power supply question

[btaylor]

I have read the reviews on different power supplies,and was wondering how does everyone deal with power surge when a car de-slots using only one power source for all lanes?, i am looking at at pyramid variable volt power unit to replace my six power pacs im using now. i am also looking into the possibility of reducing the lane power to the shorter lanes (oval) to give a more even race. any thoughts on this? would light dimmer switches work wired prior to the controllers?
Bob

[4424ever]

Bob the reason cars get power surges is because of the power supplies ability to supply power. Amps are the power, a stock scaley car in general will require 1 amp. So if you were shopping for a power supply for a 4 lane track you should look for something that will provide 1 amp of power for each lane as a minimum, 4 lanes=4amps. Modified cars will want more amps it depends on the car how much is required, other stock cars want more than 1 amp it's all over the place, I have a sprint car that will suck 5 amps under hard acceleration! Bottom line is get a power supply with as many amps as you can afford! I run a 2 lane road coarse with 3 amps per lane and a 4 lane oval with 4 amps per lane and have not had any power issues with either. Controlling power on each lane can be done many ways but the light dimmer won't work, it is designed to control A/C power and slot tracks are D/C power. So after all this if you have any more questions ask away I'm no expert but I've been around this block, twice now :D

[Florida_Slotter]

The most important part about eliminating power surges is to have a power supply that is regulated.

This is an electronic circuit in the power supply that detects the diminished draw of current when a car deslots and keeps the voltage the same. Kind of techno-wizardry, but it does work very well.

Hope this helps.

[btaylor]

That makes sense, im not running any hot motors right now,but want to build for the future as well as taking care of right now. Ihad not thought about the dimmers being a/c power,might have to look into the automotive line for 12 volt dc type,maybe headlight switch,or heat/ac fan switch, looking for a cheap source to try and reduce individual lane power,aside from overall variable track voltage. probably why years ago,my old track was car battery powered,and never had surge issues,but had loads of amps!.

[HomeRacingWorld]

[btaylor]

Thanks for the link,that sure is a good price as well,now to see about the individual lane volt/amp reduction??? i would not concern myself with that issue,but we found out that there is a substantial variance between lanes, particularly when all chassis are the same.round robin racing can fix some of that,but i want a more tunable track for when just a few are racing.

[SlotCarCorner]

[The Old Jaybird]

Quick and cheap fix to balance power to lanes is to wire resistors into the power circuit to each lane. A start might be, outside lane = full power, next lane in = one resistor, next lane in = 2 resistors, shortest, inside lane = 3 resistors. And all 6 resistors can be bought for less than $5.00 total. Just need to do a little soldering. You just "daisy-chain" them together to get the power drop you need. Somewhere......I have the types, values of resistors you need, I got mine from Radio Shack. To test the drop prior to connecting them permanently into the track wiring, you can just hook them between the white power post and the white clip on your controller.

TOJ

[RichD]

If you have a power surge problem adding resistors will not fix that. It is nice to know how much power your cars are using because even a regulated power supply will sag if it can't supply enough power. If you are going to buy an aftermarket power supply 1 amp per lane would be the minimum amount that I would recommend for Scalexrtic and similar cars and at least 2 amps per lane would be good for Slot.it cars. If your power supply is regulated and you want to equalize lanes diodes will work better than resistors. Each diode will drop 0.7 volts.

[dr fabio]

Just go to evilbay and type in some key words like "DC power supply variable". Youll get hundreds of hits. Heres one that looks OK, just as an example of whats out there. You can also get dual power supplies so that you can dial up two different voltages at the same time.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/30V-10AMP-10 ... 589wt_1078

This one is a duel supply and very flexible. You can switch between 2 independent supplies or switch to series connection for increased voltage output or switch to parallel for increase current supply. All for $149.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Tekpower-HY3 ... 481wt_1153





cheers
dr fabio

[btaylor]

Well,the prof,motor power supply is on its way, gotta start from there and work my way to the reduced power to each lane.i found a automotive acc. heater control switch a NAPA, it will handle 30 plus amps DC,and it worked well enough on my existing power pac,so im hoping to try several (5 five) leaving the inside lane at the same as it is now.

[dr fabio]

[The Old Jaybird]

Don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but that second, dual, power supply for $150.00 is coming from Australia and the shipping is another $115.00!!!!

TOJ

[dr fabio]

Errr old jay, the item is located in California USA and shipping is $40, maybe cheaper depending on where you live. Shop around on evilbay. Some offer free shipping. Even $40 seems reasonable for something that would weigh about 5-10kgs.

I mean I dont want to do slot car corner out of a sale, and by all means buy from them if they provide good service and products, but there are a lot better power supplies out there for about the same price. Two of these and job is done. Independent supply that you can dial up to each of 4 lanes.

cheers
dr fabio

[btaylor]

i don't know the technical reasons why the heater switch wont work,i only know that when i used an 18 volt power pack and wired it in ahead of the controller,i was able to adjust it so two lanes ran the same lap times with the same car. so,i figure,lane one 12 volts,lane two 13.5,or whatever it works best at,etc etc till i get to lane six.if it fails to work,im not out much. i looked at all the e-bay dual units,all of them where coming from sellers with way less than steller feedback! after reading the negatives,i opted out of those as a choice.