Slot Car Racer Today

[Slotcar Racer]

Slot Car Racer, i need your help. I recently bought a Hakko 936 from Fry's, but it came with the medium-sized 907 handle. They do make a kit to convert the handle from medium to large tips. My question is it worth converting the handle or is it fine the way it is?

Russ Toy, you are my tool mentor, I am flattered you would ask Slotcar Racer such a question. The wise words of Russ Toy, "there's nothing better than the right tool". So, my friend, I can only tell you that you must follow your expertise as the Grand Toolmeister you are. If the 907 handle works and feels right, then stick to it. I'm kind of confused though...it sounds like Fry's sold you the wrong handle with the soldering station you bought? Is it supposed to be that way? By the way, how many watts is that 936? I don't know if you remember the soldering station we used at Fastrax 11 years ago, that was a Hakko 926, I still have it. Nothing beats a Hakko. That reminds me, I need to turn mine back on, dinner hour is over, time to get back to work. Gotta solder the 4 hole Kelly into the all steel Hybrid. Two Slick 7 Hybrids sold, one to go! Better get going.

[Slotcar Racer]

Russ,

I have the 936/907 and it is a little on the lite duty side for chassis work and mounting motors. I would definitely put the heavier tip in. I also have the 900 handle with the conversion to the large tip. It is what I use 98% of the time. I DO like using the 907 for wires and stuff as the smaller tip gets into places so much easier.

907 to 908 Conversion kit

George, I'll try giving you a call on my way home

Thanks for helping my friend Russ GearBear. Great tip, I had forgotten those Hakko tips were switchable. Around $18 is pretty reasonable I'd say, and Russ does a lot of chassis work. A lot. Get it Russ. Phone's on Gary, hope to hear from you soon. Slotcar Racer, over and out.

[Slotcar Racer]

I've been using the FETroller for several weeks now and could not be happier with it! So far I haven't found anything it doesn't do well. The adjustably range is very impressive.

The way Howard has setup the FTB is very cool! In a race last week I was using about 30% choke with the FTB on. The car coming out of the curves and stayed very stable when the bypass came on. No hard bang! Very cool and drivable feature!

Look forward to hearing more of your thoughts later today on the FETroller.

Jeff, I just didn't have enough time to really assess Howard's troller, the FET. I got to SCR at 3:45 and Frank closed at 5:00. I did a number of 3.0 second laps with my Horky eurosport using the FET (that's a great lap time), but it felt very, very different from my Speedshop. I had a lot more trouble using it when I pulled out my F1 Eurosport. Tried the choke and it was so different, I couldn't figure it out in a short amount of time. Like with any new controller, you really have to commit to it, race it, practice with it, and basically MARRY IT! One thing I really like about the FET is the wide variance in sensitivity. The main problem I've had with the Speedshop is the huge missing gap in sensitivity settings when using the "hi-lo" switch....with the switch on and sensitivity pot all the way down, it's too sensitive. With the switch off and sensivity pot all the way up, not sensitive enough...there's a gap. Maybe Howard can fix that problem. Anyway, I just need more time to assess it Jeff, but I'll keep ya posted.

[Slotcar Racer]

Tonight I just need to finish up GT12 #3. This one is the all steel Slick 7 Hybrid prototype....being all steel I guess it really isn't exactly a hybrid. It has the Kelly 4 hole with the Koford magnets bored out to .535" and a Beuf balanced Koford G12 arm. Mounting the Outisight Mercedes. Also got my new Valiko 25t25 arm with .250" stack length....it's gonna go into one of my bulked up Gulliver set ups after I bore it out to .490"....then it goes into my 32 Euro I ran at the Worlds. Might get that done in the next few daze, I mean days.

