet again for dead sections or raised rails.
.1 Is there any tips or products to clean any oxidation off the connections before I reassemble?
There must be some type of oxidation or film just due to the 20 year old ages of some sections. I don't want to wipe them with say steel wool for fear of removing the finish. What would be a good product to clean the track end connections with? I have some small wire brushes that I was thinking of lightly pushing in and out of the female connection followed by dielectric grease.
.2 I have Inox (great stuff), but just wiping the connections with Inox I'm thinking that it won't last as long as using dielectric grease I have in stock (pictured).
So that's where I'm at before re-assembly. I'm tightening all tabs and making sure those male pins are held in place solidly now along with the female track ends. I still need to somehow clean the connections up and then wipe with dielectric grease.
Any suggestions welcome.
