Tyco Track help for a newbie

[ebdteacher]

I had a question and was hoping someone could answer it for me or possible steer me toward the answer. I had picked up a slot car set for nostalgic reasons at a garage sale and got hooked again, I went out and bought a new car and picked up some more track on e-bay. I am having trouble running the size of track that I would like, and was wondering how long of a track would the standard adapter be capable of running? And if it isn't, how can I get more power (insert macho grunt here)? Any help you can offer will be more than I have now, and I thank you an advance for your time!

[oldgrrl]

No one has answered you, so I thought I would...

I'm guessing from what you wrote that your track is not performing the same everywhere - when you drive a car around the speed drops off noticeably in places? If so, there are several ways to improve or eliminate this problem.

One thing you can try is to make sure that the connections between all track sections make good electrical connections. I know nothing about Tyco track, but the metal "pin" parts on the ends of each piece should be clean and fit tightly to the adjoining pieces.

Second, you could add "power taps" (additional connections for the power to flow through) onto pieces at several points in the track. This helps eliminate power variations over the length of the track. There are wiring diagrams available on the 'Net, like:
http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/Power.html
Where the diagram shows the two wires connected to the track rails, attach additional wires, route them under the track, and solder them to the underside of additional track pieces around your layout. Be careful not to mix up the lanes and to make certain each set of wires attaches ONLY to a single rail! (My track works OK with 2 taps in about 45 ft. of length - your results may vary.)

Lastly, you can go to bigger/better power supplies. You can use "wall warts", power supplies from one of the modern slot companies, or go to a more upscale power supply - there is info on these on the same link above. In any case, if the transformers you're using are old, do yourself and your cars a favor and replace them with something new. Learn what the power requirements are for your cars (voltage and amps), then go shopping. If you use small power supplies, consider using one per lane - this insure that each lane has reliable power.

Hope that helps...
- Susan