Maintenance intervals on Tekin 35T/brushless upgrade?

[rcboy514]

Wanting up upgrade my motor and i'm stuck between brushed and brushless. I'm liking the tekin fxr w/35t brushed motor, but how often are you guys having to rebuild them? i.e. new brushes, com work? I know tekin is known for quality brushed stuff, but I don't really want to be rebuilding it all the time.

or do I just get a castle mamba pro esc with some kind of brushless motor since the novak goat series seems to be hit and miss.

[Repoman330]

I cant tell you from a crawlers perspective on rebuilds. But I can tell you from a racing prospective. First brushes are super easy to change and If you want a 100% from your motor you will need to replace the brushes everytime you feel less then 100% power. This could be every 50 laps could be 1000 laps, but once again thats racing. Now on the rocks its diffrent its all slow and technical and without the com beating the hell out of the brushes from nonstop full throtle to brake, full throttle to brake over and over. I dont see brushes being eaten very often. Keeping that in mind you have to realise brushes dont like mud and/or dirt. This can be solved by cleaning your vehicle top to bottom everytime as with any rc this should always be done when you are to ensure long life and littile to no rust. After gathering all info it will still be a personal prefrence. Yes it looks like you smoke an esc with a brushless crawling almost as often as you would replace brushes in a brushed system so the choice would really be all up to you. Obviously unless something new came out im unaware of your going to get more torque from a good brushed motor. But for wheel speed, and overall vehicle speed and to some degree the drag brake you cant beat a brushless.

[JohnRobHolmes]

From a crawling perspective, brushed maintenance isn't that bad. If you are running a more powerful motor, it will take more frequent care. A 35t on 3s may need attention as every 30 minutes with laydown brushes and a heavy throttle finger, or as little as every few months of driving with an easy finger and standup brushes. I have heard many drivers state that every 2 or 3 comps is a good interval for maintenence on a powerful handwound, which would be about 30 to 45 minutes of runtime in hard conditions.

It just really depends on how dirty the conditions are, and how hard you use the motor. Currently, brushed motors still have the best overall performance for crawling.

[rcboy514]

thanks for the info! I'm strictly a "basher", and just crawl with my friends. Also as far as brushes go, what brands would you recommend? I would probably go with with stand up brushes, and does one size fit all?

[Repoman330]

For the most part yes brushes are brushes but try and stick to the same company as your motor just so you dont end up with brushes sticking a quarter inch out of your motor. As this will cause the spring to either break or fall off. It wont be as funny when your sitting there going WTF why won't it go

[meatmonkey]

I too am curious as to the prefered brushed for a crawler motor. I know that there used to be many different "blends" of brushes for racing motors.

What are the ideal characteristics for a crawler motor brush? Say on a typical machine wound 35T taking standup brushes.

Are certain brushes easier on the comm?

I kinda hate to admit this, but I let an Integy 35T go until the brushes were so short they fell inside the endbell. Easily had over 100 hours on it. I was crawling for three to four hours at at time several times a week. Scary part is, it's still my backup motor with nothing more than a cleaning and a borrowed set of brushes from an old Magnetic Mayhem.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Everybody has their own ideal characteristics for a motor. My ideal build has the most torque and efficiency for the wheelspeed you want, while being the longest lived motor for best value. Ergo, a plain jane 5mm web with standup brush and 2 magnet can. With a machine wound a 4mm web helps produce decent power, so it is typically used.


There is absolutely nothing wrong with machine wound motors. With a bit of care and a quality build they can win a national comp every bit as easily as a fancy pants handwound.

[Slaughter]

Hey John, I have one of your BRXLs and 35T Sport and love it. I know it varies, but one day of scaling would yield 4 periods of motor maintenance on the trail. That doesn't make brushed seem very appealing or a good investment.

Would your Black Outrunner provide similar torque and speed as the 35T I have?

Thanks

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

From a crawling perspective, brushed maintenance isn't that bad. If you are running a more powerful motor, it will take more frequent care. A 35t on 3s may need attention as every 30 minutes with laydown brushes and a heavy throttle finger, or as little as every few months of driving with an easy finger and standup brushes. I have heard many drivers state that every 2 or 3 comps is a good interval for maintenence on a powerful handwound, which would be about 30 to 45 minutes of runtime in hard conditions.

It just really depends on how dirty the conditions are, and how hard you use the motor. Currently, brushed motors still have the best overall performance for crawling.

[JohnRobHolmes]

The Revolver Black is pretty slow, about 66% the speed of a 35t. It has a lot more torque though. The best way to get speed out of it is 3s or 4s lipo and use very low gearing for best startup control.