Category Archives: HRW Speed Shop

Build a Driver Station with Lane Reverse Switch!!

3 Post (Alligator Clip) Driver Station With Direction Reversing Switch

Step-by-Step Assembly Instructions

Introduction

Since the inception of Slot Car Corner in 2006, we have offered a wide selection of slot car tracking wiring products and services including custom Driver Station fabrication and high-quality Driver Station Kits. During this time, we have fabricated close to 1,000 driver stations for our customers worldwide. This article features our “3 Post Commercial Style Hookup With Lane Reversing Switch” Kit (SCC part number DS-0120) shown below.

The driver station featured in this how-to article has a blue panel; however, kits with several other colors are also available.  This driver station is designed for controllers with alligator clips and features a toggle switch that lets you run your track in both directions. Note this driver station, when wired as recommended, is polarity independent – it will work with both resistor and electronic controllers.

You can purchase this kit by following this link.

The step-by-step instructions, and accompanying photos, are designed to make assembling this driver station kit as straightforward and painless as possible. No special skills, tools or electrical knowledge are required to assemble this kit – assembly typically takes about 60-90 minutes for the first kit and 45-60 minutes for each subsequent kit. We STRONGLY recommend reading through this entire document to become familiar with the steps BEFORE starting to assemble the kit. Additional resources including installation instructions, wiring diagrams, etc. are available on our website. Please refer to the “Additional Resources” section at the end of this article. As always, we are here to help – the “Contact” page on our website provides information about contacting us should you need further assistance.

Copyright Notice

This document, including text and images, is Copyright © 2018 by Slot Car Corner L.L.C.. All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, or linked to in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of Slot Car Corner L.L.C..

Tools

Caution: Be sure to read, understand and follow all manufacturer instructions concerning use of your tools. In particular, be sure to follow all safety instructions.

Here are the tools you’ll need to assemble the kit. While not required, using a small ratchet and deep well sockets (11/32” and 3/8”) will make securing the posts to the panel much easier. Wrenches will work, they’ll just take a little longer (and test your patience…). Here is a list of the tools shown:

  • #2 Phillips Screwdriver
  • #2 Flat Blade Screwdriver
  • 9/16″ Wrench
  • 1/4″ Ratchet
  • 11/32″ deep socket
  • 3/8″ deep socket
  • Wire crimping tool
  • Wire stripping tool
  • Lineman pliers
  • Cutoff pliers
  • Ruler
  • Hot glue gun (not shown)

If you are purchasing a stripper/crimper tool for this project, a basic tool like the one in the picture below will strip wires, crimp terminals and cut wire without breaking the bank.

Wire

You will need some 14 AWG stranded copper wire to complete the kit. This wire is readily available at home improvement centers and automotive parts stores. If you use our recommended wire lengths, you will need the following (total) lengths for each insulation color: black – 36″, white – 24″ and red – 80″. Note these wire lengths/colors are for one (1) driver station. For convenience, we also offer high-quality Driver Station Wire specifically for this kit (SCC part number DWIRE-20 – shown below).


Step-by-Step Assembly Instructions

If you purchased our Slot Car Corner kit, the components are shown below. The kit includes a pre-drilled panel (available in multiple colors to match your track lane colors), panel hardware (bag on left), lane reversing switch (bag above the panel), and mounting hardware (bag on right).

Tip: The Assembly Diagram included with the kit is also a useful reference – we suggest referring to it in addition to these instructions.

Let’s get started! First, carefully peel the protective covering off the front and back sides of the panel.

Cutting/Crimping Wire for the Lane Reversing Switch

Tip: If you haven’t already done so, take a minute to download/print the Wire Cut / Strip Diagram and refer to it as we work through this section. Here is the link:

Wire Cutting / Crimping Diagram

Note: For the first set of black switch wires, we will break down cutting / stripping the wire and crimping terminals onto the wires in detail including plenty of accompanying pictures. This will be especially helpful to those of you following these instructions with little/no experience crimping electrical terminals on wires. For subsequent wires, we will just instruct you to “…strip such-and-such wire…” and then “…crimp such-and-such terminal onto the wire…”. If necessary, you can come back to the detailed descriptions and pictures provided here for the black wires.

We will start with the two black wires that will eventually be crimped together on one end. The shorter wire is 4″ long, the longer wire is 6″ long. The picture below shows the electrical terminals that will be crimped onto the wires.

Start by stripping 5/16″ from one end of the shorter (4″) black wire.

To ensure the female push-on terminal will slide over the bare wire properly, twist the bare wire strands slightly as shown in the picture below.

There should be no “loose” strands like those shown in the picture below.

