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Question about power supply

How DO they do that??
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Deslotted
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Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:25 am
Location: West Oz

Question about power supply

Post by Deslotted »

Back when I lived in Perth. I had a large games room where I had a permanent scaley sport track and I went down to the local tracks to race on Wood.

Now I live in the country I have a small house and no games room.
But I do have a big shed. But it's a long way from the house and not powered (to far for a extension lead).

I want to build a layout on wood in the shed, is there any reason that I cant run this off a large car battery, surely the Amps are more than adequate. When the battery gets down I could bring it back up and recharge it.

Has anyone used or raced with a power supply like this. I would have thought that a decent sized car battery (suitably and safely located of course) would run slotcars for hours.

Thoughts anyone?
dangermouse
Engine Tech
Posts: 92
Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:20 am

Re: Question about power supply

Post by dangermouse »

I have read about people running their tracks off car batteries on the other forums

have a look on Auslot or SlotForum

cheers
DM
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kenneth
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Location: Brisbane

Re: Question about power supply

Post by kenneth »

I have read the same thing - Phil has a good knowledge on this being a Vehicle tech. He should pipe up sooner or later.
look here battery powered track
`It is better to enter a turn slow & come out fast, than to enter a turn fast & come out dead` Ferry Porsche
wixwacing
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Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:22 am

Re: Question about power supply

Post by wixwacing »

G'day guys

Car batteries are to me the best source of power. The Red Team use a car battery exclusively. We run a trickle charge into it just for the back up but with over 100 amps instantaneous on tap you can run ten cars (hypothetically) without power loss. The local camping and caravanning shops are selling some pretty efficient solar panels these day and one mounted in the shed roof should see you right.

I was a bit wary of having so much current on tap with a risk of short circuiting, but we have had no issues in ten years and have renewed the battery once. If you are concerned, Jaycar do a selection of circuit breakers which are self resetting. A fully charged battery of about 60 Ah should last several nights and the battery life may well reach five years.

The only downside is that new, batteries are normally about 13.8 volts and that's it. As they age the voltage drops to about 12 - 12.5 volts. This will affect a model's top speed (but not acceleration). Our solution is to use a trickle charger with a high max voltage ie 15.0 volts. This will supply the voltage for the long staights.
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When I'm not racing slotcars,
I'm out in the back yard, burning food!!

When I win, it's because of my talent, not my car or my controller!
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Deslotted
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Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:25 am
Location: West Oz

Re: Question about power supply

Post by Deslotted »

Guys,
Thats brilliant, thanks for the responses.

I tend to try and run on less voltage anyway, especially with my classic GP cars with those F can missiles, so that might not be an issue. I dont think I'll be running a super long straight anyway.

The Solar panels are an excellent idea, and so is the circuit breaker.

The fact that I can build a permanent layout again makes me happy. (and probably the family too, as at the moment the loungeroom floor is being seconded for days at a time). Even if for the time being it'll be daytime running only (it gets pretty dark down there in the back part of the paddock).

The link is excellent too, I think I'm going to pinch that guys layout plan and build a little Monaco, reasonably technical and not a real long straight.

I think a shed cleanout, is in order in the next few days. While I'm waiting for some supplies for the current car project.
(I'm still on it Phil, I've just had a little glitch in proceedings, the undercuts are huge so I'm waiting on High Strength silicone).

Regards Ted
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