# Russkit controller fix using Tyco resistor?!?



## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Never would have imagined this would work the way it did...

A while back, I read the thread about AFX controllers failing and how many of you just hook up some good old Russkits and go on your way. I have done the same, but sometimes the Russkits work like an on-off switch because they tend to be lower-ohm units. (As a side note, someone in that thread commented that the ohm rating is stamped on the end of the resistor... thanks for that tidbit! I have found yellow and orange Russkits in my stash rated at 35, 45, and 60, and now I know how to tell them apart.)

Well, I got to thinking... I really like the newer Tyco set controllers because they are 70 ohms and can do a decent job of taming JL/AW cars. I've sent a few newbie board members pairs of them when they have looked for help controlling JL/AWs on Lifelike track, which comes with 45 ohm controllers. The problem is that ergonomically, they stink. If you run more than a few laps, your finger starts to get sore. They are also not the most well-put-together units in the first place... I have a few new out of the box that don't return to closed throttle because the spring is weak. I also have a few Russkits with trashed, fuzzy-looking resistors. I wondered if there was a way to get the 70-ohm resistor from the Tyco adapted to the Russkit. I started tearing them apart and here's what I found:

This is the inside of a Russkit, in case you've never taken one apart.










These pieces just lift off their mounting posts once the halves are taken apart.










This is what you have to do to get a Tyco controller apart.










This is what the business end looks like up close.










These pieces lift off too, once you remove the screw and pry off the little blue cylinder seen at left.










To be continued...


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

So I put the resistors side by side... Is that possible? Are they the same?










I had to pry at this one a little, and it came off. The gray plastic ring kinda holds it on and insulates it. That red washer isn't really part of this... I thought it was because I found it on the floor. The Tyco one is held at one end by a rivet, which I had to carefully drill at till it came apart.

(Edit: the red plastic washer WAS on there... on some models, anyway. i just looked at a yellow controller, and the washer was between the gray plastic ring and the resistor tab. then i looked at a blue one, and it didn't have it.)

(Edit again: If you try this, be aware that the dark gray or black plastic plate at the near end of the frame in this picture is meant to insulate that end of the resistor from the frame. The little raised plastic lip goes entirely inside the resistor mounting hole and keeps it from touching the metal of the frame. I just realized that that wasn't really clear from my pics and directions, and I wasn't even really fully aware how it went back together till I played with it for a while.)










Dang, lookit that. If you look close, you can see the good one (Tyco) is stamped 70 at the right end and the toasted one is stamped 35. It also helps that the Tyco holes appear to be a little smaller, so when you squeeze them onto the Russkit frame, they have a chance at holding tighter.










This is the new one stuck on the Russkit frame. It's not on there as tight as the original, but I think it'll hold for a while. I bet some of you guys can come up with ways to make them fit and stay better.










I got it back together and couldn't figure out why it was jamming at the wide-open throttle end. Turns out the hole for the trigger pivot was cracked.










No problem, I got plenty of trashed ones to work with... What the heck happened to this one?!?










Got it all back together in the blue shell... works like a charm. For now, anyway. So if you have a Tyco controller with a bad trigger or wire, or you just don't like the toylike feel of it, you can install the 70-ohm resistor in a good old Russkit. Who'd a thunk?

--rick


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Happy, Happy...Joy, Joy...Happy, Happy...Joy, Joy!!!!*

rick,

Dude thanks for posting all these pics and describing how you did this!!

I am so going to look for my Tyco controlers and do this. One of my Tomy controlers just broke a while back. I have a stash of Russkits also. A pair of Red, a pair of Yellow and Blue...oh boy!

Who knows maybe I could custom paint a pair up and then cover them in future? Oh boy! :woohoo: Well first I am going to make the change & will post pics up with my smiley face holding a 70 ohm controler AFX/TYCO style. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

THANK YOU RICK!!!!

I spent alot of time looking for my soldering iron today and have a pretty good idea where all my slot car stuff is stashed downstairs now. Better do this now before my brain malfunctions and forgets.  Now where are those controlers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob...Rick you are the man...zilla


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## LeeRoy98 (Jul 8, 2005)

*Thank You!!*

Excellent tip and wonderful write up!! I also have some of the Russkit controllers that are not functional and a number of the Tyco's with the spring issue. Perfect for my road course. Thank you very much!!

Gary
AKA LeeRoy98
www.marioncountyraceway.com


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Thanks Rick!

This is just way cool. How do you get into the ruskits that are glued together instead of screwed?


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*I had 80 ohms the whole time...Doh*

Hey I just took one of my blue controlers apart and found this...










