Integy Motor Failure

[EXW]

Hey all, I'd like some input from everyone just to make sure I'm not missing anything here.

About 5 weeks ago, one of my Integy V10 motors start stalling and then failed on my Bully (v1) rig. I had one of our local experts look at it and he did everything he could to rebuild it, but no go. Prior to this, it had run for about 5 months without issue. Brushes and springs had been replaced.

I had won a gift card to a local hobby shop so it was a good deal to pick up the same motor for a replacement. Yesterday, the new motor died. I had only had it for about 3 weeks and ran maybe 3 packs through it.

In both cases, it was the front motor that died. I switched the leads going from my dig switch and the rear still worked while the front did not. I then plugged a battery directly into the rear motor, and it worked. Tried the same thing with the front motor and it remained dead.

So, it seems that I have another failed Integy. However, what concerns me is that my rear motor continues to work, while two front motors have failed, and one with very low usage.

I would like to make sure that I'm not missing something that could be contributing to this failure. If it is just bad motors, I am fine with that and plan on buying something higher quality. However, I would hate to buy a pair of Holmes Hobbies motors and then ruin one becuase of something I overlooked.

For reference, I've got a Mamba Max and PunkRC dig. My Bully is about 6.10lbs.

Thanks,

EXW

[theslowguy]

You could check to see if there is any sort of binding in your steering or axles. To me it sounds like you have a problem with the truck some where not the motors. IMO

[EXW]

I had thought that it could be binding, but the front axle feels the same as the rear. Both move well and don't appear to bind. The gears on both are coated with Park Tools PolyLube.

Is there something I can check on this or a rule of thumb? If there is too much resistance would it just burn out the motor over time? Also, I didn't notice any problems before; the motor worked fine, then after doing a tough climb, it started stalling out, then stopped working.

Thanks again.

[clockworks]

If you are overloading the motor, it'll get very hot and the commutator (the segmented copper part that the brushes run against) will turn a bluish colour.
This doesn't normally completely kill the motor, unless the windings fail because of the heat.

If the commutator is a reasonably even, shiny copper colour, the motor hasn't burnt out, so look for a different failure, unrelated to your driving style or rig.

Other motor failures that stop it running at all are broken windings, normally where the wires are crimped or soldered to the commutator segments, faulty brush holders (brush sticking), or shorted capacitors (unlikely, as they normally fail open).

[EXW]

Thanks Clockworks, I'll check and see if there are any visible signs on the motor.