Blackberry Raceway

[cheesy]

As it was too nice to be in the basement, not much got done. What did get done was to run some sandpaper in all the slots. The MDF swelled with the primer and paint. Found that out when I did a dry run with the tape applicator. I did get one side of a lane taped and I was pleasantly surprised how well it went down. Ran into an alignment problem on the other side. I need adjust the tape thru-hole next to the slot to square with the applicator. I quit there for the night.

[cheesy]

Got the alignment problem fixed. Then I learned that one roll of copper falls maybe three feet short of doing an entire lane. Crap. I ordered more tape but I won’t see it until next week and, save for weekends, I am on the road until mid-October.

We have the grandsons over tonight for a sleepover so I’ll have Eli help me with what taping we can do, then start laying out and drilling the control panel. I have several old automotive and motorcycle gauges in the garage and thought about sticking one in each station for grins.

[cheesy]

That first roll must have been a yard short. Guess I’m going to have a lot of extra tape on hand now. Anyway, got the taping done last night. Ecto-1 is on there just for scale.


Did continuity and resistance checks and all is good. Probably start wiring next Saturday.

[Oddball Matt]

Another vid that popped into my feed for no reason what so ever



You`ve probly seen it but found it interesting myself so thought someone else watching this thread would do so as well.

[cheesy]

I need the weather to turn Illannoy cruddy so I can start working on it again. It’s been too nice to work in the basement.

[Bruces]

We are supposed to have the white stuff on Monday ,so you should get your wish soon enough .

[Wild Dog]

As a kid i used to love to watch the stores with the big scalextric raceways, it was quite funny to see the cars crash.

[cheesy]

I finally got a week at home. In between getting Cheesy Manor prepped for winter and getting dragged to look at new appliances , I started wiring. Positive side is done. Negative side may take an entire day as there are something like fifty plus connections to make between the four control panels and four lanes. It's not the number of connections that will take time, it's that I crimp AND solder all the wire connectors.
After wrapping up the Negative wiring, the rest should be a piece of cake.

[bogieboy]

is it possible to use something like these? https://phillipsind.com/main/wire-te...onnectors.html

we use them in the shop here (and the non solder versions) for weatherproof repairs... crimp it, heat gun it til the solder flows, done.

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by bogieboy

is it possible to use something like these? https://phillipsind.com/main/wire-te...onnectors.html

we use them in the shop here (and the non solder versions) for weatherproof repairs... crimp it, heat gun it til the solder flows, done.

Sure, but I have a boatload of non insulated connectors to use up. Real good chance that this project will use up the bulk of what's on hand. When I start wiring the Diesel Project, you can be sure I'll step into the twenty first century.

[bogieboy]

Originally Posted by cheesy

Sure, but I have a boatload of non insulated connectors to use up. Real good chance that this project will use up the bulk of what's on hand. When I start wiring the Diesel Project, you can be sure I'll step into the twenty first century.

I hear you there.... i have amix of all types of crimps on my bike, and most of the heat shrink connectors havent been shrunk... thats what happens when you remember to bring home the ratchet crimper, the crimps, the wire, but forget the heat gun or pocket torch... the dan thing hasnt left the property in several years anyways, something about the missus not liking me riding without the MC license or some malarky like that.

[cheesy]

Well, one lane kind of works. Glad I decided to just wire one lane to make sure stuff was right. I went with 18ga wire because I have a boatload on hand but that's looking like it was a mistake. 14ga on the way.

[cheesy]

Still muddling through. One lane is done and working-ish. First problem solved probably wasn't a problem. The wire gauge. Probably would have been fine with the 18ga. Oh, well. I mistakenly thought HO was 12 volt. Some will run on 12 volt, lousily. HO cars are 18-19 volt. Good thing I bought a 30 volt power supply.

There does seem to be a compatibility issue between some of the cars and the track. The 3 gear T-jet cars (Original type Aurora cars) have too much traction and will wheelie themselves right out of the slot. I also managed to snap a guide pin off of one car when I found an 'obstruction' in a slot at speed. Snapped off like it wasn't there. So, bought a bag of 10 guide pins. There was a fix for the wheelie issue when I was a kid, which was 'weighted' pick ups. Basically, a standard pickup filled with silver solder. I searched a bit online and didn't find anything. Then again, I didn't look too hard. Instead, I bought five pair of pick ups. I have silver solder, a big soldering iron, and a mini vice.

The 4 gear car (I missed something somewhere between 1970 and now, maybe a longer wheel base was needed) has zero traction. Zip. Nada. That's mostly tires and a little bit the track surface. Cure for this will be 'Spongies' foam tires.

The AFX car seems to have a bent rear axle out of the box. Take it apart and straighten the axle.

There are some minor track things to correct. Some of the tape in the curves went wide, causing the cars to occasionally lose contact. Easy fix. There are a couple of spots where my marvelous routing skills took a nap that will be need to be filled and done over.

Getting there.

[cheesy]

All four lanes are wired and kind of work. Looks like I am going to need to split the track into two or more separate powered sections, which kinda makes some sense as there is one section where the cars stop if I slow down at all. It's not a voltage drop, but a current drop.

I went through all the slots with a 2.3mm router bit in the dremel last night. A lot of spots with swelled mdf. Got out a lot of crap. That made a difference for the better.

Man, I miss the T-jets of old. Too many plastic gears in the new ones. Already getting the dreaded screech of sheared teeth.

[cheesy]

Got the track split into three powered sections. After figuring out my lane length was 35.5', I guess it was needed. Still having contact issues with the cars, so that leaves the tape as the issue. This will need to pondered.