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 a while. 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. PAR215N, PAR21N7(25ohm).
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 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. These controllers are also fully repairable and upgradeable with all replacement parts available from dealers.
Revised by T.B. 2004
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