TR Honcho Locks Up in Mud/Water?

[Solitude]

I have everthing fully waterproof and grease on the battery and motor connections, and grease in the diffs and some in the tranny. The electronics are in balloons also. But everytime is gets in some mud/water above the middle on the tire is seems or frame deep the thing just cuts off and wont move, I got steering but its like locked up. The reason I dont think its the electronics because I have to ROLL it or SPIN the tires by hand to free up something it seems and may be the motor but then it will pick up again and be fine like nothing happen but I see poeple going deep no problems all the time. I also broke the motor in in a glass of water so it ran fine then. Please help.

[Roman5150]

Do you clean out the motor after every time you go into the water. It's true that you don't have waterproof the motor but, you should definitely re-lube everything and clean the can throughly.

[Dillpickle]

Just a thought, the stock motor and servo may not have enough torque to push through the mud

[Solitude]

This locked up like that the very first time it was ever in the mud/water, and I also have a 13T Pinion on it so it shouldnt have a probelem.. Also I can get teh tires buried and it turns and spins the tires easy its just at a certain point it get locked up then I have to roll it and then its good.

[Solitude]

I also tried a 1/16 Summit Titan Motor with the same results so I dont think its the motor.

[Solitude]

Ok so I thought about it some more and do you think it could be the Space inbetween the Spur and Pinion get some things caught in it and stop it? I got it spaced out paper thick, I wonder if I add grease to the gears if I will help.

[johnnyh66]

My dog walks around puddles... she doesn't like to get her feet wet. Maybe it's the same with your scx 10. Try offering it a treat

[2500hdon37s]

its the motor and the traxxas motors are junk too.

[jettrooper02]

sounds like something that was happening to my honcho, turned out to be the esc for me. if it is still doing it with two different motors it's the esc.

[alexchen86]

Are you running the electronics on a RTR Honcho? Which would be the AE-1 ESC and 27T Axial brushed motor and I'd assume a 6 cell NiMH pack?

If that's the case it could be the ESC overheating since it's in a balloon. I just waterproof all my ESC's. Also does this happen immediately you hit some mild water/mud on a fresh pack?

You've done the right things waterproofing...I have a feeling it's the motor though. That AE-1 can handle up to a 15T motor but does get hot and hit thermal shutdown.

When the SCX10 first came out I threw on an extra waterproof XL-5 ESC with a 550 can Titan 15T and went mudding...perfectly fine run after run. Until the motor went up in smoke lol....that was my fault since the rear axle and differential was totally clogged up with mud!

[Solitude]

I can have a fully charged NiMh 5000 Battery right out the gate and it will do the same thing. I dipped it in my pool and it did not lock up at all and ran fine but then I took it around the pond and creek and it locked up. Today was the first day I had it in a balloon, before I had it in the Radio Shack Project Box with the same results. All stock RTR Electronics.

[boogiecash]

It's probably over heating try hooking a bec up to help the esc out a little it will help reduce the heat in the esc and help out especially if your running your electronics in a balloon

[johnnyh66]

ok, but why only in the water? How much harder is it working compared to out and for how long?
Has it done this without water?
Solitude, how long were you driving around the pond before it locked up?

[Solitude]

It has never done this out of the water.. And it does not lock up in clean pure water.. With the fully charged battery I can take it right down to the ponds edge front tires in water and drive it into the water a lil above frame and it will still lock up so it cant be the ESC or overheating cause it will do it at anytime (as long as its in any water/mud besides clear) My take is that the Mud/Debris is getting inbetween the brushes and magnet and causing it to loose contact, and when I roll it it cleans the contacts. Would a prefilter such as pantyhose around the motor help at all?

[Solitude]

Ok well I ordered a 45T RC4WD Motor to see if that helps if not Im going Brushless.

[2500hdon37s]

Originally Posted by Solitude

Ok well I ordered a 45T RC4WD Motor to see if that helps if not Im going Brushless.

its gonna do the same thing, I would drop the money on a decent brushed motor not those junk ones from RC4WD, get a rebuildable one from Holmes Hobbies. I would get a Handwound 35t that way you still have wheel speed, great tourqe and if it does get dirty you can clean it and rebuild it.

the reason it didnt do it in your pool is because your pool has clean water not dirty and muddy water. and yes a panty hose prefilter would pretty much solve your problem

[Solitude]

Yea so how come every one else can do it with their RTR Axial Motor but I cant.. And my Summit never did it untill I put that motor on the axial haha.

[2500hdon37s]

Originally Posted by Solitude

Yea so how come every one else can do it with their RTR Axial Motor but I cant.. And my Summit never did it untill I put that motor on the axial haha.

maybe the water you started running your scx-10 in is very dirty, ive had motors lock up on me too for the same reason. and one was an axial 27t

[zukdogz400]

Mine does the same thing in heavy dust or dirty water. Motor is garbage IMO and the stock TX/RX (27mh) dont help either! I changed it all out.

[crazy_kanaka]

Here's some things to try...

-As soon as you get a lockup, remove your drive shafts and confirm that the lockup isn't in either axle. On the top of the axles there are 4 holes, the same ones that are used to mount the 4-link, these holes should be filled with some 3m screws. If they're exposed then grit, sand, and every suspended thing in water will have easy access to your axle diffs.

-As soon as you get a lockup, with your truck still powered on unplug your motor, then rotate your drive train by spinning your spur gear. If it spins nicely... plug your motor back into your esc and see if it'll lock back up. If it does then you're likely getting an esc problem. If it doesn't spin freely, and you've already checked your axles, then you could be looking at a trans issue or motor issue.

-As soon as you get a lockup, use your 1.5mm allen wrench and loosen and remove your pinion. Rotate the spur, if it moves freely then the problem is your motor, if it's still locked then the issue is within your trans. If the problem is your trans, I'd recommend a rebuild.

Try doing these steps in order to diagnose the problem. It sounds to me like you probable have a little pebble floating around in your motor. Lockups more commonly occur when debris get wedged between the rotor and magnet. I like to use a dental water pick to clean my motors, I have one just for my rc use, it's like having a mini pressure washer.

Lastly, and this is my opinion, stock rtr motors like those that come with traxxas, hpi, axial, ect... are not meant to broken in in water. Breaking in motors in water is a technique that is used for hard brushes. Using the water break in technique on those stock motors just reduce their life. The brushes just simply deteriorate faster. RTR motors are design to be ready to run.

Good luck.