For the next week or so we will be running a big oval for tire testing and also to see how 1/18th scale cars work in the space we have. I currently have a couple BRP SCs, several HPI Micro RS4s, a pair of Duratrax Street Force cars, an Associated RC-18R, A Mini-t, several Duratrax Vendettas and even a pair of Kyosho Mini Infernos. I will be working with the road cars for now and see how they work
We will be running the April HFAY races at the shop on the weekend of April 25,26 and 27. I am flexible at this point but I’d like to nail this down before too long.
We also have the opportunity to run the May event on the same day. It will require changing the layout which takes about 30 minutes and, of course two more races but then we’d be done for the season. Otherwise, we will need to run an event in May sometimes. As a heads up, I will be out of town from May 10th through the 23rd on a trip.
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We had 8 people driving on the day of the last OLPS race. It is great getting more participation in our Mini-Z racing!
The How Fast Are You Online Points Series races for March 2008 will be held on Sunday the 16th at 1PM. As usual we will run two different races on the same track layout. One clockwise and one counter-clockwise. I will set up the track no later than Wednesday the 12th fro practice. Let me know if you want to run some laps before Sunday.
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We had the Season 5 races for the OLPS at Mini Speedway today and had a super time. It was just Michael, Dave and I again so we are still looking for more participants who would like to race really fun, detailed, scale race cars. The commitment to the OLPS series is fairly minimal with just one day a month being required and just 2 x 8-minute races but the ability to compare your skills to those around the world doing the same kind of racing is fantastic! If you don’t know what I am talking about check out the How Fast Are You? website for more info or shoot me a note to greg@minispeedway.com.
Anyway, on with today’s report!
Dave had been to the track recently for the open house and while it was a different track layout he seemed to be getting more consistent especially considering he is running an MR-01 in Speed Racer trim! The car is narrow, tippy and exhibits some rear wheel hop. The only mod he’s done is to add some sticky tires. After today’s race he is talking about an MR-02!
Michael was going well too and he and I had some laps that were door handle to door handle. A few more practice sessions and that Ford GT will be competitive!
So, in the end, I took the day in both races. Race 3 was about what I expected but made a boo-boo when I decided to use my HFAY Spec motored chassis for Race 4 instead of the trusty Stock Ford GT. My HFAY car is still a Ford GT but with just a bit different setup including the HFAY Spec motor. The problem was tires. I ripped them of the rim several times and it cost me about 10 laps or so. I wanted to use the HFAY motor because if I drive it right it is faster and I am at the crossover point from the Stock motor to the HFAY In practice I was running faster laps sometimes with the HFAY motor but consistency suffered so that I was running about the same number of laps with either car.
I did notice that for races 1 and 2 last month I was the fastest Stock motor driver although a couple of guys did not have a motor listed but it is pretty clear that I need to get my HFAY car and driving skills up to snuff.
March’s track looks fast and I plan to have it set up several days before the race for practice so come on and race with us!
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This is from a post I started at Mini-Z Racer Forum in which I test the effectiveness of cleaning Mini-Z motors.
Motor 1
This is a stock Kyosho motor that came with my Ford GT Ready set. This was the first Mini-Z I got last year and I ran the heck out of it. I don’t know how much time but I am guessing 100-plus 5 minute Time Trials maybe more and possibly a lot more.
In the beginning I broke the motor in by running it on a single AA cell for about 30 minutes. After that, besides oiling the bushings every few runs and an occasional drop of comm fluid, I didn’t do anything to it.
When I took it out of the car it was running 29,500 at 4.8V on the Much More Motor Master.
I cleaned it with Dynamite Magnum Force 2 Electric Motor Cleaner by first spraying it and then swishing it around in a baby food jar with Motor Cleaner in it. Then I blew it out with canned air and let it dry. I then relubed the bushings and broke it in again in CTX mode on the Motor Master for 3 x 10 minute cycles with the voltage varying between 1.5 and 3v with a rest of 5 minutes in between break in runs.
I tested the motor immediately after the break in and got 31,450 RPM at 4.8V out of it.
I then relubed the bushings and added a drop of comm fluid ran it again and found 33,650 at 4.8V pulling about 1.6 amps!
