A scalextric slot car works by using the metal track lines that are grooved into the plastic track pieces to gain power. When you place the car onto the track, the two braid brushes underneath the car connect with the metal track lines, creating an complete electrical circuit. So when you press the trigger on your controller, it will send voltage down the track lines that will be transferred over to the cars motor. Racing your friends on a scalextric can be very challenging and you always want to have a faster car than your opponent in a race. If you are want to make your scalextric car go faster, there are numerous things that you can do to your car to increase its performance on the track.
1) Ensure that the silver color braids found underneath the car are not clogged up with hair and dirt. Dirty braid brushes can cause your scalextric car to run slow because the car can't travel along the track smoothly. If you find that they are dirty, carefully using a pair of tweezers pull out the hair. Make sure you only pull out the excess hair and not the little stands of braid because it can damage it. Then using a small cleaning brush, run the brush bristles upwards and downwards onto the braid brushes to remove the excess dirt.
2) Remove as much weight as possible from the car. Excess weight such as the interior in some scalextric cars can cause the car to weigh more, causing performance to decrease when racing on the track. This is because the extra weight puts more strain on the car and makes it harder for the car to accelerate to reach its top speed.
3) Increase the amount of voltage the cars motor receives from the track, by using a more powerful mains DC adapter. The more voltage the motor gets, the faster rpm it will spin, making the wheels of your car run faster. Increasing the voltage can be risky because you could damage the motor from overheating. Although, this can be avoided by replacing the current motor with a more powerful motor. Still you would need to drill a few small holes in the front bumper to increase airflow inside the cars plastic housing.
4) Disconnected the LED headlights on your car. They make look cool in the dark, but they are taking up voltage when in use. This extra voltage that the lights are using can go towards feeding the motor extra power, making it spin faster. To disconnect the lights, all you need to do is turn the car upside, remove the screws from the chassis, remove the plastic housing and using a wire cutter, snip off both positive and negative wires.
5) Lubricate the cogs and axles to make them run more smoothly. Overtime, the cogs and axles will become stiff, making them not work to their full potential. Applying drops of oil, will allow them to become lubricated and will make them mechanically operate smoothly. To perform this maintenance, you will need to turn the car upside, remove the screws from the chassis, remove the plastic housing and apply drops of oil onto all of the cogs and axles you can see.
2) Remove as much weight as possible from the car. Excess weight such as the interior in some scalextric cars can cause the car to weigh more, causing performance to decrease when racing on the track. This is because the extra weight puts more strain on the car and makes it harder for the car to accelerate to reach its top speed.
3) Increase the amount of voltage the cars motor receives from the track, by using a more powerful mains DC adapter. The more voltage the motor gets, the faster rpm it will spin, making the wheels of your car run faster. Increasing the voltage can be risky because you could damage the motor from overheating. Although, this can be avoided by replacing the current motor with a more powerful motor. Still you would need to drill a few small holes in the front bumper to increase airflow inside the cars plastic housing.
4) Disconnected the LED headlights on your car. They make look cool in the dark, but they are taking up voltage when in use. This extra voltage that the lights are using can go towards feeding the motor extra power, making it spin faster. To disconnect the lights, all you need to do is turn the car upside, remove the screws from the chassis, remove the plastic housing and using a wire cutter, snip off both positive and negative wires.
5) Lubricate the cogs and axles to make them run more smoothly. Overtime, the cogs and axles will become stiff, making them not work to their full potential. Applying drops of oil, will allow them to become lubricated and will make them mechanically operate smoothly. To perform this maintenance, you will need to turn the car upside, remove the screws from the chassis, remove the plastic housing and apply drops of oil onto all of the cogs and axles you can see.
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