I just did this to my test track and I'm having a few issues. First, I was getting some interference from the actuator prematurely stopping the microswitch start gate. I think I have this issue worked out but still get the occasional misfire. Second, I notice the times with the remote trigger are about .002 to .004 slower than a manual pull. I tried removing the spring from the handle thinking this was fighting the actuator but that didn't change anything. I'm using a 5amp power supply and have a theory I need more power to make a quicker pull. Could you guys check to see how many amps your power supplies are rated for? Or if you have any other ideas. My linkage is about the same length as tre's. Maybe that makes a difference? I took out the slack in the linkage to see if that would help but it didn't. Thanks to treat and bulldog for the great idea and how-to's. I just wish I could get reliable starts. I think the roller gate mod would help which I still need to do, too.
home made gate release
- Thread starter TRE
- Start date
I went back and looked at Bulldog's video of where he installed a similar setup on his own track :
(
)
Looks like he used a 5.8 amp 110v AC to 12v DC converter so it sounds pretty close to the 5 amp power supply you're using, he showed that it worked fine and he was even powering a 12v remote release off the same supply. Only thing I can think to suggest would be to make sure that your microswitch is only tripping as the gate is falling open after it's clear of the release handle. If you have the switch set as a "hair trigger" there will be some slop in the handle pivot that might allow the switch to fire early sometimes but not other times and will cause a variance to creep in. I did a mod to my release handle to remove the slop, it's not too hard to do if adjusting your switch doesn't help you. (http://www.pinewoodderbyonline.com/threads/modded-besttrack-release-handle.3045/ )
Adjusting the switch will cause your track times to change so if you have already started building a database of testing you should baseline a car before you move the switch and then test again right after to see how much time you gained.
(
Looks like he used a 5.8 amp 110v AC to 12v DC converter so it sounds pretty close to the 5 amp power supply you're using, he showed that it worked fine and he was even powering a 12v remote release off the same supply. Only thing I can think to suggest would be to make sure that your microswitch is only tripping as the gate is falling open after it's clear of the release handle. If you have the switch set as a "hair trigger" there will be some slop in the handle pivot that might allow the switch to fire early sometimes but not other times and will cause a variance to creep in. I did a mod to my release handle to remove the slop, it's not too hard to do if adjusting your switch doesn't help you. (http://www.pinewoodderbyonline.com/threads/modded-besttrack-release-handle.3045/ )
Adjusting the switch will cause your track times to change so if you have already started building a database of testing you should baseline a car before you move the switch and then test again right after to see how much time you gained.
Similar threads
