Seperating powerbase from track

11599 Views 18 Replies 13 Participants Last post by malw, May 15, 2011

murrayc

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2007

Is there any great trick to seperating the powerbase from the track section?

All i've done is turned it over and seen the screws and havent actually taken off the base cover yet, but was thinking of attempting this during the weekend. Im taking a guess that all thats involved is simply running some wires from the base unit to the now seperated sensor track, yes?

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

RichG

· #2 · Mar 28, 2007

Hi Murray

I do not think there is a "How To", but as you have guessed it is straightforward.

When you get the bottom off you will see 4 wires running to each of the 2 sensor boards and two thicker wires with the track power. All you need to do is replace or probably lengthen the 10 wires. You can either solder and insulate, heatshrink sleeving is good, or use a piece of terminal block for the connections.

Rich

martinkay

· #3 · Mar 28, 2007 (Edited by Moderator)

Yep, that's pretty much it. Slice the track section off and reconnect all the wires you cut, I think there are about 10 altogether. I made a bit of a dog's breakfast of the cut through the base plate on mine, so the nearside edge of the track doesn't look too great, but you can't see it with a border piece placed adjacent. Unfortunately it will not be possible to clip the border piece on the normal way, so you'll have to use gaffer tape under the track.

injectorman

· #4 · Mar 28, 2007 (Edited by Moderator)

5

Hi Guys,
Heres a how to Rich, just in the nick of time.
Coincidence, today I built up a MS mod for PhilR's commercial track, so it has to be heavy duty and quick release.
Heres a few tips and pics, hope they are of assistance.

You guys get to see it before Phil does!

Pic showing data from PB to trackpiece via blue 8 core data cable, plugs are like ethernet plug. Nice and neat. Note double female plug to data for quick release, and note 50 amp Anderson plugs on power in and power cables out to enable quick release. Note fan for cooling. The fan plugs into original power inlets, once again you can remove quickly.
Power is taken off PB via thick cable to track bus. Power out cables exit PB at rear. This particular PB is the master from a MS mod. (You can see the phone cable on the lower right which connects to slave PB.

Pic showing how power cables to track are taken from PB in thicker gauge cable, I detoured around using the tiny tracks and tiny pin hole.

Pic showing data cable connected to trackpiece. The colours are different so write it down so as to avoid confusion.

Although a different cable/PB, pic shows how old cables are de-soldered and data cable soldered straight to PB.

Cheers
Rick

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drummer

· #5 · Mar 29, 2007

I see you've learnt your way around that camera Rick, very good photos.

Ade

· #6 · Feb 8, 2011

hi
i have had to move my pbpro unit so that the lap display tower tallys with ssdc on the lapcount front after a pit stop.

The unit is now to close to a opening door and i can see damage happening so the seperation has to happen.

I can see that the senser wires are taken care of by 8 core data cable but what i would like to know is what gauge wire is correct for the run for the power to the track,The base will be approx 7ft from the track section it will be removed from.

One other bonus will be that the pb will be sat right next to the psu so a nice short power lead can be used,Does 13amp flex sound good for this? I have banana plugs out of the psu so could solder into these if needs be.?

Thanks in advance for any help.

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distantkiwi

· #7 · Feb 8, 2011 (Edited by Moderator)

What about cutting up the new APB? I'd like to know if it can be plug and play with the old PB6 track piece. Ie my track piece is embeded in my track, will I have to rip it out to replace it with the new track from the new APB?

MrFlippant

· #8 · Feb 8, 2011 (Edited by Moderator)

Did you write down not just the colors of the wires, but also where they connect to? If so, then you should be able to leave the original track in place, especially if you had the two-lane analog mod done on your original base, and so already have two pairs of power to that track. If either of those were not done, you'll need to pull the track to either a) compare the wires and their actual destinations on the sensor boards in case the factory used different wire arrangements between bases or

add in the second set of power wires for the two lane analog support.
Yet another reason I'm not jumping to install the APB in my track.

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sealevel

· #9 · Feb 8, 2011

BigBird,

Don't forget to look at Stan's detailed PB separation thread (click here).

The advice I was given was that the thicker the wire the more current it can handle.
Over here it would be either 14AWG or 16AWG wire (12AWG and 14AWG are used to wire houses so that give you a comparison). Anything smaller in diameter (i.e. higher number AWG) raises the risk of overheating the wires.

I would think any household wire would be adequate since the volts are low and the amps are not extreme but more at a race start than some hobby wire might handle.

Hope that helps.
Cheers!

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Ade

· #10 · Feb 8, 2011

hi
thanks for the link sealevel.

.very usefull thread with a good insight and tips.I really like the use of the din connectors on the master slave mod.

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distantkiwi

· #11 · Feb 8, 2011

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 9 Feb 2011, 09:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Did you write down not just the colors of the wires, but also where they connect to?
lol, you're funny!!!

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 9 Feb 2011, 09:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>If so, then you should be able to leave the original track in place, especially if you had the two-lane analog mod done on your original base, and so already have two pairs of power to that track.
One lane only, I think.

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 9 Feb 2011, 09:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>you'll need to pull the track
Of course it wouldn't be simple, would it. grump, grump grump.

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 9 Feb 2011, 09:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Yet another reason I'm not jumping to install the APB in my track.
I hear you loud and clear.

Does one need 2 sets of power cables running for 2 lane analogue?

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sealevel

· #12 · Feb 8, 2011

YUP!
2 lanes analogue needs 2 pairs of power cables.
There is a thread somewhere on this forum showing an opened C7042 APB revealing 2 pairs of power and 8 data lines.

Cheers!

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Marty

· #13 · Feb 19, 2011

Hi all

Just seperated my 6PB from the track and all workrd first time, so pleased.

Many thanks to all who contributed to this post it really made attempting the exercise easier.

Regars

Marty

thekop

· #14 · Feb 19, 2011

Is it the new APB? Pics please.

Martyn_

· #15 · Feb 19, 2011

OK, embarrassing noob question now:

If I seperate out my APB from my track, can I attach my power leads to the absolute nearest piece of track, which may well be some way from my start sensors? Or does the power and data all have to be in the same piece of track?

My thinking being, I can run a cat5 cable to the start track over any distance, but minimise the power drop by attaching to the nearest piece of track.

distantkiwi

· #16 · Feb 19, 2011

Yes, the power wires just got to the rails so they won't need to be on the same track piece.

MrFlippant

· #17 · Feb 19, 2011

You're not going to lose much voltage by running longer wire to the base, especially not compared to the amp loss by the track connections themselves. You might consider running the power wires to a "choc block" or other power splitter system so that you can then run power taps easily all over your track. I highly recommend doing this during the initial wiring phase of your track, as you'll be less likely to want to do it later on. ;-)

Martyn_

· #18 · Feb 19, 2011

Sound advice gents, thank you both. I will look at going with a choc-block or similar route - might ferret around in the stores at work, see if there's any busbars or rail mounts that would suit.

It's a way off yet before I start, so many other things to set up with the circuit first!

malw

· #19 · May 15, 2011

Hej, I would like to reverse my PBPro+SH so I can change its position, is it possible just to swap the sensor boards with each other or do i have to separate the PB from track peice???

thx Mal

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