Need help with a MSC problem on a vintage falcon

[GeorgeL]

Hi guys,

My first post here. I am 36 and owned 2 cars when I was a kid. My first car was a hornet then i got a falcon from my brother who couldnt handle it. LOL. Anyhow I just pulled them out of hibernation last week and ordered some parts to get them going again.

The falcon always had a problem where it wouldnt go from slow to fast smoothly like my hornet. It basically would just go superfast. How to adjust or troubleshoot the MSC controller? So I get a steady increase in speed instead of having it go from stopped to floored? The car is in mint shape as I really never used it. I loved my hornet.

My kids are excited and Id like to get the falcon running like my hornet. Any help is appreciated.

thanks!

George

[SteelRat]

Welcome aboard George! Your story is like countless others on here so you're amongst friends

I'd say there's a couple of solutions to your problem. Firstly, I would undo the nut on the top of the speed controler so that you've got both the top plate seperate from the bottom one. Get yourself some switch cleaner and a make sure that the contacts are nice and clean. Once you've put it back together, lift the back wheels of the car off your work surface and operate the car with the shell off and watch the movement of the speed controller to ensure that it's smooth too. I'd have thought it should be something relatively simple like that.

Your second option is to do away with the old mechanical speed controller altogether and get an electronic one. Much more reliable and service free, and you can even get ones that are waterproof. It really depends though whether you're restoring your Falcon just to get it going again to run it, or if you want to restore it to exactly how it was when you had it originally. Falcon's are great cars too! I never had one when I was younger, but got a cheap second hand one off Ebay a couple of years ago, and it's now one of my favourites!

There a few of us Falcon nuts on here, so plenty of people to give you advice on them.

[Falcon#5]

Welcome George.

I agree with SteelRat.

If you're going to run it, throw in an ESC.

They're quite cheap, and once you've used one, you'll never miss the constant cleaning, lubing, and adjusting required for an MSC!

[bjr250]

If the MSC only has stop and flat out then the resistor is burnt out.

Replace the resistor and you will get the three steps back again.

With that said if it was me I would replace the MSC with an ESC a lot less fiddling around.

[SteelRat]

Welcome George.

I agree with SteelRat.

If you're going to run it, throw in an ESC.

They're quite cheap, and once you've used one, you'll never miss the constant cleaning, lubing, and adjusting required for an MSC!

Oh and George, of all the Falcon nuts, this fella is the nuttiest

[Yonez]

If the MSC only has stop and flat out then the resistor is burnt out.

Replace the resistor and you will get the three steps back again.

With that said if it was me I would replace the MSC with an ESC a lot less fiddling around.

+1 on getting an ESC. You won't believe how much nicer it is to drive with.

But if you do want to use the MSC, try the following (disconnect battery and motor first):

1. As SteelRat suggested, get some contact cleaner and clean the MSC thoroughly. At the same time, check for any physical damage to the MSC. Then apply Tamiya switch lubricant when re-assembling.

2. Remove the wires from the resistor. Use a multimeter to check the resistance across each pair of prongs (legs)on the resistor. If the resistance is infinite, then it's burned out. I believe it should be around 1 Ohm. And end to end should be the sum of each end to the middle. At the same time, disconnect the wires and clean with swich lubricant. When reattaching, pull the wire in and out a few times to grind a fresh contact surface.

3. Check the wires from the MSC to the resistors. Are they whole and connected well at either end? It is not uncommon for wires that touch each other close to the resistor to melt together and short circuit.

4. Repeat step 2, but with the resistor connected, and measure from the speed controller. If you look at the speed controller arm, it connects the front and rear pads of the speed controller. Use your multimeter to check the resistance between opposing pairs. Is the resistance the same as when you measured on the resistor itself?

If the speed controller is broken, you can find plenty of replacements on eBay. Resistors are especially easy to get. But as all other posters have said: get an ESC.

Edit: In step 4 you should measure from the center, not the rear with this type of speed controller

[Falcon#5]

Oh and George, of all the Falcon nuts, this fella is the nuttiest

Just watch out for those Beetle nuts.

Even if you had a #58017, they'd still try and talk you into putting a Beetle shell on it!

[SteelRat]

Just watch out for those Beetle nuts.

Even if you had a #58017, they'd still try and talk you into putting a Beetle shell on it!

I'm sure I don't know what you're implying

[GeorgeL]

Thanks guys, very, very helpful. I did some more digging around last night and it sounds to be like the resistor is shot based on what you guys had to say.

I'm gonna order a couple ESCs for both cars. Everything is clean on both vehicles and all wires are secure and have clean contacts.

Thanks for all your help.

I'll try and post some pics of my cars soon. My hornet has seen better days but its all original and still runs like the day I built it back in 86.

Looking forward to posting and taking a trip down r/c memory lane. I used to have so much fun with my cars when I was a kid.

George

[HomerJHandley]

it has already been said, but yes, resistor is fubar.

i went through loads when i first had my falcon 20+ years ago.

using an ESC was like night and day, longer runtimes (important then as the battery was no more than 1500Mah!), more accurate speeds and is worth it.

but then again you dont get the resistor smell, resistor burn (touch one after a long run, dare you!) and the fun of the battery running low so the servo's cant operate and have the car stick on full speed sweep when its moving away from you to the underside of a parked car

[stu22]

[Edit] For those that read my post... Sorry guys, I read Falcon and was thinking Fox for some reason, my bad.

[Percymon]

For a cheap, reliable, waterproof and easy to set up ESC you can't get much better than the mtroniks sport auto 20. They are about £17 each and can handle down to 20 turn motors so more than capable of running the stock silver can motors or the upgraded sport tuned motors.

Modelsport also have similar ESCs branded with their name rather than mtroniks.

[TamiyaDan]

.