Brushless slot car info & stuff

Information & discussion of all aspects of 'Brushless' slot car technology
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stoo23
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Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Hi guys, Have noticed an Increasing amount of 'posts' and Chat about 'Brushless' slot cars etc, using ostensibly Drone motors and appropriate ESC's etc and it seems that one of the Main proponents (in the UK), Richard Mack (of Mack Chassis Fame) and some others, have formed the ....
"Brushless Slot Car Racing Association" see here;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/308254371195488

Some very interesting stuff happening now regarding usage and development of suitable ESC's and Will, I am sure continue to develop further,.. worth a 'Look' at least.

With the right ESC and Suitable Motor one Could devise a relatively Cheap, easily maintained and 'Interesting' Class of Racing :)
Greg Erskine
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by Greg Erskine »

I can't see the point.

Is there a shortage of different types of slot car motors?
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by stoo23 »

Hey Greg,.. well, Yeah,.. In some ways I am with you on that,.. :)
Was simply that there Does seem to be some 'Growing' activity and interest in them.

There seems to be quite a few people using them in Dragsters, but with serious dudes like Richard Mack and some others beginning to experiemnt and having Specialzed ESC's built,.. who knows ?? :)

For those interested,.. Here are the Various 'links' on Slotblog alone about Brushless cars.

http://slotblog.net/forum/507-brushless ... echnology/
Greg Erskine
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by Greg Erskine »

I can see all the same old issues starting all over again except this time there is the ESC and the motors.

The motors might be cheap, high quality and high performance but once even higher performance versions are released by slot cars manufacturers the price climbs. In RC cars/drones the performance is capped by the energy in the battery versus the length of the race/flight. Not an issue for slot car tracks, so the performance race starts.

Did I read it right that the ESC drops some voltage and they can adjust the maximum output voltage?

Is the ESC is open sourced? (to avoid price gouging).
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by stoo23 »

Yes,.. I seem to recall much earlier version required / Dropped upto 1.1v, but seems the current (No Pun intended lol) versions only drop about .7volts, which Isn't really a Huge Issue for Slot Car Tracks, compared to limited Battery Power/life etc, but even only .7v isn't a Huge amount of loss.

I am Unsure about the Maximum Output Voltage adjustment, although I do Not think that is Exactly what Happens, but may in effect be part of what Does happen with whatever 'Throttle' adjustments may provide (ie % variance etc).

As far as Higher Performance version being released by Slot Car companies,.. Hmm,.. I am somewhat unsure of that either Happening,.. OR being Needed as such,... (well atleast Not atm or even in the Near Future necessarily), as there is Already a Huge number of 'Theoretically' suitable Drone style motors, with the simple suitability being the Power Rating/capability of the various Motor models,... all depending on available Track Power voltage etc.

I believe there Are Open Source ESC's & Software being developed, one by Richard Mack, (I think) and also one from somewhere in Europe ?? Some talk of someone in Canada building the suitably Low Voltage requirement ESC' etc, but am thinking is obviously Very Early days.

That being said, There IS the "Talon 25" unit available, With it's associated USB programming Interface unit along with suitable Software and Firmware Updates to Convert the Talon 25 into a Dedicated Slot Car Controller, which is all relatively Affordable and seemingly Very Easy to do.

Strangely, when I first heard of this and read about it, it was with Dragsters and Wing Cars,.. which Seemed appropriate as you would think Both would tend to suit the Simplicity, (with the Early Dragsters using in effect an Electronic 'Switch' instead of a True ESC as such, so am somewhat surprised by the Serious Development happening in England,.. where Virtually All of Their tracks are Diametrically Different to the 'Norm' of what is run on in the US, being Far smaller, Flatter and tighter etc and No Huge High Power Speed Bowl types of tracks.

More of a Club oriented scenario or EuroSport situation and style of Car etc, so operationally, They MUST be working OK to some degree to function adequately on the Smaller British style of track, where Full Power for Long periods would be rare and would involve far more Slow Turns and small straights etc,.. ??? Who Knows eh,.. go figure.

Some seem to allude to the whole concept being Unsuitable to 'Spec' style racing,.. (especially those that come from the RC World),.. But Seeing what the Theoretical Possibilities could be with The modified Talon controllers,.. I would Imagine a Very 'Controlled' "Hand Out" type of scenario could possibly Work Very well for a True 'Spec' style Class, where the Race organisers would Provide Both the Motors and possibly Even the ESC's as well, (as a Unit), with ALL the ESC's Setup Identically and Motors Checked for Max Voltage / RPM etc.
Once Installed in whatever Chassis was being Used by the Competitors, the Cars could be Held in 'Parc Ferme', to disallow any 'Fudging' by the Individual Racers and Should (In Theory), provide for Very Even Racing and performance,.. for realistically Not a HUGE amount of money, especially considering the Useful Lifespan of Both the Motors AND ESC's etc.