If you’re familiar with crimping insulated terminals, you can skip this paragraph. If you’re new to crimping insulated terminals, or just want a quick refresher, please read on. In the first picture below, we’ve “disassembled” an insulated electrical terminal. Note the “barrel” portion of the terminal that will be crimped to the wire does NOT extend all the way through the insulation. Therefore, it is VERY IMPORTANT to place your wire crimping tool over the portion of the insulation that covers the barrel. The second picture shows 2 crimps – one is crimped correctly and one is crimped incorrectly (and will fail). Take a few seconds to study these pictures and keep them in mind when crimping insulated terminals.

Insert a BLUE female push-on terminal onto the bare wire and crimp the terminal using the portion of your crimping tool designated for insulated terminals. Your crimp may look different depending on the crimping tool you use.

 

Next, strip 5/16″ of insulation from one end of the longer (6″) black wire. Twist the wire strands slightly and insert a ring terminal over the bare wire. The bare wire should protrude beyond the terminal barrel by about 1/16″ as shown. Crimp the ring terminal using the portion of your crimping tool designated for uninsulated terminals.

Position the ring terminal into a pair of lineman or slip-joint pliers as shown below. A vise could also be used for this step.

Before proceeding, study the pictures below VERY CAREFULLY! SLOWLY and carefully bend the ring AWAY from the wire until there is roughly a 90-degree bend as shown.

Now we’ll join/connect the 4″ and 6″ black wires together. Start by stripping 3/8″ of insulation from the other end of both wires.

Hold the 2 wires beside each other as shown – note how the INSULATION is lined up on both wires.

With the 2 wires lined up correctly as shown above, check the length of the bare portion of both wires. Both should be the same length (3/8″) – use your wire strippers and/or wire cutters to adjust the length if necessary.

Holding the 2 wires FIRMLY with one hand (fingers) to ensure they stay properly aligned (see above), slip a YELLOW female push-on connector over the bare wires with your other hand (fingers). Make sure both wires are pushed through the terminal as far as possible AND the wires stay properly aligned. If the wires slip out of alignment, re-align the wires and repeat this step.

Crimp the terminal using the area of your crimping tool designated for insulated terminals. The crimped terminal should look something like this – again, your crimp may look different depending on the crimping tool you use.

The two short black wires should look like the picture below. You can set them aside for now.

Now we’ll join/connect the 3-1/2″ and 24″ red wires together. Note the other end of the longer (24″) wire will not have a terminal crimped to it at this time. The picture below shows the electrical terminals that will be crimped onto these 2 red wires.

Note: If necessary, refer to the previous section for detailed instructions on stripping wire and crimping terminals when performing the steps described below.

Strip one end of the short (3-1/2″) red wire and crimp a BLUE female push-on connector onto it.

Strip one end of the long (24″) red wire and the other end of the short (3-1/2″) red wire. Align the wires, and crimp a YELLOW female push-on connector as shown below.

The 2 red wires should now look something like this. You can set them aside for now.

Next, cut a 24″ length of red wire and a 24″ length of black wire. Strip one end of each wire and crimp a BLUE female push-on connector onto each wire.

Wiring the Lane Reversing Switch

Now that you’ve cut and crimped all of the wires needed for the lane reversing switch, it’s time to actually wire up the switch. Start by carefully examining the bottom of the switch. Notice the numbers 1 – 6 embossed in the switch housing. Each number corresponds to one of the switch’s 6 “blade” terminals. We’ll refer to these numbers in the subsequent steps to identify the switch terminal a given wire terminal should be connected to.

Slide the YELLOW female push-on terminal that connects the 2 short black wires onto the terminal blade labeled “6” as shown below.

CAUTION: If you inadvertently slide a push-on terminal onto the wrong switch terminal, DO NOT pull on the wires to remove it! Instead, grasp the crimped portion of the push-on terminal and carefully remove it from the switch.

Slide the BLUE female push-on terminal on the other end of the shorter (4″) black wire onto the terminal labeled “1” (diagonally opposite from terminal “6”).

Slide the YELLOW female push-on terminal that connects the 2 red wires onto the terminal blade labeled “3” as shown below.

Route the BLUE female push-on terminal on the other end of the short red wire UNDER the black wire that is already in place and slide it onto the terminal labeled “4”.

Just 2 more wires to connect! Next slide the BLUE female push-on connector on the 24″ single black wire onto the switch terminal labeled “5”.

Finally, slide the BLUE female push-on connector on the 24″ single red wire onto the switch terminal labeled “2”.

