F-1 cars don't trigger lap counter.

[MiG_Eater]

Hi everyone, apologies for the length of the post but I have a question relating to some second-hand Scalextric I recently bought.

The lap counter (C7039) regularly misses laps with the F-1 cars.

I know what the problem is - I just don't know how to solve it. The problem is that the guide blades are not always deep enough into the slot to trigger the counter. I replaced a heavily worn guide blade which improved the situation, but I am still missing around 10% of laps.

I have tried placing the lap counter at the end of a straight, and at the beginning (after a slow corner) but this doesn't affect it.

I am wondering if there is a way to get oversized guide blades onto the cars without impacting the performance or damaging the track. Alternatively, perhaps the noses need to be weighed down?

I have three other cars - the McClaren's from the pit stop game, which all trigger the lap counter without issue - it is only the F-1 cars that don't trigger it.

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Andy P.]

Which f1 cars in particular are the problem?

What color are the blades?

Some sensors requrie black blades.

You could try dipping the bottom in super glue and build up multiple layers but I have a funny feeling the color might be the issue.

[Blagard]

The sensors in the track should pick up the car ID from the cars LED as it passes over, so you may need to clean the LED if it has become dirty. You have correctly checked that the LED does in fact pass over the sensor by having a straight before the counter, always do that.

[MiG_Eater]

Hi guys,

The blades are black - these are the F-1 cars from around about 10 years ago from the "World Championship" set.

The LEDs are not the issue - these, I believe, only identify the car. The actual lap is triggered by a blade blocking the light between the rails. I have proved this by passing a piece of paper through the slot which also triggers the lap counter for the last identified car.

Has anyone else had issues with F-1 / single seater cars? I wonder if it is due to the nose being too light and the blade lifting out of the slot slightly?

 

Thanks

[Blagard]

Hi guys,

The blades are black - these are the F-1 cars from around about 10 years ago from the "World Championship" set.

The LEDs are not the issue - these, I believe, only identify the car. The actual lap is triggered by a blade blocking the light between the rails. I have proved this by passing a piece of paper through the slot which also triggers the lap counter for the last identified car.

 

That is good to know so the  photocell sensor it passes over only ID's the car before it goes past another sensor! 

 

I would be inclined to check how you set your braids as these can raise the nose of the car.

 

If the guides are worn down why not replace them. While I don't know how many are on the scalextric shop there are plenty on Ebay. I have before now replaced guides that needed a different length pivot part to others but I got them.

[MiG_Eater]

Hi Blagard,

I have replaced one of the blades which improved the problem but did not entirely solve it.

I have noticed that if I push the braids down it does seem to work better, but there is a point at which the car runs intermittently as the braids don't make a good contact.

As I said i'm quite new to this so any advice on how to properly set the braids would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Blagard]

The setting of braids is to a degree one of the dark arts!

 

You would be well to search the internet as here are too many good tips to find for me to list one. Also consider the SCX way braids are set, i.e. as a double set. You can do that on scalextrix cars as well. There are different braids as well so some are not so stiff as others.

 

Last but not least is doing things like putting some plasticine in the nose of F1 cars!

 

one link to get you going

http://slotcarnews.blogspot.co.uk/2007/12/slot-car-101-setting-braids.html

[chris_conrad]

I don't have any F1 cars but I do have the same problem with an NSR GT40 car. It will not register on my ARC AIR counter at all which is a shame because it's by far my best running car. Turns out the guide blade needs to be black and have a particular depth according to Scalextric rep. The NSR car has an opaque colored blade and runs a bit shallow in the track. I have not found a black replacement blade yet...anyone have any pointers? I did try coloring the blade with a black sharpie but still didn't work.

[Andy P.]

I have successfully used black glossy nail polish. Get the cheapes, nastiest you can find because:

A: If you are a bloke buying it at a Pound Store/Dollar store is usually less obvious than staring at the literally thousands of colors in other types of stores

B: If it doesn't work you are only out 1-2 GBP/€

The advantage of nail polish is it is designed to build so you can do several layers to build up the guide.

I personally have not had any problems with guide depth and have used many different types of guides and pins.

I definitely know that the color plays a role.