Not bad overall. I got 4,150 more RPM for cleaning and relubing this bad boy.
Motor 2
This is another stock Kyosho MR-02 Readyset motor
I already had the Much More Motor Master when I started using this motor and ran a CTX break-in procedure. I forget the exact voltage settings but I think it was 1v to 2v varying about every 2 seconds. I know it ran 3 x 10 minute cycles with 5 minutes in between each set. I don’t remember the exact steps but in the end it was a freshly lubed and comm dropped final run that saw 34,500 RPM from the new motor.
This one I only ran about 20 x 5-minute Time Trails and right out of the car it ran 33,480 at 4.8V.
After cleaning, relubing and hitting it with comm drops and running the 3 x 10 1.5V to 3V break in it ran exactly 1,000 rpm more, 34,480 at 4.8V. Close enough to when it was new that the variation can be tossed.
So, this one after pretty much the same cleaning procedure as #1 saw 830 more RPM. How long each will maintain its performance is another question since Motor #1 has so much more time on it.
Not Very Scientific Conclusion
This is obviously not a very scientific test but I’d suspect that Motor #1 was about as bad as a stock motor gets since it was my first one and I had not really done any maintenance except to lube it occasionally. Motor #2 was better prepared and cared for as I used it and it had not run anywhere as much so the performance degradation had not really set in.
Here is what I know so far:
It is obvious that cleaning helps. I am trying to determine how often to do it. I am thinking every 2 hours of run time.
Lubing the bushing is very important. Every other run. Maybe every third. For me a run is usually 5 minutes.
Comm Drops do make a difference although I am not sure for how long. Seems like about 2 or 3 minutes but there may be some longer term benefits like better bushing seating or wear.
More to come as I learn.
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Last Friday, February 15th was the Open House in the 4-story building where I have the Mini Speedway track. The building is filled with artists, musicians and crafts people as well as my RC plane manufacturing biz, plus the Mini Speedway!.
The official hours were 6PM to 9PM but we had people until at least 11PM.
In addition to a slightly larger than Wide-L layout for people to try running 2-minute races. We had Groovesquad Live, a local improvisational electronica band, Lena, a local artist who painted live and John Shlick, my partner in Schlick Cycles showing our excellent Performance Cruiser bicycle.
In addition I had my Pole Camera setup at a 12 foot height, just a few inches short of the ceiling to take remote photos from on high. Here are a few.
Here you can see Lena’s painting in progress.
A view with part of the track and a couple of MR-01s running. I had a Kyosho ECO motor in one and used a Firelap transmitter in the other with the throttle limited to about %50 which made the car the same speed as the ECO. Decent speed for folks who have not tried RC cars before.
more of the track.
My son, wife, me mt buddy Steve and John Schlick from Schlick Cycles.
The Overland Demo Course. Thought I had some pix with vehicles but I guess not.
My 9-year old daughter demoing a Mini Cooper. She was a great spokes person showing people how the cars work and getting the transmitter in people’s hands. Thanks, Syd!
John Schlick showing one of our Schlick Shark frames. We also had a couple fo complete bikes set up including one on a wind trainer for folks to try.
A shot of Lena in action.
Over all we had a couple of hundred peole come through. It was an interesting crowd as many of the people were in the building to see specific artists but I think a lot of them came away with a better understanding of Mini Speedway and RC car racing. Hope we get a few of them to become regulars. I gave out first race free cards so I hope to see some of those come back!
Mini RC Size Comparison - Left to Right
A-Tech Leo-x
Mini-Z Monster
Mini-Z Overland - Toyota (with Beast tires)
Mini-Z Overland Pajaro - (Stock)
Mini-Z Ford GT
Epoch Toyota
Here are some closeups
A-tech Leo-X and Mini-Z Monster
Radline Master series Destructor and Mini-Z Monster
On Friday we are changing the track layout to the How Fast Are You Time Trial Track #5. This will be the active track until next Wednesday, Feb 13th when I will set up the oval we will be using for the open house.
Here is Track 5:
The current HFAY Time Trial track we have set up is TT #4. This will be up until about February 7th when we will most likely switch to TT #5.
There is a lot of speed around the outside of this one but the infield needs to be driven smoothly or you will scrub a bunch of speed off and heat up the motor.
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