[Slotcar Racer]

I had four set ups to hone this evening for my buddy Ken Coleman, racer extraordinaire. Opened the Makita case and removed the very old rechargeable drill. Two Pro Slot set ups with Koford 450L magnets to become .550" and two Cahoza ULs with same magnets to become .535". Got through the two Pro Slots no problem. Then, on the first UL, the battery starts to run down. Now, this happens EVERY time I have motors to hone. If there are 2 motors, the battery dies in the middle of #2. If there are six, it dies during #5. Tonight it died during #3, so I didn't even let it completely die during hone #4....just put the battery in the recharger and wait until tomorrow night. Some things are very predictable. When I come home at night, I can always expect that when I open the door, right there at the bottom of the opening door with be the small beagle looking up. Every single time. Very predictable. Gotta go.

[Jeff714]

Jeff, I just didn't have enough time to really assess Howard's troller, the FET. I got to SCR at 3:45 and Frank closed at 5:00. I did a number of 3.0 second laps with my Horky eurosport using the FET (that's a great lap time), but it felt very, very different from my Speedshop. I had a lot more trouble using it when I pulled out my F1 Eurosport. Tried the choke and it was so different, I couldn't figure it out in a short amount of time. Like with any new controller, you really have to commit to it, race it, practice with it, and basically MARRY IT! One thing I really like about the FET is the wide variance in sensitivity. The main problem I've had with the Speedshop is the huge missing gap in sensitivity settings when using the "hi-lo" switch....with the switch on and sensitivity pot all the way down, it's too sensitive. With the switch off and sensitivity pot all the way up, not sensitive enough...there's a gap. Maybe Howard can fix that problem. Anyway, I just need more time to assess it Jeff, but I'll keep ya posted.

" Slotcar Racer",
You are right on as usual man... At first the Fet did feel a bit different. That maybe because of the wire wound resister. As you and other racers have mentioned many times controllers are a very personal thing. When I got my Fet I was really hurting for a controller that had the feel I was looking for... It was really frustrating me! Mike Mazur and Roger were good enough to send me a conversion Mike had done and I really liked the feel and responsiveness. This particular one didn't have a choke setup but other than that it was a very good fit for me. I would recommend Mike's work any time to anyone! But that's a whole other thread... I know the Speed Shop controllers have been very good to you for many moons, results don't lie. But I'll bet you a whole dollar (maybe 2) That if you 'marry up" with the Fet for a few weeks, that demo just may not find it way back to Howard so quick. Oh and your wife may start to think Fet is a code name for the other woman like my wife does...

["Dub" Wade]

Hey George,
I know your a busy guy, but I enjoy asking tech questions and getting input from as many builders as I can.
I like building motors, and have tried so many different combinations of parts.
Right now I'm having the best luck with Red Fox cans, Proslot endbells and proslot copper hardware and Mura Red Dot magnets. Works great for box 12 motors .518 arms with .528 - .530 hole.
Scale motors .540 arms in .550 -.555 hole.
I built alot of Cahoza UL set ups with Koford, Mura and T5 mags and have had decent results on the flat track, but cant get a Box 12 motor to work. Over heats in less than 10 laps.
Ive gauss metered all mags and they Gauss considerably less in the UL can than Red Fox.
Example:
Mura Red Dots: 1050-1060 in RJR can, 930-950 in Red Fox/Koford UF and 800-825 in the Cahoza UL.
Kofords new Stronger Orientation designed for Wing Car or Drag use: RJR 980-990, Redfox 900-910, Cahoza UL 800-810

Im not an engineer or anything, but I have read alot and asked other builders questions maybe not as detailed as this, but got enough of a response to verify my theory.
Is it the can material that spreads the magnetic field out?

I have read the Slick 7 Magnet theory article and it talks about low magnetivity (dont think that is the correct word, but sounds good) creating heat. Is that why the Box 12 motors get hot?
I like building with the can, everything fits together well, runs super smooth.
I have 2nd guessed my building skills multiple times. I have built the UL can and aligned everything as perfect as I can, tried different air gaps .525,.528,.530,.532,.535,.538 with Mura, Koford and t5 mags. Koford 38°- 42° and Proslot 38°-42° arms. Tried Cahoza endbells $6 with gold hardware and heat sinks $16 retail. Tried my preference Proslot endbell and hardware kit $9 epoxied with koford endbell epoxy, S7 aluminum spring cups, champion lights, BFII, and TQ shunts. Nothing has worked.
Ive gotten a couple to survive a race and get real hot and slow down.
Am I doing something wrong? Or is it the can? If its the can, why are they so highly sought after?
I know I listed a ton of parts, but wanted to be thorough.
Also tried gearing from 8/39 to 9/39. Low downforce z28 to high downforce O/S Vette. X Hard big rim Kofords to Alpha Med Wonder on small. Too many combos to realistically list it all, but no luck.
Well, if i left something out, let me know if you dont mind.
Thank you sir
Respectfully,
Dub

[KVAN]

Jeff don't be so persuasive.

