Track Wiring Tip

[SlotCarCorner]

There's not a week that goes by that we don't receive at least a couple of calls from slot racers who are wiring their track - many for the first time. Now before going any further, I want to be clear that we always encourage our customers and potential customers to call with their questions. We genuinely enjoy the interaction and more often than not, we learn something too. That said, by far the most common type of call we receive generally goes something like this:

"Hi, this is so-and-so and I'm wiring my track. I've followed your wiring diagram EXACTLY and even had my [dog, cat, hamster, wife, girlfriend, neighbor, relative, Priest, Justice of the Peace, mailman] double-check, triple-check, certify, confirm, endorse, validate, authenticate, witness and notarize my work. We've all CONFIRMED that the wiring follows your wiring diagram EXACTLY. When I turn the power on, hookup a controller and put a car on the track, it doesn't work. Did I mention I've followed your wiring diagram EXACTLY and even had my [dog, cat, hamster, wife, girlfriend, neighbor, relative, Priest, Justice of the Peace] double-check, certify and notarize my work..."

My first question - "Did you wire up all of the lanes and all of the power taps before you did any testing?"

The inevitable response - ' Well, yes. But I've followed your wiring diagram EXACTLY and even had my [dog, cat, hamster, wife, girlfriend, neighbor, relative, Priest, Justice of the Peace] double-check, triple-check, certify, confirm, endorse, validate, authenticate, witness and notarize my work. We've all confirmed the wiring follows your diagram EXACTLY. Maybe your wiring diagram is flawed??"

At this point, I put on my counseling hat and patiently reassure the caller that the wiring diagram is accurate and has been used by hundreds and hundreds of other racers to successfully wire their tracks. Before we can move on to troubleshooting, I must first talk the caller down from the proverbial building ledge and convince them the problem is with something in their wiring and not with the wiring diagram. l'll just leave it at some racers accept this more readily than others but most eventually come around.

With this background, I'd like to offer a tip that can save anyone wiring a track a lot of time and aggravation. It doesn't matter if this is the first track you've wired or if you've wiring several, the tip still applies. DO NOT "Big Bang" wire your track!!! "Big Bang" wiring is the term I've come to use to describe wiring EVERYTHING up before doing any testing. What's wrong with the "Big Bang" approach? In a nutshell, when problems arise it's very, very difficult to pinpoint them. Experience has shown us that there is an alternative that is almost always less painful - wire and test your track incrementally instead. Here's the general idea. Start with Lane 1. Wire your power supply, drivers station and 1st power tap. STOP! Test. If the test is successful, move on to the 2nd power tap (IMPORTANT: Always turn off your power supply when actually connecting or disconnecting any wiring). If not troubleshoot and test again. Same procedure for the remaining power taps for Lane 1 - stop, test and troubleshoot (as required) before moving on. Once Lane 1 is completely operational, move on to Lane 2 using the same approach (go back and test Lane 1 as well to make sure you haven't inadvertently introduced any problems). Continue in this fashion for the remaining lanes.

Does the incremental wiring approach take longer? Yes and no. If you take the "Big Bang" approach and the sun, moon, stars and planets are in perfect alignment, you'll save some time. However, it is not unusual to have hundreds of connections (particularly with plastic tracks which generally require more power taps) - all it takes is one wrong connection and you'll be pulling your hair out trying to find it. There's a good chance you'll have to go back and unhook some/all of the wiring and follow a more incremental approach to find the problem. If you're the gambling type, the "Big Bang" approach may be appealing. But if you're like me, you don't need more drama in your life. You want to be racing on your slot car track, not troubleshooting a wiring problem. While the incremental approach generally takes longer, it is FAR, FAR easier to troubleshoot problems should they arise.

Of course, if you do need assistance, we're here to help (and listen...)

8-)

[pastor bubba]

It has been a while since I wired my track. I called and talked to you about what I wanted to do with the plastic track that I had and you told me the best wiring kit to use. I followed the instructions and even tested each lane. I did have issues with the track but had nothing to do with the wiring. If I remember correctly, I was using two of the power/controller pieces of track, one of which was stripped down and the second one was not. So basically, one controller controlled two lanes until I stripped down that second piece of track. It had nothing to do with the wiring but I found it sooner because of the testing. If you wire a track with a kit and instructions from these guys and it doesn't work, it is not the instructions. Like they said, the key is testing each lane as you do the work because it is so much easier to track down the problem one lane at a time. I have a bigger track (1/24 banked) that I will be putting up and wiring and I will be getting what I need from them as well. I spent the money for the kit on the first one because I am no electrician and had no idea what to get. After getting the pieces, the parts they have are so much bigger and easier to work with in comparison to what you can buy from Lowes, Menards, Home Depot, Radio Shack or where ever you shop.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Great information.

Taking your time is something I learned the hard way. Like routing, braiding, taping, etc. It might take a little more time, but well worth it in the long run.