17th-May-21, 07:42 AM
I’ve been thinking about this…
It seems like it’s an intermittent problem - not a permanent one. But when it is a problem, it affects all your cars. That would suggest the sensors, but if cleaning the sensors and avoiding any strong, direct light didn’t do the trick, there must be something else going on…
If it’s intermittent, I don’t think it’s a pin or solenoid hook out of place. That would be permanent. You could listen as you push a car over the sensor. If you hear the solenoid fire, but then there’s no flipper movement, something is loose.
Power issues could cause an intermittent problem. The easiest way to check is to place the lane changers - one at a time - in a small oval with the powerbase. If you have the same problem, check the tabs on the lane changers and tighten them. If they work fine in the oval, check the power distribution around your main track is sufficient. Some questions…
On our 100 to 150ft long WHO/digital tracks, we have the option of running power taps to three track pieces - usually at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the lap. However, we often just use two - and on occasion we’ve forgot to connect the taps, so have run successfully with none! We usually have six lane changers in our layouts - five straight lane changers and a pit entry. We use two standard P9300 Scalextric digital power supplies to run six cars. The cars we use are non-magnet with either the standard Scalextric motor or the Slot.it 23k orange/red can Group C motor.
One final consideration - which I don’t think is a problem here - is the positioning of the lane changers. If they are positioned immediately after a corner piece, the cars’ LED will not line up with the sensor and the flipper will not move. If you are running with magnets, a half straight between corner and lane changers should be okay. Running without magnets, a full straight or more is best - depending on the nature of the corner and how fast / sideways the cars are on corner exit. I would expect this to have a more random effect - not what you describe.
I hope that helps.
It seems like it’s an intermittent problem - not a permanent one. But when it is a problem, it affects all your cars. That would suggest the sensors, but if cleaning the sensors and avoiding any strong, direct light didn’t do the trick, there must be something else going on…
If it’s intermittent, I don’t think it’s a pin or solenoid hook out of place. That would be permanent. You could listen as you push a car over the sensor. If you hear the solenoid fire, but then there’s no flipper movement, something is loose.
Power issues could cause an intermittent problem. The easiest way to check is to place the lane changers - one at a time - in a small oval with the powerbase. If you have the same problem, check the tabs on the lane changers and tighten them. If they work fine in the oval, check the power distribution around your main track is sufficient. Some questions…
- How long is your track?
- How far away (how many track pieces) from the powerbase are the problem lane changers?
- Do you notice a power drop near the problem lane changers? In other words, are the cars slower?
- Do you have any power taps / jumpers in your track?
- Are you using one or two power supplies plugged into the ARC Pro powerbase?
On our 100 to 150ft long WHO/digital tracks, we have the option of running power taps to three track pieces - usually at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 of the lap. However, we often just use two - and on occasion we’ve forgot to connect the taps, so have run successfully with none! We usually have six lane changers in our layouts - five straight lane changers and a pit entry. We use two standard P9300 Scalextric digital power supplies to run six cars. The cars we use are non-magnet with either the standard Scalextric motor or the Slot.it 23k orange/red can Group C motor.
One final consideration - which I don’t think is a problem here - is the positioning of the lane changers. If they are positioned immediately after a corner piece, the cars’ LED will not line up with the sensor and the flipper will not move. If you are running with magnets, a half straight between corner and lane changers should be okay. Running without magnets, a full straight or more is best - depending on the nature of the corner and how fast / sideways the cars are on corner exit. I would expect this to have a more random effect - not what you describe.
I hope that helps.
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