How this may work out In Real Life racing/crashing scenarios is I guess yet to be seen and understood as well as how well the 'Wound' Rotors work and remain true running after many On Track / Heavy 'Off Piste' excursions occur,..compared to the Solid Rotor types.

Anyway,.. as I said, I just thought some may be interested to see and be made aware of the various developments occurring and is possibly something to 'Keep an Eye' on even just for Pure Electronic Interest etc :)

Talon 25 Conversion Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KXI_k7pv4Y

As a guide, the Talon 25 is available here in Aus' for about $84.00 and the often Mentioned EMAX 1108 motors around $24.00
The software appears to be Free for the Conversion (as far as I can see) and the USB Programming 'Link' is I think about another $25.00 or so :)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by stoo23 »

Well,.. it looks like Stefano Mirabelli of Model Drome in Milano, who (apparently) first 'suggested' the possibility of running the smaller 11 & 12 series Drone motors in Slot cars and has been working on & developing a suitable ESC for them, has now made an Official announcement of the Unit's availability. :) :)
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They are, (as you can see) very Small and Nicely 'Packaged' and seem to provide Very Smooth Low and High Speed performance.

See here; https://www.facebook.com/modeldromemila ... 892774439/
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by stoo23 »

Well, Another interesting further development, regarding Motors.

Due to the way Drone motors are used, the motor Drive Shaft exits on the Wrong end of the motor for easy slotting use, so requires the 2mm shaft to be replaced with a suitable 2mm shaft, like a Koford 2mm axle etc.

Not such a difficult choice,.. for those more mechanically & technically minded lol

BUT one of the guys seriously involved in promoting Brushless usage etc in the UK, had contacted a popular drone motor supplier called Beta FPV which has sent him some samples of some lower powered motors with an appropriately situated shaft more suitable to slot racing.

The specific units are only 3800kv units, which would provide similar performance to a good Falcon type motor.
Beta FPV 3800kv slot motor_1m.jpg
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Things seem to be developing quite well :)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car racing association UK

Post by stoo23 »

Being unaware of Stefano's imminent release of his ESC, I had already ordered a couple of these units;
esc-for-motor-thruster-750x423.jpg
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They are 'Self Starting' and apparently operate smoothly from 3volts and made by Flycolor & also suitably small approx' 30mm x 15mm and about $29.00Aus.
brady
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by brady »

we are getting to old for this stuff Stoo!
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Ha Ha Ha,.. Hey Brad,.. You reckon ??
I Dunno mate,.. I'm rather Intrigued by it all :)

Am hoping to have a car up and running soon :)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Am hoping to finally get one of my Flexi's up and running with ROVMAKER ESC and Emax Motor ASAP.

And it seems the MODELDROME units will soon be available as well :)

So Hopefully, will be able to give some more detailed 'Real World' info and feedback soon :)

If anyone is interested in getting any further info' or wishes to Order one of the MODELDROME ESC's,.. to try, just let me know :)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Really need to add some stuff and Update the 'thread' with more info',.... but have been watching some of the 'Live' feed of the ISRA World's series of races and happened to notice Stefano Mirabelli from ModelDrome in Milano Italy, was running a rather Unique and Possibly interesting 11,000kv 1103 Brushless motor in the 1/32nd F1 class.

Wasn't the fastest qualifier, but still did ok,.. until whilst running on Black in the 3rd bracket,.. it would seem that the 'Dreaded',.. "Magic Smoke", leaked out of the Motor :(
Oh well,.. guess you can Only try something Different to get an 'edge',.. :)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Hi Guys,.. & perhaps Gals,.. :)

There has been quite a bit of activity and rising interest in All things Brushless in more recent Times,.. In the UK, Europe and Even in the US !! :)
There Also seems to have been a few Aussies expressing interest on the UK Brushless Facebook page,.. Other than Mark, Wayne, Cody and myself.

Initially, there were Many Doubters about the Viability etc of using Brushless Motors and their Performance comparisons to the Various Motors used in UK & Euro Classes, such as Grp12 and Strap Can Eurosport type Open Motors.

Recently a Brushless powered ES32 car Won a Race in Sweden !! (As seen below)
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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

More recently, Martin Ellis Won a Round of the British Open Championship at Rockingham using a Brushless Motor (after Qualifying 2nd) with James Cleave coming home 3rd, also running a Brushless Setup !!

See & Read the Details Here; https://www.slotcarracing.org.uk/24raci ... roces.html
Plus you can also see & read the More recent Development & comments over on the UK Brushless Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/308254371195488

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stoo23
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Re: Brushless slot car info & stuff

Post by stoo23 »

Perhaps Sadly,.. the MODELDROME ESC previously mentioned & detailed here, would (at the moment) seem to NOT be being put into Further Production.

Having spoken with Stefano at some length & detail, (via a number of emails) I have Not been able to get any response or further details regarding His Plans or intentions regarding His Brushless Controllers :(

Last 'suggestion' was he was doing some slight re-design, but as suggested, have NO details (at this stage).
IF these units DO become available, Details WILL be Provided :)
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