[Aidan]

I am new to the scene and am throughtly enjoying racing with my 3 little boys and reading this forum. I brought the kids the Triple Cup Set and everything is fine. Will go down the SSDC route, and have just received my cable so just been mucking around with this too. Anyway back to my question.

Everytime someone crashes and we stop the game to put the car back on the track, if a car is on the LC track or also on the pit entry track they have not power to start again. I just move the car to the next piece of track and they are fine. What is causing this and how do I fix it? I have brought the 6 Car Powerbase and have 3-4 cars running. Do I need another power supply?

Any suggestions or ideas welcome.

 

[Minardi]

This is not something an extra power supply can solve. At the LC sections there are parts that are not powered, they are not connected to prevent shortcuts. You just have to live with It, but you will get used to It.
There is a thread how you can power them, but you have to do some soldering. A simpler solution is a small magnet in the underside of the flipper. But to be honest, I have never done any of those mods and learned to live with It, It becomes a second nature to push cars a few inches forward after a track call or crash.

 

[Aidan]

Ok so this is completely normal then. Well that is fine then. I thought I either might have done something wrong, or the connection was not quite right or something. Thanks for clearing this up.

 

[Ade]

hi
in xlc format the flipper rail is live when changing lane but dead when in it's straight ahead posistion.

You can test this by driving slowly over a section and try each route available....

Rikorocket has a thread somewhere on here about powering the flipper....

 

[Aidan]

QUOTE (bigbird @ 15 Feb 2012, 01:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hi
in xlc format the flipper rail is live when changing lane but dead when in it's straight ahead posistion.

You can test this by driving slowly over a section and try each route available....

Rikorocket has a thread somewhere on here about powering the flipper....

Ok thanks bigbird, something to at least test out. I'll try and do a search regardin Rikorockets powering the flipper too...

 

[MrFlippant]

I remember stopping on the flippers a lot. That pretty much disappears as you get better at driving. Also, when you go magless, the cars coast more and are less likely to stop dead on a flipper. The only time we stop on flippers any more is when someone coasts onto one during a track call.

Oh, and the flippers, by design, get power from the rail they are touching. In some cases, that's the inside rail, the outside rail, or if you're really lucky, both as needed. In most cases, though, the contact is intermittent at best, and the flippers are usually dead. That's where the magnet trick helps, but it doesn't work on straight lane changers. There was supposed to be a real nice way to power flippers shown at the Gaydon slot festival, but it never made it to the forum or anywhere, so only those that went to the festival have seen it. Hopefully that can be shared somewhere soon.

 

[RikoRocket]

It was just a copy of what K3ith did here

 

[MrFlippant]

Oh! Sorry.

I thought it was something new. Still, you guys went through a lot of trouble to present that in tutorial form. It's a shame that it can't be shared more widely. How big are the video files, again? YouTube will take files up to 20GB in size now.

 

[Aidan]

What I am finding is it mostly happens when you are trying to get into the pits. I have the pit lane game which came with the Triple Car set. The pits are not very long at all, so to stop in the pits sometimes your going slow to make sure you stop at the right place. This is when suddenly you lost power on the LCer into the pits and are stuck!

 

[Minardi]

Extending your pitlane is not very difficult. If you have a spare straight you can put It before the pit lane game.

 

[MrFlippant]

Also, you don't have to stop in the pits for the stock pit lane game, just pass over the sensor. You can go high speed through there, so long as you don't deslot in the process.

You'll need to stop in the pits for computer controller refueling, in which case you'll want to extend the pit.

 

[Aidan]

QUOTE (MrFlippant @ 17 Feb 2012, 03:45) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Also, you don't have to stop in the pits for the stock pit lane game, just pass over the sensor. You can go high speed through there, so long as you don't deslot in the process.

You'll need to stop in the pits for computer controller refueling, in which case you'll want to extend the pit.

Yeah I just worked this out, sorta cheating really as to get rid of one red light you just have to zoom into the pits and out again and thats your pitstop. Defeats the purpose really. Is this how Pit-Pro fixes this?

 

[MrFlippant]

Pit-Pro turns it into a whole different kind of thing. The connection to the computer provides a multitude of options limited only by the software controlling it. Both SSDC and PC Lap Counter support Pit Pro, but they each do so in different ways. Pit-Pro essentially provides a connection to the computer to tell the software when a particular exits and/or leaves the pit lane, and a 3x6 array of LEDs to use to display various things.

The stock game is still in there, though. When not connected to a computer, it still acts like the standard Pit Lane Game, just without the loud beeping.

 

[Ade]

hi
it's all in the name,pitlane game. Last thing you need when trying to make a realistic layout.

Besy way to look at the unit is as a building block that can be turned into the awesome pitpro, so connect this up with ssdc and when you enter the pits murray walker pops up and shouts out :and into the pits: it's a superb addition to any digital layout...

 

[Aidan]

Can anyone PM the contact from electricimages so I can get details on how I can get this done here in NZ, rather than send it back to UK.

 

[chris99]

QUOTE (Aidan @ 21 Feb 2012, 23:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Can anyone PM the contact from electricimages so I can get details on how I can get this done here in NZ, rather than send it back to UK.
Hi Aidan,

It's all here: http://www.electricimages.co.nz/Prrder.ashx and the email for further info is on that page.

Cheers
Chris

 

[Aidan]

QUOTE (chris99 @ 22 Feb 2012, 19:30) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Hi Aidan,

It's all here: http://www.electricimages.co.nz/Prrder.ashx and the email for further info is on that page.

Cheers
Chris

I sent him a email at the start of this week, still waiting to hear back from him so will see what he comes back with. Cheers

 

[Aidan]

On a side note, I brought another straight lane changer today, seems to be only changing lanes on one lane. I move the other side manually and it seems to work for a bit and then stop again. Anything I can try to fix this, or just take it back to the shop???

 

[GregK]

Hi Aidan,
Ian Harding is the guy behind Electricimages and he is still getting over the effects of the earthquake in Christchurch, I am sure that he will get back to you when he has a moment.

Turn the XLC over and there is a cover held down by 5 screws. Underneath this you will see all the gubbins for lane changing. On either side of the movable part are solenoids covered in yellow plastic tape, inside these are small metal hooks that should be linked together by a small piece of black plastic. This piece also hooks into the movable flipper ....... that's the easy bit. All you have to do is make sure that they all connect up ..... you will need at least three hands and some earmuffs for anyone helping you .....

All the best - Greg

 

[sealevel]

QUOTE (RikoRocket @ 15 Feb 2012, 10:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It was just a copy of what K3ith did here
This is an updated version of the powered flipper using flatter relays that fit under the track (link here).

Cheers!