what and how to clean a motor???
 

So, i took the rig in some clay and sand yesterday since we had a lot of rain the night before. and she is really caked with it. I've only had nitro r/c's before and have no idea on what is safe to use to clean these motors with. also, how should i clean it? should i totally break it down? also how often and what type of perodic maintence/inspection should be performed?

I would pull the motor, disconnect all ESC wires to it. Leave a pinion gear on it. Run it under warm water from a faucet while spinning the armature (it's easier to do with a pinion on it!"thumbsup").
When you are pretty sure it's all clean, shut off the water and dry off/out the motor. Shaking it and blowing through it should be enough.
When dry, a couple of drops of oil on each armature bushing/bearing should do it.
Check to make sure the brushes slide easily when you pull on the brush wires.
Reinstall & have fun.

As to regular maintenance, there are a couple of great threads in this forum.

you also can use WD40 after the water bath to displace any water left in there or use a can of air to blow it out too "thumbsup" ........bob

....

I use Cow RC motor cleaner, works well and safe on the epoxy. There is probably other stuff you can get, that's just what I use 8)

For your case, clean water will start the process. I use Cow RC motor cleaner too, then lube the bearings with light oil. You gotta make sure that water isn't left in there, everything will rust.

I have the Cow RC motor cleaner also, but I dunno, I thought it would work better. Nothing works better than taking the motor apart and using soapy water and a worn out soft toothbrush. And a Q-Tip for the brush hoods.

Nothing is gonna beat soap and water, along with compress air for this......I only use motor spray if I have too, as it does nothing soap and water can't do except be more convenient and dry on its own....

Compressed Air will get the stubborn pieces of sand out usually.......if stuff is being a pain, you can use Silly Putty....it's a bit silly, but it works....

Later EddieO

Tape works well too. And doesn't ruin the kids silly putty :D

It's my silly putty though:)

Tape can work, but doesn't always get into the little cracks between the magnets like the putty can........plus I can use it on newspaper comics afterwards.

Later EddieO

Stretch out that chick's boobs from Jughead comics. Ha!

Well at least you don't have to deal with angry kids that way, nyuk nyuk. Sticky tack would work as well for those corners if the toothbrush doesn't hit them. I only use tape for ferrous items on the magnets, like if the motor hits a workbench and eats up all the metal it can find.

I still use Lysol Basin Tub and Tile cleaner for endbells and dawn dish soap for everything else. I only use motor spray after I'm finished to get rid of any of the remaining water or if I'm crawling and need to work on one.

FTW........."thumbsup"

OG stuff right there!

I like simple green. It smells like rhubarb or something.

What's that do? Remove soap scum lime and calcium build up on the metal parts of the endbell?

I've come to find even the most worn out soft bristle toofbrush can scratch a comm, so I don't brush that part anymore. My fingers get that, and I go in the direction of the comm spinning. I'm just that nerdy.

Works best on endbells with copper hoods and sinks. Best copper cleaner out there short of something more harsh on soft metal...

Its absolutely the best stuff to use on the trinity copper hardware. It gets rid of everything on there... flux, tarnish, everything. Its another Big Jim trick that I never quit using because it just freakin works. It works good on the chrome stuff too.

Big Jim loved the Lysol stuff.....I was starting to think he may use it as a body soap he loved it so much...

Honestly though, any decent soap will work......I remember at Snowbirds one year, we could not find the Lysol stuff any where, as the TSA took it out of my check on luggage (along with my bearing oil, paragon, etc, though a local racer managed to get his ounce of pot safely to florida in his checked bags...screw you TSA).....so I bought this really girly smelling stuff.....was quite funny with everyones car smelling like strawberry douche:)

I never do anything but rinse the comm really.......its gonna get cut to a new surface anyways...and anything in the slots of the comm comes out with the backside of an exacto knife.

I've never liked Simple Green, as it seems to leave a residue sometimes if not rinsed well......works good on tires though.

Later EddieO

wow!!! thanks for the help, I woulda never thought water. I'm still scratching my head.... water. ok well I'll do that and yeah I think I'll do compressed air to dry it out Im not comfy just shaking it out. wow water, humph. learn something new everyday. thanks again for the help I appreciate it a lot.

Water is fine for cleaning provided:
1-you dry things off ASAP (steel rusts......)
2-there is NO voltage powering things (water and volts lead to "the magic smoke leaving"....not a good thing)
3-lube spinny parts when dry.....
"thumbsup""thumbsup"