hey tuners i just performed my first shuntwire mod on the rattiest tjet i have.much to my surprise the little car really pickedup power and speed.however i did manage to melt the plastic around 1 open rivet area(bummer ruined a tjet chassis)my question is is there a correct area to solder to? and im curious about braids like a correct place to apply them.any pics or directions are welcome and good/bad experiences you may have had .i just dont want to ruin too many more little cars . i spect u gotta crawl before u walk and walk before u run.:wave:

Howdy: Roger Corrie just posted a new product from gold-mine-elec-products.com it is a solder type paste that might help you save from melting those chassis.
Clyde-0-Mite

after i posted went back and trien another 1 that 1 came out better.used 45watt iron.the first 1 was 80 orwatts also tinning and just a few strands were used. gonna refine this method till i get the correct combo.

I've soldered a lot of chassis and had my share of meltdowns. :freak: Here are a few tips I can give you that will help. :thumbsup:

1. Scratch the surface. Take a small regular screw driver and scratch up the area where you want to solder to stick to. Just like paint, solder needs something to "bite" into.

2. Make sure your soldering iron tip is clean. You want a clean tip to start with, and make sure the iron is hot before beginning.

3. Try a little flux. A little goes a long way. I use rosin core solder, and a tiny touch of rosin flux paste helps the solder attach to what you want it on. Only use a tiny amount, because it'll spread the second the iron hits it.

4. Pre-solder the spot. Before you try to get a shunt wire on the chassis, get the solder where you want it. Pre-solder the shunt wire before trying to place it on the chassis. Once everything has a spot of solder on it, then hit them quick with the iron together, and it'll all stay together.

These and other tips are on the LED101 thread, buried again somewhere on page 2!! :lol:

thanx for the tips slotcarman!! ive since shunted a coupla mo chassis since my first attempt,and each 1 gets alil better! i,ve reduced the number of strands of the shunt and tinned each connection.also ive noticed that u can adjust the shoe tension for good contact to rail. this modification done to the lil cars will definately makem scoot better than they did before.ill post up a pic later for all to check out mybe try 1 yourself and see the difference!! pretty cool mod.

I would like to try this but I can't seem to find a wire that suits me. I bought some 22 gauge copper stranded wire from radio shack but it felt to stiff. Can anyone recomend the type of wire to use?

The wire used in phone cords, the wire that goes from the phone to the wall jack, is usually very light gauge (26-30 awg) and flexible. You can strip it out of the jacket. The shorter length cord is usually made up from 30 awg. You probably have this stuff laying around, artifacts from the ancient days of dial-up modems and el cheapo wall phones. I've used it for slot car lighting applications.

Brilliant! I have a bunch of them kicking around.

Some of those phone cords are junk though (especially the new dollar store cords). They have a strange feel to them and have what looks like a nylon thread in them. They don't take solder very well if at all. The easiest source for wire is Parts Pig. He has sections of stranded wire that are 26 and 28 ga. Nice and flexible and silicone insulated. I've bought a bunch of it for my lighting projects.. He is here on the boards for a PM or you might find him in chat. He's in there most nights..

Thanks for the shameless plug Joe! I have silicone coated wire that can be used as shunt wire. I also have bare braided wire, similar to that used in the old LaGanke Tiger Hop Up kits from years back. Just PM me and I will give you "the poop" on it!

I've used 1/32" and 1/16" desoldering braid too. The ultra thin variety is a bit harder to find, but McMaster-Carr sells it in 10 ft spools for around 5 bucks. For this application make sure you get the "flux free" variety and use your own flux at the solder attachment spots. It also comes in 5/64", 7/64", and 5/32" widths.

Desoldering braid is a very handy material to have around for other slot car related applications. I've used it to replace the critical flexible wire inside Parma Turbo (and new style Econo) controllers and it works well for doing track power taps and jumpers, especially when you solder underneath the track. It also works well for desoldering applications, although the flux impregnated variety works best for desoldering.