Huge help needed total newbie

[LUNARCAPTAIN]

Getting two grandboys 7 & 9 into this with me.
We raced and rented cars at a commercial track,boys hooked.
I bought cheap a bunch of Carrera track they were evolution black top racer sets
Probably 2 sets combined
Regular power supply sucks
The guy had a regulated one but he sold it prior to me getting everything
Else
So now questions
I have no cars per say of any value or speed.
Going to go 1/32 2 lanes
It has higher end controllers and all the wiring
My first question is what are some fast cars that stay on track well
For beginners?
And not be slow ..... they got a taste at the commercial track

Second question power supply??? Does it need to go up to 18 ?
Or is the 13.9v 20 amp at radio shack will that work?
The track has wires soldered in several track pieces , figuring that's. the taps
So what power supply??

Whew that's it for now lol

Thanks in advance!

It also has a wiring harness with a strip where wires are screwwed in and some like resistor things bridging some .
I got a friend to help me identifying that this week.

[mattb]

RS power supply should be good. The terminal strip sounds like a Professor Motor wiring kit for slot tracks, probably has Prof controllers, also. See his website for diagrams and info on wiring kits. I build all my cars in 1/24 scale from scratch and basically for commercial length tracks. So, other than what I read on this forum, I don't know much about current 1/32 cars. I do know that racing with magnets is nothing like the commercial track experience or what old timers like me prefer. Most of the guys on this forum pull magnets and use better tires. I sure you will hear from them. It sounds like you have a good start on a nice home track.

[4424ever]

As mattb said the RS power supply should do fine as for cars not sure what your into but the Carrera cars are some of the best bang for the buck your going to get. Check out the retailer links on the board for prices and availability, I highly recommend Bruce at Cincy Slots, excellent to deal with and he even has a selection of used cars too! On another note if you see a digital Carrera car they have lights and will run on your non digital track I mention this because my grandsons love running the lit cars in the dark. Good luck it sounds like the hook is set now reel them boys in from the video games :music-rockout:

[ccobra]

For my track, a three lane wood track with the magna braid, I used three 7 amp power supplies with a voltage regulator for each lane. That way the grandkids could run at a lower voltage thus staying on the track better and requiring Grandpa less bend-over-time in picking up the cars. Even when turned down to 9.6 volts. the Scaleys and Carreras really move around the track and the grandkids don't even try to crank up the voltage. The cars I let them run still have the magnets in them and its really hard to keep up with the Grandkids and they get a kick out of that. Enjoy the fun with the Grandkids.

[RichD]

For 1/32nd cars you do not need a power supply that goes up to 18 volts. If you expect to run cars with powerful traction magnets you could use a 13.8 volt power supply, but that would probably be too much for Slot.it and NSR cars that have smaller traction magnets. In the long run you would be better off spending some extra money on a regulated variable power supply like this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LB ... em_1p_8_ti . 5 amps would be enough for two regular 1/32nd cars, if you wanted a four lane track 10-20 amps would be better. If you have a fixed output power supply there are several ways to reduce the voltage if you find that you need to do that. If you do a search you should be able to find the type of voltage regulators that are used to dim LED lighting systems. You would probably need a separate regulator for each lane. You could also use diodes to drop the voltage. Radio Shack has 6 amp diodes that would do the job, each diode would drop 0.7 volts. the diodes would be placed between the plus side of the power supply and the white track connection. If you wanted to knock 13.8 volts back to about 12 volts you could use three diodes wired in series. It is best to have a separate set of diodes for each lane.
As far as the cars go the newest Carrera cars are actually good performers. If you feel the need for more power a Piranha motor from Slot Car Corner would be a fairly inexpensive upgrade. Without traction magnets there is a limit to how much power you can put into a car.

[LUNARCAPTAIN]

:text-thankyouyellow:

[LUNARCAPTAIN]

Rich haha...I cant believe you replied I was going to call you today..LOL...I was at your house with the grandson. last week!

I am going to be setting the track up on the floor laying it out to test etc. then will work to raise it up. I may have enough to make a 4 lane track, I have some work to do before i get to actually powering it up.

I'm guessing I have enough track at such a steal of a price and I def have the space at my shop.

I bought two carrera black top racer sets , a bunch of cars and a bunch of controllers.all for a good price.

I may eventually go to HO scale in future. just so much to learn....this thing was so simply 40 years ago.get a track set for christmas...and run.....get to the hobby shop and buy a few cars...run em.

[RichD]

It was nice having you over! If you think that you might want to run HO cars at some point you might consider a power supply that goes up to at least 20 volts. HO cars are normally run at 18-20 volts, drag racers might go as high as 24 volts.