Hello! Hola! Hallo! This article describes how to adapt Ninco's new N-Digital system for use with Carrera's Evolution Track System. This project rates as medium difficulty and requires soldering skills and understanding of basic slot car track wiring.
Estimated time of completion: 4-6 hours.
Notice: The procedures described in this article require slight modifications to system components that will void manufacturer's warranties for the modified parts. Each modification has been performed and tested by the author; they do not appear to compromise the robustness or functionality of the system. Reader assumes full responsibility for any damages or injury and is urged to follow basic safety principles while performing the modifications described herein.
Rationale
This article is for owners of Carrera track who wish to take advantage of Ninco's advanced digital system. Perhaps N-Digital's greatest feature is that it offers the ability to "chip" virtually any make or model of analog slot car without tools and without modifying (drilling, cutting, soldering, gluing) the model. The chip is inserted inline between the braids and the motor and does not require a triggering LED as utilized by Carrera and Scalextric in their digital systems. This advantage cannot be understated! Converting models is easier, takes less time, and is completely reversible. Remove the digital chip and there is no sign that the car has ever been used with digital! The ease of chipping also makes it practical to share chips between cars.
N-Digital offers a host of other advanced features including: Multi-lane (2/4/6/8) racing with up to 8 cars, selectable throttle curves, working pit lane with fueling strategy, vibrating controllers that communicate important race information, and the most feature-packed race computer available. It has proven to be very robust and works with aftermarket power supplies and high RPM motors.
Carrera track is very popular in North America and other parts of the world, and is regarded by many as the best plastic track system. Its smooth surface allow for great racing action and its extra width is a great asset to digital racing where multiple cars race side-by-side in close proximity. The Carrera lane change sections stand alone in the digital world as they are the longest and most gradual of any lane change sections. This means you can place them in high speed areas and the cars can change lanes without deslotting. On systems with shorter lane change pieces, care must be taken with their placement or cars will deslot when changing lanes. Because Carrera track is common in the USA, it is often less expensive than competing brands.
My opinion is that Ninco has provided the most "open" digital system of any on the market. Because it does not use LEDs for triggering, off-brand cars are just as easily converted to N-Digital as Ninco's own cars. (In fact, chipping cars is so easy that Ninco does not offer any pre-chipped vehicles.) Because there is less hardware involved, converting N-digital for use with other brands of track (and routed wood tracks) is the easiest of all systems, making N-Digital the closest thing we have to a "universal" digital system. For these reasons, I believe that N-Digital will establish itself as the system of choice amongst enthusiasts worldwide, while other systems will cater more to the "ready to race" market.
Using N-Digital with Carrera track offers the best features of both systems. 'Nuff said. Let's get to Work!
About Carrera Track
Before beginning this project, it is important to mention that it is virtually impossible to solder directly to the rails of Carrera track! That said, we need to devise an effective way to establish electrical connections with the rails.
With digital systems, since cars and lane change sections are all sharing common power, it is very important to have even power distribution throughout the track. This requires prodigious use of power taps! I have power taps installed about every 10 feet, to ensure constant, uninterrupted power to every vehicle on the circuit. This may be overkill, but I did not want to take the risk of any underpowered track sections.
Carrera sells power taps (in 5 and 10m lengths) with metal clips that are inserted under the rails. Buying several sets of these power taps is probably the easiest way to handle the wiring, but I have devised another, more cost effective solution.
I purchased a large 250' roll of 16 gauge clear speaker wire and a smaller roll of 14 gauge solid copper wire. The speaker wire is flexible and easy to work with. To the ends of the 16 gauge wire, I solder short 2-3" pieces of the solid copper wire.
The copper strips are inserted into the rails from underneath the track and held in place using duct tape. Notice that I have used pliers to bend the tip of the copper wire, making it wider. This ensures better mechanical connections within the rail.
The reader may devise his own way of establishing connections to the track or may decide to purchase Carrera power taps.
The N-Digital Power Base
The first step in converting N-Digital to work with Carrera track is connecting the power base to the Carrera track. Because the power base mates with Ninco track material, we will need to use power taps soldered to the underside of the power base routed to various locations around the Carrera layout.
If you unscrew the bottom plate from the N-digital power base, you will gain access to the +/- rails and to the left/right lane "trigger" strips. In the picture you can see the right rail has an isolated 3" section of rail. The car uses this trigger strip to communicate to the power base that it has crossed the finish line.
