At 12 volts the most a Mega G will pull is 2 amps. most of the time they use 0.25 to 0.5 amps. I would go with 2 amp fuses. Go a little higher if you have a problem with fuses blowing when everything is working properly. If you ever run 6 ohm pancake cars those can stay in a stalled condition longer and would be more likely to blow fuses than inline cars with 6 ohm armatures. If you have AFX track you should not need any taps with 38 feet of track. If your cars seem slower at the far side of the track you should check the contacts before you worry about adding taps.
Thanks guys, any tips on building my controller stations.
Do you race at other tracks and have guys from other tracks visiting you?
If so check out what sort of controller plugs they use.
It's more convenient for everybody to standardize on what you use.
Unfortunately there isn't one standard that everybody uses. Separate red, black and white terminals mean the same thing all round the world, (although some use yellow instead of white) and various home set manufacturers have their own connections. Best you can do is use the same as the guys you race with.
Last edited by Al's slotracing; 06-10-2012 at 05:47 AM.
When people do their own driver's stations they usually use screw post connections with alligator clips on the controller leads. The picture shows my track, however since the picture was taken I have switched the black and white connections because shorting white to red would put a dead short across the power supply. I have a fuse in the brake circuit and that would get popped sometimes when visitors hooked up. The order is now Red, Black, White.
All of the 1/32nd tracks that I race on have XLR jacks, the matching plug locks in place, it can't short anything and it can only be connected one way. Some of the tracks have both XLR jacks and screw posts.
Slot Car Corner sells all kinds of driver's stations, you might take a look at those even if you intend to make your own.
I chose to do my own driver's stations. Most of my slot car racing has been in commercial raceways and my design uses a lot of what I am used to.
I cut some pieces of .375 plexi-glass and then painted the back of each of them the color of the lane that they are wired to. Then I drilled 3 holes (I made a fixture to make all of them the same) at each of the positions for them. I used stainless steel hardware and a NyLock nut to keep them tightened. I know the photo does not show it, but each station has a .750 end cap for PVC tubing. It is screwed right on the top of the table and holds the controller quite well. The sequence of black, white, red is something that is an ipso-facto standard in the commercial slot car world. I do like your idea of switching the position of the white and black.
There are just many different ways to build driver's stations - it's only limited by your imagination.
Well, I'm not a betting man but the fuse selection was suggested by the person
who made my custom driver stations. Actually, I've only had one car blow lane fuses
and I don't remember which side I replaced. A friend rec'd. an absolutely beautiful
custom pancake car w/painted Lexan body. I think it was a Magna-traction car, extremely
well built & seemed to have long p/u shoes. The car was fast, quiet & smooth but shorted
out 4 consecutive lanes.
I'm going to wager that the 2 amp is the one that blows, every time!
Depends exactly what is meant by common.
The normal place to put the brake fuse is in the negative feed to the controller.
That way the 3 amp fuse on the power side will blow if there is a short on the track and the 2 amp fuse will blow if the controller is hooked up wrong so it shorts out the power supply.
When Dyno Dom stated "common" lead, that led me to believe he is talking about the negative side of the power supply. In my opinion, if a short develops, the 2 amp fuse will blow prior to the 3 amp fuse blowing every time.
Don't you agree?
Last edited by fl_slotter; 06-10-2012 at 10:40 AM.
Do you race at other tracks and have guys from other tracks visiting you?
If so check out what sort of controller plugs they use.
It's more convenient for everybody to standardize on what you use.
Unfortunately there isn't one standard that everybody uses. Separate red, black and white terminals mean the same thing all round the world, (although some use yellow instead of white) and various home set manufacturers have their own connections. Best you can do is use the same as the guys you race with.
I'm just getting back into the hobby and I don't race with anyone as of yet there's going to be a big race about 45 minutes away: 2012 UFHORA National Races in Gloucester, VA. I'm going to try and make it.
When Dyno Dom stated "common" lead, that led me to believe he is talking about the negative side of the power supply. In my opinion, if a short develops, the 2 amp fuse will blow prior to the 3 amp fuse blowing every time.
Don't you agree?
Yes.
IF it's wired like that the lower rating fuse will blow first.
When using two fuses per lane, the normal place to put the brake fuse is in the negative feed to the controller (on the diagram that's the vertical wire to the red terminal)
That way the 3 amp fuse on the power side will blow if there is a short on the track and the 2 amp fuse will blow if the controller is hooked up wrong so it shorts out the power supply.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyno Dom
Al & Fl. Slotter, the fuses are independent per lane, built into each driver station.
Check pic #23 for clarity.
Thanks, I'd assumed that's what you meant.
Unless I'm missing something, pic #23 just shows two fuse holders per driver station, it doesn't show how they are wired.
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