Why am I smoking motors all of a sudden?

[Sethmetal]

I've had my wraith for about a month now. I drive it a lot. It's usually full of power and runs great.

Lately it has lost all power after 2 minutes. I pick it up and it revs, but I put it on the ground and it is sluggish.

It started smoking the 20T and 55T motors that I had.

I just put in a new 35T and it's starting to smoke that too. The motors get hot fast. Something is up.

Are any of these culprit:

-sand in driver train causing friction

-Slipper Clutch too tight

-increased drive line angle causing friction/strain (i'm running a 120mm shock, but i don't notice excessive bind at full droop.)

-Bad ESC

-Bad battery


I'd really appreciate some help. This one is boggling me.

[crawler nut]

What gearing are you running? Sounds like you need to gear down.

[Yotapane]

any chance that your not lining the motor up properly when your swapping them out..I've burned up one or two from meshing the pinion and spur gears too tight..back off the motor and see how easy your wraith is to roll around the workbench...my. 02..good luck

[Chiodo322]

Check rear axle short shaft there is probs w that and post on here look it up I had that prob

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[Sethmetal]

Stock 80/20 gearing (i just ordered 84, 87, and 11-19 gears. But, it has been fine all along.

As for the motor, I'll check on that, I'll try a lighter mesh. But, I usually just get a nice complete, but light mesh.


The rear axle shaft had never been out. I've never cracked open the axles. I just opened it tonight and it didn't seem to have any trouble going back together.

Thanks for the ideas!

[Frankenwheely]

Lay off the throttle a little. Gear down, or make the big push to go brushless. It can take more "heavy finger"

[LuvMyTJ]

Slipper clutch to loose? That will make it sluggish & hot due to the friction generated by the clutch from excessive slipping.

[evan03]

Neave to have a little lash between the pinion and spurr.
Pinion bearings going out or falling apart.


Brushed sucks

[Postclanker]

Make sure there's grease in your tranny and that it is running smooth

[rm25x]

With the pinion gear off or away from the spur roll the truck to see if something is binding up.

[Chiodo322]

The washer on the axle shaft that is by the locker should b razor thin if it is far enough that u can see the flat spot on the top it is the wrong shaft

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[Chiodo322]

Top one is the wrong one

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[crazy81]

I'm going with short shaft. I burnt up a few motors also. After drilling into the carrier a pinch, there hasn't been any issues...

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[Sethmetal]

Thanks soooo much for all the suggestions.

I tore it ALL the way down.

I lubed the diffs and tranny. I think that was the main culprit.

I also swapped in some metal driveshafts from TopCad. The stock plastic ones didn't like to compress freely, even after cleaning.

Also, I realize that I've gotten comfortable with my Wraith's abilities. Now I'm taking on much harder obstacles and I'm putting my tires in a bind more often. So, I'll watch out for that.

[dieselmudder]

get a fasteddy bearing kit for it. theyre a good quality and very reasonable price.

[Sethmetal]

I just got the set from Asiatees.com

I'll try those bearings next round! Thanks for the suggestion!

[scottanthony]

First, you're runnin a wide axle, huge tire havin rig.....You've also got more flex than a scx10 on 1.9 axles....
Friction creates heat. Too many things are binding up, turning and flexing
I have never been able to keep a brushed motor happy in a Wraith...Holmes 7T, Brood, Tekin, traxxas, you name it. Ive had about 12 set-ups.
It has nothing to do with gearing.. Its motor.
You need to go brushless. Something sensored..10.5 to 17.5
Mamba Max Pro....
I have successfully run in the Zombie Wraith a Tekin 4.5 on 3s, with no over heating issues....
My Wraith with 4 wheel steering also ha s aTekin 4.5 (lower gearing) smooooth.....
Dont waste your money on those brushed set ups..... Zombie Knows best..... hes pulled many 1st Place wins in the Recon G6 events.

[Sethmetal]

Zombie is sick!!!! \m/ (>_<) \m/

I will have to step up to brushless.

But, I'm a bit confused still on the motors. I've ready the motor/esc thread that is stickied at the top.

My understanding:

Lower number turns= faster and short run times

Higher number turns= slower and torquier with longer run times.

I see the run time difference and the speed difference. But I don't see the torque in the slower motors.

My favorite motor do far has been the Axial 55T.

I just received today and tested an RC4WD 65T and 80T. They were slower than my 55T, but would bind up and do nothing on things my 55T did no problem. No slipper clutch noise, just binding grunt.

I still have a Novak 55T to try. Hopefully that ones cool.

I have gears coming, so maybe the 65T and 80T will make more sense when I'm not 80/20.

I like the affordability of these motors and the long run time on my 2S. But, if sensors brushless is it, I guess I'll concede.

[Sethmetal]

Weird. I don't know why it didn't post my message. Anyway....

I would consider going brushless. But, I like the affordability and long run times of the brushed motors. Plus, not worrying as much about water is nice.

I just received and tested RC4WD's 65T and 80T motors.

My favorite so far has been my Axial 55T (for crawling)

Everything I have read said that more turns is slower ( I agree) , longer run times (I agree), and more torque (I'm confused).

I was hoping the 65T and 85T would give me gobs of torque so that I wouldn't bind. Not the case. It actually binds up easier. Things that I could go up easily in my 55T, these would just bind and grunt. (No slipper clutch slip).

I'm running stock 80/20 and I have a plethora of gears coming. I'm hoping that maybe these new motors will be more useful with gears.

I changed all bearings last night. There shouldn't be any friction left.

I've got a Novak terra claw 55T I still need to try. I hope it's similar to the Axial.

[crawler nut]

There's no torque because those motors are junk. If you buy a quality brushed motor such as a HH motor it will have a ton of torque.