Using 14 gauge solid copper wire, I soldered directly to the +/- rails of the power base and ran these wires underneath the board to the dedicated +/- terminals. The power taps will be connected here.
I soldered 16 gauge wire to the trigger strips on the bottom of the power base and ran these wires underneath the board to the smaller terminal. The custom start/finish line piece (described next section) will be connected here.
The power base is attached to the board using velcro strips.
IMPORTANT!: After connecting the power taps to the track, make sure that (+) and (-) rails are completely isolated. It would be easy to accidentally reverse the wires on one of the power taps which would cause a short. This could damage the power base, so its best not to take a chance.
Check and double check the wiring before attaching a power supply to the power base. If you use a multimeter to test for isolation, and the power base is in the circuit, you will find that the +/- rails are not completely isolated. When testing for isolation, it would be best to detach the power base from the terminals.
With the N-Digital power base connected to the track, power up the base and run a chipped car around your layout. You won't be able to change lanes or count laps yet, but you will be able to make sure the power is being correctly applied to the track. Run the car in both lanes. If you feel that there is less power in any part of the layout (or it shows less when tested with a multimeter), you may decide to add additional power taps.
Start/Finish Line
In order to count laps and interact with the N-Digital power base, you will need to build a start/finish line piece.
This is fairly easy but involves cutting two trigger strips that the cars use to signal the power base when they pass.
The triggers are electrically isolated from the rest of the rail. In order to isolate a section of the rail, the metal needs to be cut in two places. The triggers on the stock Ninco power base are 8.5cm in length. Begin by marking sections 8.5 cm in length. These can probably be cut much shorter if you are concerned about loss of power while the car crosses the finish line. I believe Ninco makes these much longer than necessary in order to count cars 100% of the time through a wide range of conditions. (With the smooth Carrera track, they can probably be made as short as 4 cm.)
Cutting the trigger strips is EASY if you have the right tools. I begin by using a 1/8" bit to drill a pilot hole in the middle of the slot. I then use a jigsaw to make perpendicular cuts through the rail. (These saws are around $20 from Harbor Freight and you will find many uses for a jigsaw if you do not already own one.) The slim blade is a "Bosch T-Shank" purchased at Home Depot (in 5 pack). If you do not own a jigsaw, you may be able to make similar cuts with a Dremel or an appropriate hand tool.
When the four cuts have been made, you may find that the isolated metal pieces are loose in the channel that holds them in place. You should use contact cement to glue them in place. Also check to make sure adjacent sections are not loose -- if so, glue them in as well.
Make sure there is a slight gap on both sides of the trigger strip so that it is electrically isolated from the rest of the rail. The jigsaw blade will remove material equal to the width of the blade; you do not need to remove extra material from the strip.
The edges of the trigger strips may be jagged and will need to be smoothed. You can start by sanding the edges, but I have found the fastest way is to tap into the gaps with an awl/hammer, thus bending down the edges of the triggers and the adjacent rails. (I improvised and used a thin, blunt screwdriver.) Glide you finger down the rail to make sure it is smooth. Any roughness here will manifest itself as increased braid wear.
Now that the trigger strips have been created, attach the extension wires that will be run to the power base. I used a 15' piece of flexible stranded 16 gauge wire.
You will also need to wire around the triggers to create electrical continuity. I used 14 gauge solid copper wire to bypass the trigger strips (black wire in picture). The wires are then covered and held in place using duct tape.
Insert the lap counter piece into your layout and run a chipped car around the circuit. The power base will now register when the car passes. Take a short break to explore some of the race modes available in the N-Digital power base and make sure the car is being counted 100% of the time.
I have saved the best for last! Now we are going to "chip" the Carrera Lane Change sections for N-Digital!
Chipping Carrera Lane Change Sections
This is the most interesting part of the conversion. Chipping your first lane change piece may take 2-3 hours, but once you have done one, subsequent LCs can be done in 30 minutes or less. This is the point where you ask yourself if you are crazy. These digital parts are not cheap! What if something goes wrong? I am confident that if you are careful and follow the directions you will have great success!
