Hi,
We have a 6-lane "Carrera" track of about 27 meters with 14V/5A. We are now making many races of 1/24 (plafit,momo,scholer..) and we have a doubt. Does anyone can answer this question?
- We are using a Ninco´s NC2 motor because the consume of power by those motors), if we use the Bison, the cars is a little bit slow. What can you tell me about this? Do you think we should use different motors to different classes (ex: DTM, GT1, LMP, etc)?

THX

Pantera

Gents,

The least you should do if increase your options by installing the right power supply.
This power supply should al least be able to output 20 volts at a stable current (ampere) per lane.
If you don't do that you will always have the problem you described.

Typical the Bison / Carrera / Buhler engines are longlasting engines for endurance racing.

For sprint you can either opt for the NC2. We run the NC3 in the sprint on a 16 volt output.

Laptimes between a Bison on 20 volts and a NC3 on 16 volts are pratically the same although the behaviour is different. It also depends on the type of track.
A Bison on a high speed track will have a slight advantage on the NC3.

Hope this helps

Hi Pantera,

We have a Taiwan made variabel laboratorie transformer puttinging out max. 30 volts/30 amps. It has a digital readout of the volts and can be adjusted variably from 0 up to 30 volts. We have run several races with 6 cars using the Plafit Bison motor and never run in to problems. The transformer can be obtained thru www.scaleraceproducts.com and I believe that t cost around Euro 400.

This is a great transformer as you can set it at 14 volts for 1/32 cars, 16 volts for NC2/3, Plafit Fox motors and at 18 to 20 volts for the Bisson motor.

Hope this can help you

I was afraid that the solution could be.... money!! What we were doing was trying to find a solution within the different motors without buying a new power suply. But, as I see, I´m afraid we´ll have to. The solution in my mind was (as we are racing with DTM, GT2, GT3, Classics,etc) to use always the same motor (like NC2/NC3) and promote the differences between classes on weight, size of the rear weels, etc. But..... the "reliability" of the Bison is much better!!! Do you agree?

Hello Pantera
Good to see Portugal back on line

Money is always a problem, so before spending any, here are some tips for your 1/24 track&races.

1. Improve your trackpower
Maybe you have done this already, but Carrera tracks are notorious for their high internal resistance. So make sure that you have at least 10 points from where the track is connected to the powersupply.
Ideally you would connect every track segment directly to the powersupply.
Best way to do this is to have a seperate wireloop under the track table and make connections from this loop towards the Carrera track.
It may be a lot of work but it's the cheapest way to improve your racing, regardless of what motor you will use.

2. choice of Motor
Basicly there are no bad motors, choosing between them depends on the conditions you want to use them in.
For your 14v/5amp powersupply, NC-2 type and Fox motors would be a good option.

Fox motors (also Fox 2, Falcon, Cheeta etc etc)
The advantage of the type of moters are that they ar small (will fit any car/chassis) and cheap. Downside is that they're a bit low on torque & brake. Not a problem when you run light cars and silicon tyres, but with heavy weight and sponge, Fox motored cars are a bit underpowered.

Ninco NC-2 (also NC-3, Fly truck etc etc)
Compared to the Fox, a NC-2 has more torque and brake, downside is that (at least in Holland) they are very expensive (±18€). Also the longer NC-2 can won't fit on a standard MoMo chassis. But with a Plafit motorbracket this can be solved.

Bison MKIII
Undoubtably the best endurance motor for Modelcar racing. Cheap, reliable, powerfull and lost of brake and torque. As it is one of the standard motors throughout North western Europe all Modelcar chassis have brackets to mount the Bison..
Downside is that its a big mother###### of a motor and it needs a redicules high voltage (18volts) to perform. So the motor is cheap but the power supply will be expensive.

My advice
You wrote that 1/24 racing is still in its development stage in Portugal. Since most people do have a 1/32nd Ninco, choosing fo the NC motor will mean that they already have one.
If you decide to go for the Bison I would suggest you contact Ivan Basas (Cric Crac) for a DS powersupply.
You could start with 2 powersupplies (1 for 3 lanes) and buy additional powersupplies later. (first expand to 1 powersupply for 2 lanes, and finally 1 supply p/lane)
Ivan has been known to support starting clubs in Spain & Portugal so maybe he can give you a good a prize on them.

Hope this will help you make 1/24 modelcar racing grow in Portugal

Thank Tamar,
In fact, at this time we don´t have a problem!!! , we are using the NC2 with very good results including with momo chassis. I think th bison is more "reliable" so that´s why we´d like to use it. I didn´t think about using one power suply for 3 lanes but that´s a good idea. Also thank you Paal for the link. It won´t be so expensive starting with 2 power supllies. The power suplie of scaleraceproducts.com can be used to 6 lanes with only one?

Thanks again and here I leave you with some pics of our 6h DTM race.

Change power-supply quickly. Smart investments DO pay off. Postpone problems will always kick back in the face!

Cheers

Well.... about 1 year and a half out of your company and you still the same quick, friendly and helpfull guys. Thank you.
In fact we WILL change the power. The question is to try tto find he cheapest and effective solution (is this possible?!?).

Cheers to you too!!!

The scaleraceproducts.com powersupply will easily work on a 6 lane Carrera track and Bison motors - even with amperes to spare. We are using one ourselves and with 6 cars on the track no more than 6-8 Amps are pulled (during a race). The powersupply has 20 Amps to give. With Fox motors, no more than 4-6 amps are pulled. Also you are able to adjust the Voltage from 0 to 30V very precisely in 1/10 V increments, so there will be no problems running with motors requiring different voltage. This is also great if you are inviting grandparents, parents, childre and other newbies - turn the voltage down - and they won't fall off that easy - thus increasing their experience :-)

I'll make you a deal on it: 400€ incl insured shipping - the damned thing weighs close to 20 kg.

And I'll concur with Tamar when he writes that you need lots of booster cables

400 euro´s and the thing is being shipped to you as well. Could life be any easier then that.
Ask your top ten clubmembers to donate a onetime fee of 40 euro´s each and you wouldn´t even feel it.

Cheers

don,t forget the wiring

Hi,
I wonder why nobody have mentioned the NC5-motor.
We use it a lot in my club, especially on 1/32 rally, where it works as a powerfull motor with a good brake, even with 9:26 gears.
Maybe it isn't powerfull enough to drive the slightly heavyer cars ?
My Ninco Subaru WRC weigh's 130g.
I recomend this motor, if you wanna try something else than Fox and Bison.

We did try the NC-5 and it is a really nice engine having the same problem as the other Ninco's. They won't last very long!! For an endurance consistency is the most important thing. The Bisons will last a whole season without any significant drop in performance or differences between engines.
The teams have to buy the engines from the LMS organisation. After each race you turn them in the elimate motor tweaking.
The next race you'll get one of the engines having ran at the preliminary race and so on. This prevents the chance of having luck with a more powerfull engine. In practice they are pretty much the same.

Cheers