Yep 80 ohms from the factory and she is good to go. Would have never even thought of checking my older AFX controlers untill seeing this thread of yours Rick. Thanks again. :thumbsup:










This is replacing my Tomy controler that went bad. I had the long cord version & snipped the cord right off at the controler end, slipped on some shrink wrap, Soldered the wires and then slipped the heatshrink tubes over the now soldered wires. With a flick of my Bic and then some electrical tape I now have a 80 ohms controller that is now highly improved from my Tomy controler.

I like to race those AW/JL t-jets and this has now made them smoothly go around "Las Zillas Speedway" instead of getting jerked around in my long winding wide curvey section of our layout. Have one more blue one & hope that it is 80 ohms also as the resistor looks to be in like new shape.

Have found a few more yellow Russkit controlers. Found 2 blue TYCO controlers and will be making a back up set in 70 Ohms (will check the resistors to make sure they are 70s first) as well. Fun Stuff!

I have a pair of Red Russket controlers too but, they have a different style resistor (ceramic) and are a little different inside as well. Dang it I was going to 80 ohm them but, Nooooooooooooooo they had to be different. If you are looking at the controler like you are holding it the right side will hook up to the left side of a yellow or blue but, the red Russkit left side will not take the spring setup as it was casted different than the blue and yellow ones. 

I could cut and goop the red ones to work and 70 Ohm them but, that sounds like a lot of work. Have Lolas to build right now. Hey does anyone know how many Ohms the red Russkits are rated at? No big deal but, was just wondering. 

Well if you want to see a Junky Controler then take apart an Eldon 1/32 controler....wow now they are Junky like throw them in the trash. I used to home race Eldon 1/32 slot cars for fun with Aurora t-jet metal box power packs. They worked great with the yellow Russkit controlers and powered the newer 1/32 slot cars very wel also. Plenty of power when you wire up a seperate power pack to each lane. Eldons were easy...just oil the endbells and have good wire pickups & you would fly down the track with a set of good tires.


Bob...Was going to purchase some 90 ohm controlers soon (not now)...zilla

P.S. Thanks rick you saved me some money that I didn't realy have to spend. :wave:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Hey, glad to be of service! 

Actually, that other thread about Tomy controllers mentioned that the old blue ones were for tjets and had 80 ohm resistors. I didn't know, however, that the yellow and orange ones came in different flavors--the thread only mentioned 45, and I was pretty happy to find that a few of mine are 60s. My blue ones both happened to be destroyed, so they were both conversion candidates. 

Rich, sorry, as far as I know, the only way to get into the glued controllers is to hack them apart like I did with that tyco... Someone in the other thread pointed out that the good Russkits are the bigger ones with the screws, not the glued ones...

--rick

edit: I don't understand why a.) my ISP (comcast) was having trouble uploading my pictures last night and is kinda sketchy now--sometimes the pics are there, sometimes they are red Xs... And b.) my backup, photobucket, is randomly rotating some of the pics 90 degrees sometimes, then putting them back when you refresh...


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Awesome write up Rick!!!! I just got a new pair of 90 Ohm Parmas recently, but I'm keeping this trick in the memory banks for the future!! :thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

*Glued-together Russkits*

hey Rich, I just noticed something that I misunderstood the other day. In the AFX controller thread, someone mentioned that AFX changed their controllers to a smaller design that looked kinda similar to the Russkits, but was glued together and similar to current Tyco ones. I thought that was what you were asking about. Now today I just noticed I have a pair of fullsize Russkit-looking Aurora controllers that are glued together... didn't even know they existed. From what I can see, they look kinda like the Tycos on the inside, which means they probably aren't repairable/serviceable...

--rick


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

bravo rick that was very informative! this is why i like hobbytalk so much it,s guys like rick that break down an idea and share it with us all to absorb and try it and have fun doing it! thanx man that was cool and a+ presentation.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

And it's official: the results are repeatable. I did a second blue one with a trashed resistor the same way, and it works great. If any of you all try this, please post the results, as I'd like to hear if someone finds a better way of securing the end of the resistor to the frame. Mine look like they're on pretty good, but I really just jammed them on with a pair of pliers, and it'd be better to have a method with some kind of sound mechanical basis other than judiciously used implements of destruction...

--rick


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## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

That connection looks highly solder-able with a bit of sanding and flux to get the wetting temp down.


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

bobhch said:


> (snip)
> 
> I have a pair of Red Russket controlers too but, they have a different style resistor (ceramic) and are a little different inside as well. Dang it I was going to 80 ohm them but, Nooooooooooooooo they had to be different. If you are looking at the controler like you are holding it the right side will hook up to the left side of a yellow or blue but, the red Russkit left side will not take the spring setup as it was casted different than the blue and yellow ones.
> 
> ...