When I originally performed this conversion, there was a degree of risk because no one else had performed the conversion and there was no guarantee that it would work. I have a large supply of Carrera track (that I am fond of), but I also wanted to use Ninco's N-Digital system. I decided I would do whatever it took to make it work, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it turned out to be! The mechanical hardware is similar enough between both brands that all you need to do is swap chips (OK, there is a little more to it than that, but not much!) The procedure involves three things:
Removing the Carrera and Ninco chips from their track sections.
Cutting a trigger strip.
Installing the N-Digital chip into the Carrera track piece.
Because Carrera has both single and double digital crossover pieces, you will need to decide if you want to build individual left and right crossovers, or if you want to swap both chips into a double crossover. The pictures in this article show conversion of a double crossover. (Aside: Double crossovers allow you to place a higher density of lane change opportunities into a layout, but this is not always a good thing! Single lane change pieces cut down on blocking and can be placed strategically throughout a layout in order to make it easier to pass your opponents.)
Remove The Ninco and Carrera Chips
Note: Before performing this step, it is a good idea to test the Ninco lane change section by connecting them directly to the Ninco power base and attempt to trigger the LC using a chipped car. This way you will know that the LCs work before voiding their warranty.
Open the Ninco lane change section by loosening the screws and removing the bottom plate.
In the picture on the right, you can see the two "donor" Ninco lane change sections opened up to reveal the chip and the mechanical bits. The Ninco Digital system uses a single solenoid to open the switch, and a spring that pulls in the opposite direction to close the switch when the solenoid has stopped firing.
The Ninco chip has several attachment points. To remove the chip you will need to:
Unsolder the +/- gray wires
Unsolder the single black wire from the trigger strip
Cut the two thin copper wires leading to the solenoid
To open the Carrera lane change piece, loosen the screws and remove the bottom plate. On the newer Carrera pieces, there is a warranty sticker in the middle of the bottom plate. Removing this plate is a little trickier because it is glued to the track piece at a single point underneath the warranty sticker! To remove the plate, carefully thread your fingers under the plate and pry the plate from as near the center as possible. The plate should pop off and you will be able to reattach later using the screws.
Here is a close up of the internals of the Carrera piece. The Carrera LC is similar to Ninco's in that there is a single solenoid. Instead of a spring return, the Carrera piece utilizes a lever the car pushes while passing through the switch.
The Carrera chip is attached at only four points. To remove the chips:
Cut the wires leading to the solenoid(s)
Pull the +/- clips from the rails
You will need to save and reuse these small copper clips. Unsolder them from the Carrera chips.
Preparing the N-Digital Chip
Now you need to prepare the N-Digital chip to be connected to the Carrera rails. You will solder the copper clips that you salvaged from the Carrera chip to the three wires on the N-Digital chip. Unfortunately, you will be one clip short because the Ninco chip has an additional wire.
Tip: You may consider buying a single Carrera power tap set. Each set contains eight clips which is enough extra clips to wire 8 LCs. Alternatively, you can open up an unused Carrera analog power base and salvage clips from there. (I have also thought you could use a small paper clip, but I have not tried this.)
IMPORTANT!: This is the most difficult step of the entire conversion!
You need to remove the thin copper wires from the chip and replace with a slightly thicker gauge wire. The Carrera solenoid is built with a thicker gauge of wire (using fewer turns) than the Ninco solenoid. Testing has shown that while the Ninco chip provides enough current to activate the Carrera solenoid, it will not fire accurately if the thin copper wires are used inline with the solenoid. I suspect that the thin copper wires do not transfer enough current.
Using a low wattage pencil style soldering iron, very carefully touch the tip of the iron to the corner of the chip at the exact point (behind) where one of the wires is installed. Using needle nose pliers, carefully pull the wire from its hole. Repeat this procedure with the other wire.
Now you will need to replace with a slightly thicker gauge of wire. I do not know the exact thickness of the wire, but I am using wire that appears to be the same gauge as that used by the Carrera solenoid. When performing the first conversion, I did not want to delay by making a trip to the electronics store, so I searched around the house for an equivalent wire. I found that the black "twist tie" wire that is used to secure track in the Carrera packaging works just fine; I know that anyone performing this conversion should own some of this. (Aside: If using packaging material to complete this part of the conversion makes you cringe, you need to read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig.)
Using the tip of the soldering iron, heat one of the solder filled holes until you can push the tip of the new wire through. Repeat with the other hole. The replacement wires should be about 1.5" in length.