Here’s a picture of the underside of the switch with all wiring installed. For reference, terminal “6” (double-black wires) is in the upper left corner). Note the distinctive “X” formed by the short red and black wires.

 

Installing Lane Reversing Switch on Panel

Congratulations! You’ve completed the most difficult part of the driver station assembly (it wasn’t really difficult – just a lot of steps). Now it’s time to mount the switch and posts to the panel. Your driver station will really start coming to life from here on out.

We’ll start by mounting the switch that you just wired to the panel. If you haven’t already done so, remove the retaining nuts (2x) and mounting washer (1x) from the threaded mounting bushing on the switch.

Insert the threaded switch mounting bushing through the bottom of the panel. IMPORTANT: Note the orientation of the switch – from L-R there is a single red wire, single black wire and double black wire on the side of the switch closest to the center post hole (see accompanying photo). From L-R these are switch terminals “4”, “5” and “6”.

Hold the switch housing on the underside of the panel with one hand. Insert the mounting washer over the mounting bushing with your other hand.

Thread one (1) of the retaining nuts onto the mounting bushing as far as you can by hand.

Double check to make sure the switch is still oriented correctly in relation to the panel (refer to earlier step if you are unsure). Using a 9/16″ wrench, carefully tighten the retaining nut until you just feel a little resistance. Do NOT overtighten – you can damage the switch and/or mounting panel.

Turn the switch until the “long” side of the switch is parallel with the long edge of the mounting panel as shown. SNUG down the locknut to prevent the switch from turning in the panel. DO NOT overtighten.

Run a bead of hot glue where the switch housing meets the panel – the bead should run along 3 sides of the switch (do NOT run a bead of glue along the long edge of the switch housing that is closest to the long edge of the mounting panel).

The bead of hot glue should run along both “short” sides of the switch (only one is visible in this picture) and the long side of the switch closest to the 3 post holes in the middle of the panel as shown below.

Thread the second retaining nut onto the switch mounting bushing – when it makes contact with the retaining nut already installed, tighten JUST THE TOP NUT slightly so it acts as a “jam nut”. This will prevent both nuts from loosening.

Mounting the 3 Post Hookups

Now that the lane reversing switch has been mounted, we’re ready to mount the 3 posts that will be used to hookup controllers with alligator clips.

Start by cutting a 24″ length of white wire and a 24″ length of red wire. Strip one end of each wire and crimp a ring terminal onto the bare wire (if necessary, refer to detailed instructions for the black wire earlier in this write-up).

Now CAREFULLY bend the 2 ring terminals at a 90 degree angle (if necessary, refer to the detailed instructions for the black wire earlier in the write-up). Be sure to bend the rings AWAY from the wire as shown.

Now we’ll mount the 3 posts to the panel. We’ll start with the black wire on the lane reversing switch with a ring terminal crimped to one end. Insert one of the brass machine screws from the kit through the ring terminal as shown.

Next, slide a metal washer over the brass post.

Now insert the brass post through the MIDDLE pre-drilled post mounting hole.

Insert the black plastic washer over the brass post on the top side of the mounting panel.

Thread a locknut onto the brass post until you feel resistance.

With one hand, hold the brass machine screw in place with a flat blade screwdriver while using your other hand to tighten the locknut with a 11/32” wrench. A deep well 11/32” socket will make this task MUCH easier/faster if you have one.

CAUTIONUse care NOT TO OVERTIGHTEN THE LOCKNUT – it just needs to be SNUG. Overtightening the locknut could damage the plastic washer and/or panel.

Here are a couple of pictures showing what the black post should look like at this point. The first photo shows the bottom side of the mounting panel.

Here’s a picture of the topside of the mounting panel.

Repeat for the white wire – be sure to mount the white post to the “left” of the black post with the panel oriented as shown. Do NOT overtighten!

Here’s what the top of the panel looks like.

Repeat for the red wire – be sure to mount the red post to the “right” of the black post as shown. Do NOT overtighten!

Here’s the panel with all 3 posts installed. We’re just about done!

Now we’re going to organize the five (5) long wires on the bottom of the panel using the tie wraps included with the kit. Carefully bring the 5 long wires together and secure with tie wraps as shown.

Trim the tie wraps.

Next we will use the wire cutters to trim the ends of all five (5) long wires to the same length.

Strip each of the wires and crimp a spade terminal onto the end of them as shown.

Congratulations – your completed drivers station is ready for installation!!

Additional Resources

Please visit the 3-Post (Alligator Clip) With Lane Reversing Switch Driver Station product page on our website for a mounting template, installation instructions and a generic slot car track wiring diagram for this driver station. We hope you found this how-to article useful.

Thank you!

-Steve