I've got an MRC 600 controller from 1967 that I used when I was in a slot car league back in the day.I know it's got a 15 amp resistor in it.Is this controller still usable with today's cars or, if/when I get back into slot racing,do I have to invest in a new controller? I doubt I'd be getting a car with a super hot motor.
....on the type of track, [home plastic, home/club wood, commercial wood], available track power [wall-wart, Pyramid power supply, mega-amperage batteries], type of car, [1/32nd plastic chassis, 1/24th plastic chassis, 1/24th retro, 1/24th Group 12/15 or higher] your old controller might be just fine.
It would work best on a home or club plastic or wood track, running mild motors in either 1/32 or 1/24 cars with plastic chassis. It would also work with metal chassis, mild motor cars like H&R or some of the Parma/JK chassis. Power on these types of tracks is usually 10 to 12 volts and a couple amps per lane.
If you go to a large commercial track, 13+ volts, unlimited amperage, even with beginner class cars with Parma Deathstar motors or similar you would need about a 4 ohm controller to work. The 15 would work from an electrical standpoint, but would feel sluggish compared to a 4 ohm.
Assuming that your controller is OK electically, resistor isn't burnt out, no shorted wires, etc.
I'm assuming it's fine electrically since it's been sitting in my slot car equipment box unused since 1967.At that time it had been used to run an MRC Dynocharger Scarab in the league races on an American Raceways commercial track.
Thanks for the input.I've got a lot choices to make as far as what modern equipment to get.
I'm assuming it's fine electrically since it's been sitting in my slot car equipment box unused since 1967.At that time it had been used to run an MRC Dynocharger Scarab in the league races on an American Raceways commercial track.
Thanks for the input.I've got a lot choices to make as far as what modern equipment to get.
ZTony8,
I would hate to '*** u me' something like that. The easiest thing to do is check it out with an ohm meter. If you hook one lead of the ohm meter to the white wire and one lead of the ohmeter to the black wire, you should measure close to 15 ohms. If you press the plunger down, you should see the resistance dropping to zero as the plunger goes all the way down.
The red wire is the brake wire. It should read 0 ohms between the red and white wires when the plunger is released and infinity when the plunger is depressed.
I'm sure that after sitting all of this time there is some corrosion on the surface of the wire wound resistor inside that controller.
So for a question to you . . . . . do you still have the piece of leather taped to the controller?
Don't worry...in any case, you can still buy new resistors thru Parma if you need.
Your current controller obviously worked with your current car...it will still work the same as it did back in the day (on the same type track !)
Now if you get into a different type car like the 32nd/24th plastic cars or the faster metal chassied cars (in 24th or 32nd), you will most probably have to change the controller to get the most out of your driving and the car.
Two ways to do this...
1. Buy a coupla different ohm resistors and change them as required, (pain in the rear !).
or better
2. Buy an adjustable controller and alter it as you drive...
I've also been racing on and off since about 1965....it's still a kick..! I had a wood track built and squeezed into a spair bedroom. Not too many nights/days I don't spend at least a few minutes in there...!
Just be careful if you do hook up that old MRC to a modern track. The red wire is still the brake, but in some cases the black and white wires are swapped. Make sure you check with the track owner - they should know how to test for this.
As I recall, and I AM NOT SURE I REMEMBER THIS CORRECTLY (hence the warning to check with the owner!) , the trick is to connect black and white, then touch the red against the post. If it sparks, you need to swap over the black and white wires.
For modern 1/32 cars on a home track, a 15-ohm controller is going to be somewhat on the sensitive side, but it will work nicely for the old Mabuchi 16Ds we used to use back then. The modern motors in 1/32 cars need about 25 ohms. On a commercial track as Jay said, you will need around 4 ohms.
Depending on whaere you are going to race and what kind of cars you want to run, it might be a better idea to either retire the old MRC or put it on eBay, and replace it with a more modern electronic controller, like a Professor Motor or similar, that will handle a wide range of cars on a wide range of tracks.
The MRC is a thumb operated controller, nearly all of the controllers on the market today are trigger finger operated. I had several MRC controllers left over from the '60s, when I took them out of storage in the mid '80s they tended to hang up and were not a good match for modern motors, so I sold them to a collector. I am not sure if a Parma resistor will fit in a MRC controller, Parma resistors are 1 3/4 inches long.
A 15 ohm controller would probably not be a good match for any modern slot car except possibly very high performance HO cars. When I still used a resistor controller I used a 2 or 3 ohm controller with 16D and S16D powered 1/24th cars and a 1 ohm controller with higher level cars. With 1/32nd cars 25 ohms is a good choice if you run with magnets, 35 or 45 ohms is better if you run without magnets. With the MRC controller you may be able to see through the case well enough to see where the wires go, the white wire should go to the full speed end of the resistor, the black wire should go to the wiper and the red wire should go to the brake band at the full off end of the barrel.
Ancient controller usage on modern cars/tracks
Linear Mode
