I'm new to the slot car world and am loving it so far but spending to much money on cars already. At this point I'm just having fun in the garage so I'm not looking to get too carried away.
My favorite Mag is now impossible to drive due to being like an on off switch and keeps on rolling when I let off on the controller. I have some new brushes, springs, and an armature on the way but I'm curious what wears to create this problem and is there ever a need to replace the magnets? Also is there a way to get the gear off the arm with out buying a puller?

You didnt mention the manufacturer of your car or controller???

Have you changed rear tire profiles recently? It doesnt take much of a jump in OD to quickly reduce the tractive effort of the magnets in the pancake designed cars. For example a jump from .474 to .490 on an AFX magnatraction will dramatically change the handling and really loosen things up.

Such is the case with all traction assist cars including the modern inline "light benders". However the effect is not as dramatic as the oldschool magna tractions.

Regardless of the design, moving the traction magnets out of their optimum operational range, IE: away from the rail, will reduce the tractive effect and the handling will suffer.

:wave: Hope you get your car problem fixed. Welcome to the world of slot cars! Since you said you are pretty new I can give you a few easy tips.

(1) roll some masking tape upside down on a small piece of wood or stick the same width as the tape. Don't use the whole roll....10 or so wrappings will be good and more if desired. Why do this? To clean your tires off. This should be done now and then. You just roll your rear tires over the tape and that will get all the dirt off for better traction. Expecialy on the curves.

(2) Clean your track and rails now and then. They sell track erasers that work well for cleaning your rails. I use the blue liquid stuff from the hobby store to clean the actual black track. it is probalbly just Windex and I am getting Skrewd.

Clean tires, rails and track is a happy tire, rail and track....Have fun. If it isn't fun then it isn't worth doing. Slots Rule! :)

Bob

Sorry about that, the car is a AFX Magnatraction and I'm using a Parma 45 ohm. I haven't done anything to the car other than drive it a lot. I see what you're saying with moving the magnets away from the track but I haven't changed anything. It just got progressively worse and now it's like a light switch and spins out very easily. It's made me a much better driver though, I've noticed when I've gone to my other cars my control is much better.

You can change your controller to a higher resistance version 90 ohm + for the pancake style chassis and have better control. Sounds like the chassis you started running has broke in and now just running wild. Enjoy! :thumbsup: rr

Sounds like the more tweaks, and better able you are to increase the car's effeciency, the less controllable it is. If so, its probable that you need a higher Ohmage controller which will smooth the power transition, and make your control less lika a "light switch". I always preferred an 85 Ohm, but some guys are more comfortable with 125 Ohm controllers. Good Luck!

When my AFX's get that "switch" feeling, it's usually time for an overhaul. I strip it down, clean everything, and then carefully put it all together again. Make sure there is no binding anywhere, especially when you put the armature plate back in. The car should coast somewhat when you let off the trigger or else it will lock up the brakes and spin.
I used to remove the top gear with a small flat blade screwdrver, but that will sometimes ruin the gear and possibly the plate, too.

Here's an article on cleaning.
http://howorld.fsmra.com/archives/howto/tuneup/mt/mt.html
A lot of good info in the archive section.

Your mentioning of the 'on/off switch' type control of the car tells me you may have a bad resistor, or you're not getting proper contact from the wiper (that little copper button that contacts the resistor, which is connected to the trigger). Check your controller to see if it's ok.

Some magnatraction/xtractions are coast-monsters, but using the brake (if possible) will help.

"...the car keeps rolling when I let off the controller." I think that's the key clue. The wiper isn't working properly in the controller. It's getting stuck and not coming all the way back. Take it apart and make some adjustments so the wiper has full motion with light contact on the resistor. Having said this, I also agree with what some others are saying about higher ohm controllers for this type of car.

I should have said that the car coasts to a stop much more than my other Magnatraction, not that it keeps going after I let off on the controller. From what it sounds like I just have a properly broken in car and need to figure out how to drive it, and need to get a new resistor. I'm pretty sure I'm done running Tomy cars because they're just no fun to drive so it will be pancakes from here on with a 90 ohm or so controller. Will this controller work well with T-Jets if I decide to switch to them in the future?

Yes, 90ohms is good for tjets, or any other pancake cars. Any chance you could post a pic of your coast-happy afx car's chassis?

I think you are experiencing the nemesis of a fast Magnatraction... too little brush tension. This is a very delicate adjustment but I would start with oldraceral's suggestion and start with a tear down and clean.
Shoot me an e-mail to boydgg(at)yahoo(dot)com and I will do everything I can to get you into magnatraction heaven... one of my favorite all time chassis!

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com

501motard, I didn't notice your wondering about removing arm gears. I strongly recommend buying a gear puller. You could use a screwdriver to remove gears and rims, but doing so could damage the arm shaft, but will damage gears and rims. Here's a pic:

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/511/Puller.jpg

It will also remove rear rims on any HO slotcar. Hopefully someone will point out where you can get one of these.

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/511/Puller.jpg

Hopefully someone will point out where you can get one of these.

BSRT offers various pullers but this particular one can be found here http://members.aol.com/RtHoRacing/

I've never ordered anything from here but just happened to run across this site last week. Go clear down to the bottom of the page and then back up about 6 items. $14 plus $5 shipping.

501motard, I didn't notice your wondering about removing arm gears. I strongly recommend buying a gear puller. You could use a screwdriver to remove gears and rims, but doing so could damage the arm shaft, but will damage gears and rims. Here's a pic:

http://photos.hobbytalk.com/data/511/Puller.jpg

It will also remove rear rims on any HO slotcar. Hopefully someone will point out where you can get one of these.


DLW is dead on - no more mangled parts!

Cant live without it.

Got mine from RTHO.

Yep, by the puller, and then look at get yourself a gear press, you definitely want that gear pushed on straight!

Besides, having cool tools truly makes it good hobby! ;)

JW makes good tools:

http://users.cescowildblue.com/jwsteed/JW.HTM