Slot.it cars with Carrera Chip issues

[Perrotoro]

So are you guys saying that the back EMF imposed, poorer braid contact, and the use of a digital chip are all interrelated such that a jerky characteristic may result unless front weighting or magnets are used to help constant braid contact?

[b.yingling]

Not sure what others here are saying, but I do know that whenever I've had a chipped slot.it (or any non-Carrera car) drive with hesitation or jerkiness it has been cleared by adjusting and/or replacing the braids. I can see how adding weight to the front end could have a similar effect.

[Perrotoro]

I've chipped many Slot-its and other brands too, but I use magnets so it doesn't sound like I'll experience the phenomena. Still I may experiment without mags just for grins. If anyone has time to post a video, I'd love to see what to look for.

[b.yingling]

None of my slot.it or Fly cars have magnets. A couple have weight added near the front end (more for lane changing than because of herky jerky behavior), all of them have had the braids tweaked, just as they did when they were raced on analog tracks.

When I first started, I ran a slot.it with magnets on my D132 track. While that was a blazingly fast car, and I think I even switched to the slot.it 'race' magnet- I don't think that would be anywhere near as much fun to me anymore. Most of my slot.its have the max speed dialed down to somewhere between 10 and 12 out of 15 (say, 6..8 on the CU buttons). They have a wider throttle response on the controller as a result- and they are, for me, more fun to drive. A no-mag slot.it with 13-1/2 volts or more is just too quick to be a pleasure. They are so hard to control, I sometimes find a quicker lap by dialing back the max speed. It really does allow you to use more travel on the controller plunger through the turns.

[edmagner]

Here's why it's the braids...
The rail to rail center distance on the carrera track is wider than the slot.it guide
I spread the brushes outward on my slot.it's to make sure they contact the rails..

[Slot_It_bob]

As I race on 1/24 Wood Tracks mainly, I knew the braids needed to be spread out to the sides. Thanks for the photo.

[Slotspeed]

Ok so here is my first post...

This is interesting reading about the experiences with braid contact influencing the smoothness of the cars... Who'd have thought ;) Especially when you have digital electronics with an intermittent power source, i.e. a slot car with an onboard decoder... Personally I would run a filter (Carrera filter is as simple as three caps) but most importantly paying special attention to the braid contact (As an aside, I had a Carrera 917K that had jerkiness issues after pulling magnets out... I knew it was the braid contact, the front end of the car was not sitting down very well, mostly to do with jerky chassis roll. Sorted in the end with a little extra weight, but most improved after running no grip tyres, the car sat perfectly around the corners and had better braid contact as a result of this)

I know that another digital slot car system can have serious issues without the recommended filter (Scorpius) Though that could be to do with the wireless aspect and EMI.

Cheers,
Steve.