Annoying Power Glitch

[Nat Santamaria]

Hey all. I am running a 1/24 scale digital Carrera set. It is 62 ft in length. The power is evenly distributed at 2 power taps. Accessories include, 1 driver station, lap counter, pit lane and 2 lane changers. I will run 2-3 autonomous cars and I will be driving one. This problem is not specific to any one car, part of the track, or wether it is autonomous or driven or how many cars are on the track.
The cars will dead stop momentarily - split second and then continue. I have tried different power supplies-no difference. When I check power to the rails it is reading 16.4 volts all around the track.
If 2 cars are running fairly closely, the car behind will run into the lead car resulting in severe damage. Anyone experiencing this issue? Any suggestions or ideas?


Thank you

[goosenapper]

Does the pause happen at the same place(s) each time, or is it random throughout the entire course?

If using different power supplies, what are the amps that they are putting out?

[proxieken]

One time I cleaned my track with some cleaning wipes. (Clorox I think) It seemed to have left a film on the rails and interfered with the power. I then cleaned this off with Goo-Gone and fixed the problem.


It seemed the problem was worse where I started cleaning, as if the fresh wipe left more of a residue.

[KD11]

Sounds to me like the control panel is the likely problem. The control panel sends control data to all cars including the autonomous cars. As your problem happens at random I don't think you have a power supply issue. I'm not sure what the warranty is on the Control panel so you might want to contact Carrera.

I have had a similar problem related only to the car I am driving. The problem is while using my wireless controllers I would lose the signal to the wireless receiver. If I held the controller at a distance of about 10ft away from the wireless receiver and below the table I would lose signal intermittently. When this happens I lose speed indication on the driver station. The solution was to keep the wireless controllers at track level.

Good Luck

[Florida_Slotter]

There is a product that you should obtain. Use it regularly and all power glitches go away and stay away.

That product is INOX MX3. You can pick it up at Slot Car Corner - one of the site supporters here at HRW.

What happens is an oxide builds up on your tracks rails. These are not only the power source, but also the signal carrying medium for the digital receivers. If there is interruption in the signaling, you will have issues. Just put a small drop on the braid of your cars and run them around the track. I suggest brushing down the braid with a small brass brush prior to dabbing them with INOX MX3. You will see immediate results.

Bottom Line:

"Works good, lasts long time".

[Nat Santamaria]

Thanks guys. I cleaned the rails with alcohol and it made a huge difference. There was a lot of black residue that came off the rails. It still happens but nearly as often.
I will try Inox MX3

[Florida_Slotter]

Also clean the braids on your cars. They're probably dirty as well.

The INOX MX3 will simply set you free - free from cleaning those dirty rails.

My home track is a Carrera "GO" 4 lane analog track. I can run 1:43, 1:32 and 1:24 cars (1:32 and 1:24 as single cars only) on the layout. When my Grand kids come over, all I do is run a piece of masking tape folded over on the bottom of my car to pick up the dust, lint and other crud, then clean the braids with INOX MX3 and rum some laps with the car. Repeat on each lane and the track is ready to run on all 4 lanes in a matter of minutes.

Once you get it an try it, I know you will be telling everyone else about it. It's that good. No Digital guy should ever run without it.

[RichD]

NEVER clean your track with Chlorox! Chlorox contains sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach) and caustic soda, it can damage the track surface and even the rails. You could try cleaning the track by spraying some WD-40 on a rag and wiping the track down with that, do not spray WD-40 directly on the track. Give the track a second wipe with a clean rag. The treatment should remove any dust and rubber residue from the track surface and also helps to condition the rails. Inox is also very useful for conditioning the rails, I would not use it on the track surface. If you put some on the cars braids and run the car around that might be enough to condition the rails. I bought some Inox via Amazon.com, but Slot Car Corner also sells it. If cleaning the rails does not work the control unit is likely to be at fault.