Hi all, I have done a search on here but cant seem to figure the answer out so I hope someone does not mind answering a question. I am an avid model railroader and a closet slot car fan. I recently set up my old Aurora AFX track and was having a blast. Anyways I have been thinking of making a scenicked layout for the slot cars. The problem is, my kids are 4 and 6 years old. It seems that they only know how to hold the throttle wide open. Is their any way to supply less power or slow the cars down so that they do not fly off the track every 2 seconds. I had been putting a piece of foam behind the trigger so as that the throttle could not go wide open, but that is a pia for the next guy using that throttle (I only have two right now). The chassis range from AFX, Tyco, Lifelike, etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Mike Moore

Racemasters has a new 3 way power supply that works on Tomy AF/X...
Of course you could cut off the plug and wire it into the Aurora AF/X system.

http://www.toyracecars.com/product_info.php?cPath=29&products_id=140&osCsid=4303022296fcf0d9e6fba7dfb9e5a30c

This would let you step things up as the kids learned how to drive...

Or you could get a 12 volt power supply and wire it in....

http://www.scaleauto.com/bsrt/gjet_car.htm

(This one can be had cheaper elsewhere.. I just cannot find a link for it...)

Happy racing..

Thanks for the heads up Noddaz. A 12 volt system was my first idea but a few guys had told me that I needed at least 18-20 volts for HO. I really couldnt understand why unless it would mess up the throttles. Thanks again for the advice.
Mike

I hooked up the AFX 3 way power supply yesterday to my 4 year olds new 4 lane international set. It works great on 12v for the new SG+ cars. Most of my AFX/AW/JL cars can run almost wide open on the track I have set up and it works out prefect. I highly recommend this power supply. If we had to run 22v, it would be overkill for the AFX cars. I think the intermediate level (18v) will be perfect for when my new PVT rears arrive. We have been running on 15 year old tires and they just don't hook up. Happy Motoring!
-mk

I use an old pc power supply on my test track, you can wire it for 12, 7, 5 an 3.5 volts

I use a 12volt and a 6volt battery both deep cycle.
I can run 18,12,or 6.All voltages work fine for ho cars
and with the amperage,low voltage engine heat is
not an issue.

Thanks a ton everybody. I have a 12 volt regulated supply at the house that I will try. Thanks again.
Mike

Thanks for the heads up Noddaz. A 12 volt system was my first idea but a few guys had told me that I needed at least 18-20 volts for HO. I really couldnt understand why unless it would mess up the throttles. Thanks again for the advice.
Mike

Glad to have helped. After all, that is what we do around here!
18 to 20 volts is the somewhat "standard" at which these cars are typically run...
But if 12 volt works for you, do it! (There will be no Slotcar Police breaking down your door for a code 182, "Racing HO slotcars at an unapproved voltage".)
It is all about having fun, isn't it?...:)

But one note. If you are using a regulated power supply that has any kind of serious amp output (ie more than 1 or 2 amps...) you will want to have a fuse in the circuit to prevent damage in case of a short....

Scott

I slowed my kids down by using an old Tyco HO TRAIN power supply.
They are infinitely adjustable! (cheap, too!)

But one note. If you are using a regulated power supply that has any kind of serious amp output (ie more than 1 or 2 amps...) you will want to have a fuse in the circuit to prevent damage in case of a short....



Thats whats nice about a old pc p/s, It has a built in circuit breaker. Short the leads out it shuts off for a couple mins so it don't damage itself. If wired correct it will supply 20 amps

I was planning on getting the stall amperage on the cars and putting a fuse in line for each lane accordingly plus a fuse coming out of the power supply itself. Id rather have overkill than a fire. The idea for the train power supply is terrific. I have a few laying around that Ill try. At this point I am going to have to make a four lane track. Because I don't get to race until the kids go to bed. I am having more fun with these cars than I did when I was my kids age! Thanks again everyone.

Mike

With a 4-lane track, Mom can get in on the action. Family FUN!

I am using 4 old tyco train transformers for my four lane and they do work pretty good. They don't cut power all the way down to a crawl as I would like, but do slow stuff down to a reasonable speed. I also have the whole she-bang setup where I can let the kids run it with hand controllers, and flip 4 switches after they go to bed and run all 4 lanes solo, via rheostats / potentiometors. I am also running two trains on my table at the same time.

Take a spin through my LED 101 thread and you'll find some pictures of my "work in progress" and some youtube links. The coolest part of using the train transformers is you can reverse direction easily, so a four lane race track turns easily into a 2 lane two way street... I realize there is a scale discrepancy between HO trains and HO slots, but I grew up with hotwheels and matchboxes on my tables as a kid, and true HO scale vehicles always looked too small to me. P.S. it's in the customizing forum...


Utherjoe

Don't answer the door, Utherjoe. It's the Scale Police coming to bust you for a Section 187-176-164, mixing "HO" scales. The punishment is extreme - three hoours in a cell listening to the steady wine of a Resinmonger rant about the harshness of Calfornia winter. Be Frayed. Be very Frayed.

With a 4-lane track, Mom can get in on the action. Family FUN!

You've clearly never seen my wife drive.:) If I could find some of those old crossovers to combine the trains and slotcars I probably would someday. I won't be on here again until Monday, but thank you again for all the replies.
Mike

Make the crossings!!! I did!!

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/IMG_0004.jpg
Spliced two Aurora crossings together...

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0143.jpg
Handmade 4 lane two track crossing...

The 4 lane 2 train Xing was a pain in the butt to make, but the finished result made it worth the effort. I threw away a lot of track trying to get it right..

UtherJoe

Wow!

That's really slick UtherJoe...! :eek:
http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/100_0143.jpg

Four lanes of racing crossing two lanes of railroading... :freak:

Here comes the Old 87! Have to floor it!

Honestly, that 4 lane picture is plain awful!! I need to take some new ones, or at least upload something more recent!!! That one is from September, and didn't even have the train track finished.. :p

Don't answer the door, Utherjoe. It's the Scale Police coming to bust you for a Section 187-176-164, mixing "HO" scales. The punishment is extreme - three hoours in a cell listening to the steady wine of a Resinmonger rant about the harshness of Calfornia winter. Be Frayed. Be very Frayed.

Not to mention a comment or two from someone else pointing out that HO is just not a proper scale to be racing slot cars with anyway :freak:

These are up to date. I'm still needing to figure out a way to get light on all the crossing sensors so I can run in the dark...

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/2c5efd02.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/16ab0b93.jpg

http://i417.photobucket.com/albums/pp251/slotcarman12078/21872319.jpg

I haven't messed with the table lately...other than paint bodies on it.. got overspray on the train track...oops!!! Three hours of listening to Resinmonger whine about California winters is not punishment at all... :lol:

UtherJoe