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How to add our Digital Timer to your Pinewood Derby Practice Track
| Single Lane Track Timer | Two Lane Track Timer |
Great for tuning your car or holding your own races
Optical operation - no moving parts
Our Pinewood Derby Track Timer is designed to be used with our practice track. It can also be used with other tracks including home made tracks. Both single and two lane versions are available. The timer has a precision of .001 second.
Your timer comes with the following parts:
In addition, you will need:
- 3 "AAA" Batteries
- 4 "D" Batteries
- Wood screw to mount track to Finnish Gate
- Drill with 1/4" bit and 1/8" bit
Assembly Instructions (for single lane):
1. Mount the two base pieces on the finish gate using the lower
bolts with wing nuts.
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| 2. Drill a 1/4" hole in the center of the track about 1/2" from the end and a 1/8" hole to mount the track on the finish gate base. Drill the 1/8" holes so that when the track is mounted to the finish gate, the 1/4" hole will be directly over the light beam transmitter. | |
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| 3. If you are using our track break, mount the break on the finish gate with a wood screw as shown. Mount the break on the finish gate (the back side of the digital read out). | 4. Mount the track on the finish gate with a wood screw as shown. The track should overlap the finish gate slightly. Make sure that the 1/4" hole is directly over the light beam transmitter. If you are not using our track break then you should attach at least one additional piece of track to provide a slow down area. |
 5. The Starting Sensor consists of two units, the light beam transmitter and the light beam receiver. For the Starting Sensor to work, the two units must be placed on opposite sides of the track so that the holes on the end of the units are pointed directly at each other and are slightly above the track. |
6. Drill a 3/16 hole in the center of the track 1/4" above where the track will rest on the track support. Mount the start sensor stand to the track using the supplied screw. |
 7. Place the start sensor on the stand. The transmitter should be on the side of the stand with the wood. Make sure that the holes in the two units are pointed at each other. |
 8. Connect one end of the connecting wire to the right side (when facing the digital readout) wing nuts on the timer. Wire colors do not matter. |
 9. Connect the other end of the connecting wire to the wing nuts on the start sensor. Wire colors do not matter. You can tape the connecting wire under the track to keep it out of the way. |
 10. Connect the battery pack wires to the left terminals on the finish gate. It is important that the red battery wire connects to the red wire on the gate and the black battery wire connects to the black wire on the gate. |
| 11. Insert "D" batteries in the battery pack and "AAA" batteries in the start sensor. | 12. Your track timer is ready. |
Operation:
The red reset button on the Starting Sensor blanks the display and resets the timer. This button should be pressed before each race. When the car passes between the two Starting Sensor modules, the timer is started. When the car reaches the other end of the track, it will pass through the light beam on the finish gate and stop the timer and the total time will be displayed. Press the red reset button to reset the timer for the next race.
Troubleshooting:
Time is not displayed at the end of the race.
- Check all wire connections between batter pack and finish gate and finish gate and starting sensor.
- Check that battery polarities are correct.
- Replace the batteries.
- Check that hole in track is directly over the light transmitter bulb in the base of the finish timer.
- Check that the holes in the two starting sensor modules are pointing directly at each other and that the holes are above the track.
Wrong time is displayed at the end of the race.
- Make sure that the reset button was pressed before the race.
- Check that the holes in the two starting sensor modules are pointing directly at each other and that the holes are above the track.
- Replace the batteries.
Display shows 0608 when car leaves the starting gate:
0609 means there is no or not enough light getting to the sensor on the bottom of the timer card. First, clean the sensor. Make sure that the sensor is pointing straight down. Second clean the IR LED at the bottom of the finish gate. Make sure that the LED is pointing straight up. After that, if it still doesn't work, measure the voltage across the IR LED at the bottom of the finish gate with the start terminals at the right side of the finish gate shorted. It should measure about 1.2 volts.