[Rakete]

...of the inerds to point out where the trouble areas are that need to be cleaned/lubed? I have 4 XLCs on the "racing surface" and one in the pits. 3 of them work flawlessly while the one in the pits and another on the race track work like a$$.

Even going slowly they sometimes change and sometimes not, seems random. Will try cleaning the rails with some Inox, but seems weird that the others work so well. Thoughts appreciated.

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[Rakete]

Well - I swapped out to a different XLC I had sitting around and it works a little better. The troublesome XLC is located about 4 connections away from the powerbase. If the LC button is depressed when I go over the terminal track/lap counter, the lane changing is much less consistent. If I depress the LC button after the lap count sensor but before XLC, the lane change is much more consistent. My pit area XLC seems like just a$$. That one I took the plates off the back wiggled stuff around and put an ever so slight dab of Inox on the arms that slide with the flippers (don't know anything else to try) but it didn't seem to help. I'm wondering if that one is just too far from a power source. Those of you who have individually powered your LCs, what exactly do you do? I have a couple of analog power supplies left over can I use those to power the LCs?

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[raikkonen_webber fan]

seems to be good news than

 

[TeeKay]

Rakete

I've disconnected my LCs from the track, supplying them with seperate dc power.

I've de-soldered the red and black wires from the track to the pc board at the pc board and re soldered new wires to the two points on the pc board and connected them to the external power supply.

The pc board got a build in bridge rectifier, thus do not worry about polarity. I have- as a rule connected the positive to the point that was connected to the left rail.

Hope it helps....

 

[Rakete]

Ok Teekay - I am not smart, so forgive my ignorance here...

When you say you've disconnected the LCs from the track power how do you prevent power from going to the LCs when they are placed on back in the racing circuit. When you say you hook up the LCs to the separate DC supply, how is that wired?

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[MrFlippant]

He's talking about the sensors and solenoids only. The rails still get power from the track as they should. Normally, the sensors and solenoids get power from the same source. If you open the small panel under the sensors, you'll see red and black wires soldered to the rails. Those are powering the lane change electronics and flippers. Desolder those and connect them to your external power source. Make sure it's not over 15v, and has enough amps for all your lane changers. No more than 6 amps should be needed.

I'm hesitant to say that this will fix the problem, though. Unless you notice severe power issues around/at the problematic lane changers, such as magnet cars bogging down and going slowly, then it's probably not a power issue so much as a mechanical one. If you can put the lane changer right on the power base and it still has issues, then it's clearly not a power problem.

What the problem actually is, will be the tricky part to nail down. Have you tried vacuuming the slot where the sensor is, to make sure no dust or debris is clouding the sensor? Can you feel any resistance in the flipper motion? If you take the XLC out and tilt it gently from side to side, will both flippers freely and easily slide back and forth? If not, then there's a physical obstruction that needs to be taken care of. It could be in the solenoid, the sliding arm bit, or even the bottom of the slot where the flipper rubs underneath.

If a flipper stops responding completely, no matter what, then it could be a damaged sensor. Stock slot.it guides are deep enough to rip off the little sensor bits in the rare lane changer that has a proud-sitting sensor. This is more common in the Pit Lane Game sensor, but has been known to happen to lane changers as well. If you're worried about that, just file the bottom leading edge of the guide on slot.it cars so that the blade skips over sensors rather than rips them off. This is especially important for any stuck down magnet cars.

 

[Balu69]

Hi, I had the problem from the work on the track, the the dirt is between the Plastic and the flipper. Simply expand the XLC from the track. On the back , unscrew the caps and clean it.
I would also XLC and all LC with its own power supply.

 

[Rakete]

Thanks guys,

I don't think I'm having any power issues as you describe. I've got 5 powertaps on the circuit and zero hesitation in car response. Also, I've only been running stock Scaley cars. Whats funny is that sometimes I can hear a slight click when I push the car over the sensor with the button depressed, but the flipper does not move. I do have fluorescent lighting in the room, so I'll also try changing those bulbs out. Will be interesting for us all over time in the US as incandescent lighting disappears.

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[MrFlippant]

A quiet click when you push the car over but no motion indicates a physical problem such as an obstruction or bad solenoid. When I had a similar issue, I would align the car right over the sensor. you can hear the click happen about once per second whichever selection is made. I would alternately press and release the LC button to get the flipper to go back and forth. I think I ended up cutting away some of the slot at the tip of the flipper which was binding the flipper from going one direction, and preventing it from getting all the way to one side when going the other way. This could also burn out solenoids over time. If cleaning and lubing doesn't help, I would get in touch with the retailer for a replacement. If they can't/won't help, call Scalextric for a warranty replacement.