Hey Bob...Got some potentially rare stuff...Zilla--

Don't hack those red controllers up just yet. Look at this set:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380247737028

Now, the Pit Row Special set just happens to be one of the 5 or 6 old AFX sets I have, and mine came with L&J track, the pit kit, the extensive manual, the Turbo car, a Ferrari similar to this guy's Auto World Mclaren... and yellow Russkits. If there is anything to the guy's saying that the red ones are rare, maybe you shouldn't cut 'em up, yaknow?

Anyone else... are the red Russkits rare? Maybe this warrants its own thread. 

Now I wanna find me some of them red ones. 

--rick


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## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

hey rick great post!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I've never seen the yellow guard rail and posts either!!! Cool!!!!


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Found this in my searches...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390208191205

15 ohms..........see above link. Just a little more Russkit controller history. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Russkit...cmd=ViewItem&pt=Slot_Cars&hash=item19bd27968d

Here are my two controlers...





































Bob...Made in U.S.A...zilla


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Ah so! Verrrrry interesting! When you said red Russkits, I thought they were just Russkit-designed Auroras. I had no idea they were really aftermarket Russkit ones with the name on them and all... Very cool! Now I wonder if the ones in the set I linked to are Aurora or Russkit...

--rick


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Kool™


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

I want you to know I now own a cool Russkit Red controller:thumbsup:


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

I got a couple old beat-up Russkits a few weeks back and wanted to replace the resistors with resistors out of my many Tycos. On the off chance there was a thread already out here, I found this one. Thanks Rick - I now know it will work.

Joe


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

:thumbsup:

still trying to use this method to piece together a cool old Bachmann controller I found a while back, but there are too many pieces missing...

--rick


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I remember this thread. Wow, it's almost been two years????


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Rick,
Did you ever come up with a better method of attaching the resistor to the bracket?

Thanks...Joe


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

no. i know soldering would do it, but i never got any better at it. 

--rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Rivets


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

NTxSlotCars said:


> Thanks Rick!
> 
> This is just way cool. How do you get into the ruskits that are glued together instead of screwed?


Rich,
Took apart a Russkit controller that was glued together (it came apart real easy - it must have been opened before). However, the internal design is different from those with screws, so the parts are not interchangeable. It does look like the resistor is the same though.

On the Russkits I took apart, I found 60 ohm (glued version), 35 ohm, 45 ohm and 80 ohm.

Joe


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hornet said:


> Rivets


 The bracket is too narrow for any type of rivet or screw.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I used to use rivets in older tyco controllers,you needed to hammer them flat ,if i remember right,to get everything tight.
You could probably use a short aluminium/brass tube,and squeeze it in a vice to expand it and lock everything together,then peen the ends flat.
Been 20 years since i was farting around with tyco controllers Joe,so the memories a bit foggy,but i don't remember having much of a problem using rivets to re-attach the resistor,but that was also putting a stock resistor back into a stock controller,i never had a Russkit to work with so they might be a bit differant.
Rick

Joe;just remembered,i think i also used a small flat washer along with the rivet.
The washer went on the opposite side of the rivet's head,and when you pulled the expansion part through the rivet,it locked into the washer tying the 2 pieces together


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hi Rick,
Take a look at the first picture in post #2. This shows the resistor and bracket from a Russkit and Tyco. Note that the Tyco resistor is mounted along the wide side of the bracket, while the Russkit is mounted along the narrow top of its bracket.

So while it looks fairly easy to figure out how to mount a replacement resistor on a Tyco controller, it's not so simple for the Russkit. There's just not enough "meat" along the top of the bracket. Unless I misunderstand what you are saying.

An interesting tidbit was brought up the other day on SCI. As you know, Mattel has been issuing battery sets for the last 6-7 years. Someone asked if the controllers were different and sure enough, someone else responded that the battery sets have 20 ohm resistors, not the 70 ohm resistors of the electric sets. I haven't been able to test a set of controllers from a battery set yet, but this seems like it would have to be the case. Now I have to go through all the NOS controllers I have and figure out which are from battery sets and which from electric sets.

Joe


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I did Joe,and it looks like a washer should work 
Get yourself some washers that are a bit bigger in diameter ,but fit the rivet fairly well.
Put the head of the rivet up against the notch in the bracket and use a washer to keep the rivet from pulling through the resistor,when you expand it.
Washer would go on resistor side of things,flat head of rivet goes against the bracket
Once you have a secure electrical connection,if you're concerned with things dislodging,put a little JB Weld over the washer and slot to lock everything solid:thumbsup:


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