There are a number of different controllers
available for use with your home sets. To get maximum performance from
your cars you need a controller that is matched to their performance
characteristics. There are two types of controllers you can use,
conventional resistance controllers and the diode controllers.
The key component of a resistance controller, the resistor, is the
barrel-shaped part wrapped in wire that the wiper arm on the trigger moves
across. As the contact button on the wiper arm moves across the resistor
it controls the speed of the car by producing varying amounts of
resistance, which is measured in ohms. If your controller has too much
resistance (too many ohms) for the car you are driving, you will have to
pull the trigger back as much as half way before the car gets enough power
to move. If the resistor has too little resistance, the car will leap
forward at high speed when you have barely begun to pull back the trigger.
Either way you have only a part of the travel of the trigger through which
to vary the speed of the car. This can make it difficult or even
impossible to drive the car around the corners without deslotting.
If the resistance is just right the car
will begin to move slowly as soon as the wiper button begins to move
across the resistor windings. Its speed will increase until it reaches top
speed just as the wiper button contacts the full-throttle band. The
required resistance of the controller is affected by the car's motor and
chassis magnet. The higher the amp draw of the motor and the stronger the
chassis magnet the lower the required ohm rating of the controller.
In the off position the circuit is broken
and no current is flowing, and at full throttle the resistor windings are
bypassed completely and the car's motor gets all the available power. At
any part-throttle position the resistor converts the portion of the
current it holds back to heat and dissipates the heat into the air. This
is why the controller gets warm after you have been using it for awhile.
The more of each lap you spend at part throttle the more heat will be
generated. In high-current applications, especially in commercial track
racing, the controller requires a large auxiliary heat sink in order to
dissipate enough heat to prevent damage to the resistor or other parts of
the controller. For all but the most extreme home track applications,
however, extra heat dissipation capacity is not needed.
Diode controllers, such as the Professor
Motor controller, do away with the resistor and use electronic circuitry
to regulate the power reaching the car. These controllers have two
advantages over resistor controllers. They do not develop anything like
the amount of heat and they offer the capability to provide optimum or
near-optimum control for driving cars with a wide variety of motor and
magnet combinations, all with a single controller. In many cases the need
to buy and maintain only one controller for all of your different cars
offsets the diode controllers' higher purchase price.
Any of the controllers we sell can be used
with any of the track systems we sell with no more than a change of plugs
required to adapt them from one track system to another. Scalextric Sport
and Ninco use industry-standard 1/8th" electronic plugs. We stock a Parma
controller that works with Scalextric Sport and Ninco. PAR213N,
PAR213N7(45ohm) also PAR215N,PAR21N7(25ohm). For Carrera we stock Parma
controller PAR213C (45ohm) and PAR215C (25ohm). These have the three wire
plug for Carrera Power bases.
Recommended resistance controllers for
plastic track layouts:
Non-magnet cars: Scalextric
Sport 70ohm set controllers or Parma 60ohm.and the Professor Motor
controller.
All cars with super magnets:
Parma 25 to 35ohm, and the Professor Motor controller.
Modified cars with both a hop-up
motor, such as the Slot It V12, and a strong magnet: Parma 25ohm
and the Professor Motor controller.
If you need a single relatively low-cost
"compromise" controller to drive all different kinds of cars, try a Parma
45ohm.
Parma controllers are completely and easily
repairable and can be upgraded as needed with a complete selection of
repair and upgrade parts sold through dealers. Interchangeable resistors
offering resistance values from one to 60 ohms can be installed in any
Parma controller using only a Phillips screwdriver and a pair of pliers.
Diode controllers:
For Scalextric Sport and Ninco use the
Professor Motor (PMTR2044) direct plug-in. For Carrera use
(PMTR2062)direct plug-in.
The Professor Motor
controllers drive almost all home track cars effectively with no
adjustment or tuning required. The PMTR2055 ?Gold? model controller offers
variable sensitivity. PM controllers are also fully repairable and
upgradeable with all replacement parts available from dealers.
Revised by T.B. Aka ?Tech Boy ? 2004
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