Cutting The Trigger Strip(s)
Use the same technique that you used to create the lap counting piece.
I believe it is very important to position the trigger strip so that it is exactly the same distance from the tip of the Carrera flipper as it is from the Ninco flipper. The distance measures to almost exactly 1". All of the lane change conversions that I have performed have been measured at exactly an inch. I was concerned that the speed of the Carrera solenoid would be slower, requiring that I place the trigger farther away, but it has worked perfectly in a position identical to Ninco's. The converted lane change sections work reliably even when cars are traveling at a high rate of speed.
The length of the trigger strip on the Ninco track is 4.5cm. In order to avoid cutting too close to the connection point on the underside of the rail, I have been cutting the trigger strips to a length of 4cm. This has proven to work perfectly. I believe Ninco errs on the side of caution and the Ninco trigger strips are probably sized to be effective under the widest range of conditions. I would recommend that readers use a length of 4cm. If deviating from Ninco's dimensions makes you uncomfortable, you can cut them to 4.5cm, but you may need to re-drill one of the connection holes on the underside of the rail.
You will need to glue these short trigger strips into the U-channel as they will be loose.
Installing the N-Digital Chip(s)
You are almost ready to install the chip, but you will need to drill a single hole in the plastic behind the trigger strip. (The hole is outlined with a red circle in the picture.)
Install the chip by performing the following:
Solder the solenoid wires to the Carrera solenoid. (The ordering of the wires does not matter as the solenoid always fires in the correct direction.) Place a strip of electrical tape over these thin wires to hold them in place, making sure there is no contact between them.
Push the black wire clip into the rail behind the trigger strip.
Push the gray w/ white stripe wire clip into the left rail.
Push the gray w/ black stripe wire clip into the right rail (rail with trigger strip).
When you made the trigger strip, you broke electrical continuity on that rail. You will need to establish electrical continuity with an additional wire (black wire in picture.) This wire can be soldered onto the backs of two of the clips already pushed into the rails.
Place the chips to the inside of the track so that they are flush with the underside of the rails. Hold them in place using some electrical tape.
Now you can reattach the back plate and test the LC in your layout.
Congratulations! You have successfully converted N-Digital to work with Carrera track. Hopefully you will be as impressed with the performance as I have been and enjoy many hours of trouble free racing.
Closing Thoughts / Tips
Here are some closing thoughts and tips that will help you get more out of your N-Digital / Carrera conversion:
Reliability- Now that you have voided the warranty of your lane change pieces, you must wonder about their reliability! I can say that the first LC conversion that I performed has been triggered thousand of times and the electronics are still going strong! Additionally there have been no problems with performance of the power base, and performance of the system has been 100%.
Sporadic Lane Changes - I had an issue with the second LC that I built. It would only fire sporadically. Inspection showed that all the solder joints were good and there did not appear to be any shorts. It turns out that the connecting clips were not lodged firmly in the rails and there was a poor connection between one of the clips and the rail. I bent the clips outwards so that they were more firmly lodged in the rails and this solved the problem.
Pit Lane / Multi Lane Kit- These pieces are converted using the same techniques as described in this article. Cut a trigger strip and transplant the electronics. Carrera track uses "offset construction" so you should have no problems creating lane change pieces that traverse between lanes 2-3 in a four lane layout.
Adjustable Regulated Power Supply - I highly recommend using N-Digital with a regulated power supply that can be adjusted within the range of 9-16V. Ninco Digital operates within an effective range of 9-16Volts. At 9 volts the system is operational, but the cars are slow, not as entertaining, but are easy to drive (perfect for children.) The stock power supply provides plenty of speed, but the voltage can be raised even higher to provide more speed. Voltage adjustability is useful to tailor performance for a wide range of motors, layouts, and throttle curves.
Braid Management -- 99% of the time that someone experiences a performance problem with their car, it is a result of poor contact between the braids and the rails. In digital racing (any system), proper braid management is of utmost importance! The technique I use with standard FLY braids is to apply forward pressure which makes the braids shorter and fatter, then I fan them out to the sides and angle the tips down a little bit. (see picture) This lines them up perfectly with the Carrera rails. I do not recommend using braid conditioner as this makes the braids pick up dirt much faster and shortens their useful lifespan.
Darainbow Video of N-Digital / Carrera Conversion on YouTube
