by
Daniel J. Dyke
Slot car motors are an expensive proposition. When a motor blows the tendency is to replace it either with the same motor or something a lot hotter, but sometimes people downgrade. As a result of the ongoing wars for our slotting dollar car makers are including hotter motors as standard equipment because they believe that is what the majority of the buyers will go for. They are probably wise in doing this. As a rule the minority has to bend to the majority.
One of the favorite motors of non-magnet users, the Ninco NC-1 motor, is becoming scarce. To me it is a nice short course motor, but I would never pay the asking price to get one just so I can downgrade. For whatever reason many of us have been on a quest in recent months to find motors that are in the NC-1/NC-2 range as far as performance goes, but below $2.00 in cost.
A while back I posted the FF-130SH find at All Electronics and have been watching their site weekly to see if any other motors show up. Finally one did and it was an FK series motor. So I ordered 15 FF130SH motors and 10 of the FK motors. Why 10? Here is a simple reason, they give a price break at ten. Also, sometimes you can get an example that is far worse or far better than the rest. Ten removes the uncertainty. I ran several and they all sounded the same.
The package arrived two days after placing the order. With trembling hands (old age, not excitement) the package came open. 25 motors for $32.50. Do the math.
Why buy when you can read the spec sheet and act accordingly, since spec wise the motor does not look suitable? It has a nominal, no-load rating: 7200 RPM @ 12 Vdc, 0.30 Amp. Sounds like a worthless buy doesn't it? Call me stubborn, distrustful, or whatever, but I have learned not to trust ratings. Also some motors with high RPM ratings never achieve their ratings on the track because they lack torque. It is possible to get good performance from a high torque motor if it is geared correctly.
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE: EXCELLENT
This motor looks more like the Falcon than the FF motor does and is the same size as both. These are NOS (new old stock) but not used motors.
SHAFT: EXCELLENT
The armature shaft extends out the can end of the motor by 0.4". Unlike the FF-130SH the shaft is accessible for oiling from the commutator end of the motor. It is ribbed to hold the pinion in place.
BEARINGS: EXCELLENT
BRUSHES: EXCELLENT
COOLING VENTS: NONE = Not Applicable as the motor does not overheat.
PERFORMANCE
RATING: POOR
DYNO: Not running yet
TACHOMETER: POOR
TRACK: POOR
The motor was tested against the NC-1 and the Mabuchi FF-130SH. The tracks used for testing are the 118' road course at Fastlane Hobbies, their 1/4 mile scale drag strip and their figure eight portable track.
Motor 118' Road Course Figure Eight (Eight Volts) Drag Strip: Scale Quarter Mile FK-180SH 17.92 Irrelevant data 4.132 NC-1 15.23 3.167 FF-130SH Untested 3.048 SCX Pro Turbo Peugeot 2.133 It was put in an Artin chassis with a SlotIt F-1 rear end with their P3 tires. The gears were a nine tooth pinion and the green 24 tooth SlotIt crown gear. The chassis was weighted, but had no body so the motors could be swapped quickly. The rear axle was held in place by a spacer because the shafts on the test motors were not long enough to hold the crown gear in place on the Artin chassis. The gear mesh was carefully set for the least resistance.
REWINDABILITY: POOR, because like the Falcon, TSRF type motors the cans are hard to open without damage when compared to other motors.
CONCLUSION: Won't buy more, but won't throw these away. Possible uses would include:
- Short Track Motor: The straight should be under 6' long.
- Class Motor: I would rather use a FF-130SH as they are faster and cheaper
- Robotics
- Rewind Donor
- Dynamometer Slave: It actually is a great motor for this project.
Don't you hate tests that end up in futility?
COST OF REVIEW: $14.90 + 1.07 Track Time = 15.97
(C)opyright, 2005
All Rights Reserved
Daniel J. Dyke