Slot car motors... Slimcan Vs. FC

[Dave Kennedy]

I've recently heard something might actually be done about this problem we all know exists.

[Brumos RSR]

I LOVE IT!

[slothead]

Dave - when you held up the Carrera McLaren it reminded me of issues I've had with guide placement over the years. In some cases cars have had guides that are mounted even with or behind the front axle. They never handle the same as cars with the guide out front of the axle, and no scratch builders (that I know of) make chassis with this configuration. Do you know why some cars have this setup and if there was ever any consideration that different guide placements also create very different handling cars?

[Dave Kennedy]

I can do a video about this too... essentially there's zero consideration for this.

[Fast Co.]

Great series of videos Dave. Back in the day when Scalextric's Sharknose Ferrari was first released, I put mine on the Ninco circuit I had at the time (14.8v), pulled the trigger and watched the car speed down my front straight and hit the wall, breaking one of the exhaust pipes. I didn't have the car in my possession more than 5 minutes! I don't know what various types of electric motors are available in the electronics world, but you think there would be something more suitable to the application of a tiny slot car than the FF.

[Dave Kennedy]

Any rpm of motor "could" be made. But I believe that the slim can motor is an "off the shelf" motor that is small enough that is used currently in applications like I mentioned and we all know about too. So what I think (and this is total guesswork) is that there's a motor available to the slot companies from their suppliers... that off the shelf motor is already made and is available at any time so that's what they use because no one wants to make a specific motor and buy them in large quantities. So I think that this is a "good enough" option for them... I've never been given a straight answer about why it's used when it's clear that the motor is FAR too fast.

[Fast Co.]

Makes perfect sense Dave. Having a motor produced to a particular spec has to be an expensive ordeal for a slot car manufacturer.

[Dave Kennedy]

it is and it's prevented me from making a motor years ago of my own. My uncle and I had discussed doing our own motor in about 2006. We wanted to make a good quality 18k motor with double longer shafts that could be a replacement for the standard motor for most cars. I contacted several companies and we were told that anything could be made and we discussed the price and then we were told that we'd have to order at least 5,000 pieces. Well holy shit if I have to buy that many I didn't want to take the chance that we'd get the wrong motor made (either because we asked for the wrong thing or the manufacturer would screw something up. We decided not to make any motors.

[CarlosInSeattle]

Thanks for the information Dave! I found this out years earlier when I sourced my RMS-Motor. The slot car guys thought that there was a lot of testing and R&D that go into the motors slot car manufacturers put into their motors. They thought slot car companies were having specific motors designed for their cars. Most guys didn't believe me when I said they basically source "off the shelf" motors that were already in production and being used in other applications like automobiles and automation equipment.

[HomeRacingWorld]

And this is another good one.!

[Dave Kennedy]

thanks Boss...

[chappyman66]

Clearly, with the existence of the Minnow /MT-1, there are choices available. Whether there is any tuning that goes into the choices is an entirely different matter.
Clearly, with NC1/Scalex-Fly 18K vs Slot.it 21.5K vs NSR 30K, there are options.
It's an issue of marketing vs enthusiast.

Look.....Dave's right. The issue is lot size. If you buy off the shelf, you get a crap shoot. There are "ebay" FC130 orange can motors with sorta-square holes that are NOTHING like a slot.it motor despite being advertised as a 21K motor. It's more than just RPM, it's magnet strength, arm wind, brush material and brush spring strength among others. At least Slot.it did the work to select a motor with a wide band of driveability.

I am sorry to see the insanely fast motors in the classic F1 cars....but when you turn the power down to 10V (low cost for adjustable power) or put in a Minnow (relatively low cost per car) they are very driveable. Same with the classic MRRC cars.....

[mattb]

When I got the first Scalextric Lotus I put some urethanes on it and put in on my Carrera track. A couple laps and I put it back in the box. I thought, a great car to look at but it's like a rocketship, not a 60's era F1 car. If I ever actually raced these cars,they would have to be slowed down to realistic speed.

I have bought a few of the crapshoot motors from Ebay. Usually at $2 or $3 each. I have only had one batch that I couldn't get the required lap times with. I've had about 4 different kinds and they power all our slot cars now. We used to run MT5's, but had issues with a few motors always being a little faster. The other guys then want me to make their car faster, but it is already at the max, there is no more speed left in it. I went to Jaws from SCC and they were just a bit quicker. Good, because all the motors had just a bit more speed than we needed. That allowed me to gear down all the cars and get equal speed for everybody.. Most of these FK's I've got are probably 18-21K and they also allow me to run less than max and keep everybody running the same lap times. The last 10 I bought are just a bit slower and I can't get the needed speed from them. They would be fine on a shorter track or in beginner cars. Keep in mind that 10 of those motors cost about $20-$25 with no shipping Kind of worth the gamble if you build as many cars as I do. I maintain close to 20 cars for the other guys, not counting my stuff.

[munter]

I am surprised you guys in North America are not buying up from Al Penrose....he tells me he is down to his last 3000 pieces of each type (FC and FF) of his 14.5k rpm motors.

I recently bought another twenty of his NC-1 type double end shaft motors for a good price and still have a good stock of the FF type.

Comments regarding the ff motor Scalextric used in some of their cars being on rocket boost is the same as I have found but the cars were easily tamed with an electronic controller....PM2010 model in my case.

[lance]

no one knos who Al Penrose is?

[Slotspeed]

Interesting video and also very funny in that my FF050 slim can Scalextric Britax Mini is the fastest car I have. Its a bit silly but I kind of like the ridiculousness of it's speed, I can hardly see it. I use it as a test of my reflexes after I have been running a few other quick cars, and cringe when it flies off the track as I make a tiny little mistake. Its kind of my thrill seeking behaviour before I put it all away but I most often regret it as it smashes into something and another bit of trim breaks off it. But I love it so much lol.

I did read up on the Mabuchi spec sheet for this particular line of motor and noted that you can order it in all sorts of configurations, motor windings, brush type, speed, voltage rating and a bunch of other things that I have forgotten about. How many motors would the slot car manufacturers buy in one go?

I also bought two used CD player motors from ebay to try, also FF050 package type. Have not tried them yet.

[jaws]

The FF powered F-1 cars were the reason our Clubs reduced the voltage from 12 volts to 10 volts. The adjustable sensitivity of a controller was needing more range. I had mine turned down to minimum.

[munter]

From memory the Scalextric ff motors were described by the manufacturer as 18k rpm when in reality they were more like 21k rpm.

[PetesLightKits]

I've recently heard something might actually be done about this problem we all know exists.

Dave - so what does that little hint mean? You didn't say anything about that in the video.

Peter

[Barc 1]

I buy a lot of motors off ebay. Found a couple of of types that are great for slots cars for $1.50 each. FF 50 Mabachi 10130. Turn 23 K at 12 volts with good braking. On my home track my fastest car with a Pirahnna 25 K will only turn laptimes 0.2 seconds quicker. Also I use Minebea Square can 6 pole mini motors for 1/43 scale. These are good performing slot car motors, all for less then $2.00.

Only motors I use that are " brand name" are for proxies the rest of my cars are powered with the ebay stuff, and they are perfectly fine running with the more expensive motors.