Another one bites the dust! 8th motor and counting..HELP!!!!

[hiluxscaler]

Hello guys I'm having a problem here and would really appreciate some HELP! Ok so I keep burning up motors on my scx.. It has 1.9 baja claws with stamped steel wheels. Slightly weighted but not very much. I have ran 55t's down to 12T's. The 55 has lasted longer than any tho(about 30 mins so far on it and its already smelling burnt). I am running a between a 18 and 20t pinion and an 87t spur. What gears and motor do I need to run to have a bulletproof setup? I run in mud rocks water and other rough terrain. And whats something I can get at the local hobbyshop to atleast get me on the trail again until I can decide if I wanna go brushless or order a really good brushed motor. Thanks a lot!

[SMR 510RR]

The first thing I would do is figure out why you are going through motors so quickly...

Can you give us some more information on your setup?

[808DA6]

Pinions are a bit big. What kind of batts and esc are you running? I had some worn out NiMh batts that nearly fried a new Tekin 55T.

[Olle P]

Running a motor in mud can't be good from a mechanical perspective.

[meatmonkey]

Ditto on the mud running. I now only play in mostly clear water, not thick gooey mud. Killed several motors from that damned mud.

If you going to keep playing in mud you have two options. Stick to cheap motors, maybe with an Outerwears pre-filter, so you don't feel bad when you kill one. Or get a sensored brushless motor and try not to fully submerge it. The sealed can of the brushless makes it more resistance to mud intrustion, but the sensor itself doesn't like being submerged in water, so even it's not perfect.

Higher turn motors do typically last longer in mud/water. I stick in a 55 turn if I know I'll be playing in a lot of water geared 18/87.

If your motors are getting hot then you are either overgeared, or have some drag in your drivetrain from bad bearings, worn gears, or to tight of a gear mesh. If you take off the pinion gear you should be able to roll the truck smoothly will little resistance and no "tight" spots.

Try going down to a 14-16 tooth pinion to help with motor temps.

Stay out of the mud for really long motor life. No motor is bulletproof if you playing in mud, I learned this the hard way.


As far as what to get at the hobby shop, whatever is cheap and at least a twenty turn. These trucks don't need mega motors to be able to have fun with.

[Twisted Nuts]

Sensored Brushless is the way to go!
Tekin motors can't be run efficiently under water, and Novak Ballistics tend to act up, but If you'll run Novaks Silvercan motors and take the endbell off the soak it with WD-40, let it drip the excess out then put it back together you will never have a Problem running submerged.
I run mine completely submerged atleast once on Every outing!

[Brainstain]

If you do a lot of mud running and you're burning up motors my first guess would be bad bearings putting a big drag on your drivetrain. Secondly, I would suggest a filter of some sort on your motor. Pantyhose will work if there's some in the house or if you aren't scared to go buy some. And I'd also agree that you may be geared a tad high.

[Manning]

Yep, gotta be some bad bearings or something else binding in the drivetrain.

Take the pinion off the motor and see the wheels will spin freely.

[hoghead5150]

also when the wheels are spinning usually your good, if the wheels are bound up and your on the throttle it'll heat the motor up in no time! my wraith liked to eat motors but it was because i would get it in bad binds (trying to crawl big rocks like a true comp crawler) the tires would bind up and i could give it full throttle and the tires wouldn't move. these kind of binds will torch a motor QUICK.

[solomon7]

If your motor's timing is off it can screw it up too.
Check the timing. Start at 0*.
burned up a nice motor being 20+ degrees the wrong way without noticing till the burnt smell happened. The insane arcing should've been my first clue

I'm sure you already know this, but if you run in mud and the like, you should hose off the motor with motor spray (or at least clean water, no WD40) EVERY time when your done and dry it completely. Also oil bearings after the clean up.
Really it's a good idea (if fully waterproof) to hose off the entire rig then spray all the non electric parts with WD40, air dry and wipe clean. Only takes a minute and saves parts and $$$.

Grit in the comm slots can cause all sorts of funky problems.

Following the above ideas I've run the same motor for over 2 years in nasty mud with no probs. The bearings in my axle wore out before the motor twice now lol.
Motors in mud may not be bulletproof per se, but a regularly maintained one is pretty darn close

[Twiztid Metal]

Iv ran 17/87 on my scx10 with a 35t integy motor. Pleanty of wheel speed good torque for crawling and stays cool as an ice cube. Stay away from closed endbell motors like the axial motors and basically any rtr motor.

And pending on how much mud you see..... You may want to go get some electrical contact cleaner from the hardware store and spray down your motor after every use. It dries pretty quick and don't hurt the motor. But mud and crud are getting in your can and making a mess. A motor can handle quite a bit of water but not so good with mud.

[Onebdgti]

I was reading up about the Outerwears pre filter and it says not for Rock crawling application. Has anybody used one to let us know if the actually work?

I have heard of people using pre filters off a Nitro air filters.

[hiluxscaler]

Thanks guys for all the input. I am running a spektrum receiver and transmitter,xl5 traxxas esc,integy 55t(right now),87spur and 18-20 pinion,2s 5000 lipo-3000 nickel medal. So I'm starting to think the esc is having something to do with the motor issues. What do you guys think? And I'm gonna try the pantie hose filter trick. And is there anyway to make a brushless waterproof? What about the esc having to be waterproofed? Wouldn't it overheat? Thanks

[Twiztid Metal]

1. Dose the xl5 have the low voltage cut off??
Because you can't run lipos on a xl5.

2. Lipos are not waterproof.
Only one that I know of is waterproof but I could be wrong on



You are geared way too high get yourself a 15 or 16 tooth pinion gear!!

When you are driving in thick mud you are creating resistance for the motor. With a high pinion gear it's like driving a full size truck in 4th gear through the mud. You need the low end to push or pull yourself through the mud. Dropping the pinion gear a few teeth will give you more bottom end and less top speed

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Twiztid Metal

1. Dose the xl5 have the low voltage cut off??
Because you can't run lipos on a xl5.

2. Lipos are not waterproof.
Only one that I know of is waterproof but I could be wrong on

You can run ANY battery chemistry on ANY ESC. The issue is overdischarging a LiPO (actually, any battery) too low. This WILL hurt the battery.
You either need an external LVC or get a different ESC.

Any battery is "waterproof" in anything but water that has high mineral content. Salt water & high iron content is not good for a battery. It's also not good for the rest of your rig.

[Twiztid Metal]

Well all I see is xl5 there are now 3 versions of that esc. And no external cutoff listed.


Yes buy yourself the Traxxas vxl and be don with it completely waterproof and handles 3s

[Scott105]

The newer xl5 has lvc built in. If it has it, it will have it printed on the sticker near the light.

[Charlie-III]

Originally Posted by Twiztid Metal

Well all I see is xl5 there are now 3 versions of that esc. And no external cutoff listed.


Yes buy yourself the Traxxas vxl and be don with it completely waterproof and handles 3s

If the ESC has a LVC, it would be internal, thus no listing for an external LVC.

If the ESC does NOT have a LVC, you need to go find your own external LVC.

[Twisted Nuts]

Water doesn't affect a Brushless motor, it affects the sensors.
If Its Sensored just take the endbell off and spray it down good with wd40
And put it back together and run it.
It it's Unsensored just drop it in and go.