Home Racing World

How can a lane on a track light up the "power" light on a controller, yet not run a car?

When I finished taping for the night last night, all four lanes ran great. Today, I taped about the same length again, and two of the lanes don't run a car. But at both stations where it doesn't work, the controller lights up to show the connections are good. The good lanes are good all the way, including what I did today. Still good, after I wrestled with figuring out this mystery for a while.

I even disconnected what I did today from the second power tap, thinking there could be a short under the structure where I couldn't see it, and it only showed up when I connected the tape that far around. Nope. No change.

The thing I keep wondering is, Do those little solid state circuit breakers (square tan tab that bridges across wiring blocks), reset themselves? If so, how long does it take? I have turned everything off, then back on, and nothing has changed.

HELP!!!

Hmm a bit like saying Ive lost a pin in a haystack, do you guys know where I put it?

Do you own a multimeter? If not buy one, they are only $10 for a cheapie. You have lanes that work so use these as you baseline measurements. Then start at the power supply and work your way along. Check voltages from point to point using the lanes that work and then the same point on the lane that doesnt work.

Just a few "stupid" things to check. Did you use the same controller and same car to check good lane and bad lane to eliminate the possibility that the car or controller is not a dud?

cheers
dr fabio

Yep, all that has been done.

Just guessing.

Are you using the ProMotor wiring center with the "resetting" breakers?

First, of course double check you are not shorting out, which am sure you have.

Then I would bypass them and try it again. I had a very close issue like this years ago, and did the same. The breakers were faulty.

On it!

BRB

Nope. everything dead. I don't have a clue what to do.

Take a break. Have a sandwich or a cold one. Make that both.

Then come back to it and start hunting the ghost in the machine with fresh eyes.

Yep.

Make sure to check voltages with some sort of reasonable load applied. There's a world of difference between supplying a trickle of current and a beefy stream of current at the same voltage. You want to make sure the voltage doesn't droop under load.

I'm not sure of the set up your use to power the track. I have one question? Are the resisters or resettable breakers the type that can be installed backwards? This wouldn't allow the current to flow if installed backwards. Just a thought....Bob

I have done a very careful check of the copper tape, and there are no shorts. There was a short at one of the power taps that may have started all this. It seems that the circuit breaker popped and didn't reset. I still don't see why cutting the circuit breakers out would kill the track. It makes no sense to me at all. I can read power coming into the wiring block, but none of the driver's stations registers with any power at all. It has to be the block or the wiring from the block to the various places, but all that wiring is under the top surface of the track, in a little network of chases I made by using a subsurface with channels through it. None of that wiring could be disturbed from where it was when everything worked, so I think it has to be the block that I cut all those breakers off of. All those things are breakers, right? Square, tan, two wires coming out of them...?

hey Rob, just a long shot here but, I know you said you had power when checked at your taps. Did you also check at that time if the power was running the same direction. Could be after you taped and made the full circuit, you may have created a short by accidentally swaping the wires at one tap. Is there a easy way to disconect one tap at a time to see if that`s it?

Mark, that seemed so reasonable, so perfect, I charged out there ready to go to it. Alas, its wired just right on all four lanes. Next, I'm going to see if the power supply really is working. This is getting to be a big mystery.

Power supply checks out to two decimals, 12.24v. It has to be the block. When I cut those circuit breakers off, I interrupted the flow to the track. That's all it can be. I just have to hold my peace until the new one gets here. I got this one from one of our long time friends at HRW, a very good guy, and he never got to use it, so I assume it was plenty old when I got it. Its possible that the batch of bad self-resetting breakers that Harry had experience with was made about the same time this one was, so it was just waiting for the first time it popped and never reset. With the brand new one, which should be here Tuesday, I expect to be back in business. That's all it could be... I think.

Now you're having to take an enforced break in your pursuit of your gremlin, could I display my ignorance?

Where exactly are these troublesome circuit breakers?

I've always relied on the short-circuit protection within the power source - should I be doing something different?



David.