 

[Rakete]

If there is really something 'wrong' with them I've got a bit of a hard time with it all. It would mean 3 out of the 6 XLCs that I own (5 are deployed) have a problem which is a huge MFG error rate, if so. Or, I somehow screwed them up. Didn't think these things would be THAT finicky. That said are the CLCs more reliable than the XLC's?

I waited for digital as by now I'd have thought the reliability/durability would be much better by now. I like it all when everything is working as I think it should, but I can't stand requeting a lane change and not getting it.

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[Balu69]

You have to move two reels for the Flippers. If you the plate at the back on height of the Fliper unscrew you see two reel with iron rods in the middle a plastic record to the right or left move. Checks whether itself iron rods and the plastic record easily to and fro allow to push. You are able to do also the reels with the iron rod out. If you supply then the XLC on a track and then a vehicle over the sensor pushes the iron rod should enter of one reels.
Sorry for mine in English. In German this was better.
Another one, the XLC get you specially power, so that the vehicles get more power and not for use the XLC works.
Regrads
Balu

 

[RikoRocket]

Balu, that was understandable in english, although normally the reels we would call the coils.

Separate power to the XLCs only really made sense when power on the rails was limited on the early SSD systems, C7042 it is not really necessary.

 

[Rakete]

Thanks Balu and Riko. From prior debugging attempts and my early experience, I think the flippers move about pretty easily. For example, taking the section out of the track and just tipping it from side to side the flippers will go back and forth. Next up on the list will be to change all the lightbulbs in the room out to incandescents and a full track cleaning.

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[Rakete]

Does anyone have an opinion on whether the CLCs are more reliable than the XLCs?

-- Rakete --

 

[Ade]

hi
they both use identical parts,apart from the clc only has 2 solenoids instead of the xlc's 4.

Clc also has a seperate track piece in wich the sensors are housed.

 

[MrFlippant]

If you park the car over the sensor, can you reliably cause the flipper to go either way by pressing/releasing the LC button alternately each second or so?

 

[Rakete]

no - that doesn't work. I tried it with just a couple of the LCs but no response at all. However, when I drive at about half speed over the LCs they seem to work reliably. GT cars work pretty reliably at racing speeds, but my F1s seem to be too fast. When I park it over a sensor I hear a faint clicking every second or so (without pressing any buttons) but the flipper definitely does NOT move when I button back and forth. Strange, eh? All in all, I'd say its good enough to race on, but not as perfect as I would have hoped. Thoughts?

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[MrFlippant]

I do find it odd that it works well at slow driving speeds, but not if the car is over the sensor. Just to be clear, I mean park the car such that the LED is right above the sensor. Of course, you wouldn't hear the clicking if you hadn't done that. If you're not holding the LC button, then it should be repetitively trying to flip straight. You should be able to move it by hand, and it should flip back to straight in a second. Same thing if you hold the LC button. It will try repeatedly to flip to turn position. You can manually move it to straight and it should flip back in a second. This is what a properly, reliably working LC will do. If that's not happening, then there is a physical reason for the problem, such as an obstruction or bad solenoid.

Unless you're exaggerating the problem, I would say that what you have is not normal. I do have occasional misses and flips that weren't asked for, but if it happens every lap or two, then I look into it and try to fix it.

 

[Rakete]

Mr. Flippant - thanks so much for your help. Scalextric should pay you. Here's where I stand now. I've swapped out all the fluorescent lights in the room. Good old fashioned incandescent lights now. When I park the bulb directly over the lane change sensor though I hear clicking, the troublesome LCs do not respond to the button at all. When I manually push the flipper to the lane change position it returns to the straight through position automatically after about a second. Does this EVERY time. I don't think I'm exaggerating the problem as I have 2 XLCs that work flawlessly for me. Today, I also opened one up and noticed one of the wires to a solenoid was crushed by one of the posts of the backing plate, so I re-soldered some good wire, but it behaves basically the same. Simply put, I'm dumbfounded and may see I can exchange one for a fresh one.

Regards,

-- Rakete --

 

[MrFlippant]

Yeah, sounds like the solenoid for that side is bad, especially since you said earlier that the flippers easily move back and forth just by tilting the lane changer.
So, give Scalextric (or your retailer) the chance to make it right, and call them up on Monday or Tuesday to talk about a merchandise exchange (retailer) or warranty replacement (Scalextric).

If for some unknown reason neither one of them play ball, which I for one would like to hear about, 'cus that would be too uncool, you still have the option of making one or two good ones out of the iffy ones:
1) test and mark each changer with a label next to the flipper so you know which way it works or doesn't work.
2) take them out of your track
3) open them up and take the GOOD solenoid(s) from one lane changer
4) install the good solenoid in place of a bad one in another lane changer
5) put the bad ones into the same lane changer.

I haven't needed to get lane changers replaced, but I can't imagine why your retailer wouldn't be willing to exchange them, or at the very least, Scalextric replacing them under warranty.