A 3rd Eye Fettroller in the hands of Slotcar Racer, the rest of us will be racing for second. We will have absolutely no chance of beating him. More importantly remember.............................3rd Eye service, 2nd to none! Only 6 day turn around to Howard and back!

[brassrodman]

Snore for the free plug!

[GearBear]

Dustyn,

I'm sure George will have a better answer than I do. But I would suggest looking at the timing on the arms that were getting hot. I would bet that if you dropped down to a lower timed arm you won't see as much heat in the motor.

[oldweirdherald]

Another suggestion or two... (just shots in the dark):

SPRING TENSION - Try going heavier AND lighter, and compare results (don't assume lighter=cooler!)

AIR GAP - again, try both more & less (don't assume more or less is better)

BTW - from the OWH slot car dictionary:

Spring Tension: When you can't get a date in March.

Air Gap: The space between a slot racer's ears.

Timing: Knowing when to let your wife to know you just bought a new controller...

[Slapshot]

Also got my new Valiko 25t25 arm with .250" stack length....it's gonna go into one of my bulked up Gulliver set ups after I bore it out to .490"....then it goes into my 32 Euro I ran at the Worlds. Might get that done in the next few daze, I mean days.

George:

Let me know how that turns out.

I've done alot of experimenting with narrowed cans and magnets and have encountered some variances pertaining to magnet thicknesses. We are talking reformed cans, or plus machined then honed to varing degrees.

I had a medium long discussion about the Gulliver awile back with Joel. One of the problems I encountered theres not enough "meat on the magnet" to turn over the arm with larger guage wire sufficiantly when you go larger than 470-480, and 490 is a bit bigger. I was about to try some early 90's arms that were in the 490 range to test this threroy but abandoned that during the Xmas season due to work.

The problem which occurs as the larger arm diamaters tend to not want to turn over, they act as a direct short or solenoid when less winds are incorperated. The coil over powers the magnet and hesitates turning. Horizontal brushes are an improvement on the issue but not a solver. Taller magnets and multi mags possibly will help. The same can happen if you go very small diamater, but can be overcome by using longer stack, with magnets or more windings on the arm.

You will probaly have better luck as I was using 24.5 and 24 winds and couple 19t 25.

Using the 25/25 490D 250 stack in a 504-506 hole may work fine but just wanted to give you a heads up as the magnet get thinner. Works fine especially if your can is a bit wider that most.

Raymond

[ab slotsport]

Glad to see I am not the only one with fading batteries in my drill! I got over it by dumping the battery and hooking up my power supply direct to the battery terminals on the drill. Dial up the voltage and JOB DONE!

vbr

andy

[ab slotsport]

I think the first question to ask with your dilema is are you cars reving out on the straight ? generally we tend to set up G12's here so they scream well before the breaking point on the straight. On scale tracks with G12 typical gear ratios with G12 motors are between 7/42 and 8/42. This is running Proslot and Koford G12 arms with 40 -42 degree timing, Proslot mega 3's or koford mags, light 5 coil camen springs, big foot or Golddust motor brushes and a 538 - 540 air gap. Armature balance is also critical and if bad will restrict high end revs. We have found that goldust brushes tend to give better brakes, but the dowside is they also seem to contaminate easier if oil gets on the com. In my experience, G12 love to rev and rev hard, this makes for a more "full on driving style" but it does seem to work.
Andy Brown-Searle
AB Slotsport

[MantaRay]

SCRT.....What Koford Mags are you using?