Brushed Motor for a newbie

[Seven.Three.Seven]

Hey Guys, I’m as a new as they get to the RC Crawling world, I’ve been flying RCs for a substantial amount of time and I am not new to RC but just to the ground side of things. I got an SCX10ii for Christmas and have really really enjoyed the build. Wish I ventured to this side earlier. Really diggin then customizing and flexibility with just this kit alone.

Like multiple people before, I’m looking for a decent brushed motor. I want to run a 2S setup on a basic enough setup. I’m trying to build on somewhat of a budget, I know I want a “single speed” for absolute slow crawling speed. I don’t need speed and I want to learn to gear it SLOOOW.

What’s a good starter motor?
Do I need to run a fan on it if I’m slow crawling only?
What does a 12 Turn vs a 20T motor do vs other Turn numbers?
Any gearing recommendations? So far I’m completely stock in the kit
Any ESC you could recommend as a good pair?

Sorry I’m super new to this side, thank you for your help

I’ll be back for tire/wheel/servo/ recs later but one thing at a time.

[lonleycreeper]

Originally Posted by Seven.Three.Seven

Hey Guys, I’m as a new as they get to the RC Crawling world, I’ve been flying RCs for a substantial amount of time and I am not new to RC but just to the ground side of things. I got an SCX10ii for Christmas and have really really enjoyed the build. Wish I ventured to this side earlier. Really diggin then customizing and flexibility with just this kit alone.

Like multiple people before, I’m looking for a decent brushed motor. I want to run a 2S setup on a basic enough setup. I’m trying to build on somewhat of a budget, I know I want a “single speed” for absolute slow crawling speed. I don’t need speed and I want to learn to gear it SLOOOW.

What’s a good starter motor?
Do I need to run a fan on it if I’m slow crawling only?
What does a 12 Turn vs a 20T motor do vs other Turn numbers?
Any gearing recommendations? So far I’m completely stock in the kit
Any ESC you could recommend as a good pair?

Sorry I’m super new to this side, thank you for your help

I’ll be back for tire/wheel/servo/ recs later but one thing at a time.

Fans are not really necessary as long as you have the gearing right.
I like 35t motors on 3s. it provides a good balance in wheelspeed and endurance.
A higher turn brushed motor provides less wheel speed whereas a lower turn provides more.
Stock gearing works well for up to a 4.75" tire. Bigger tires than that don't fit the Scx10II without modifications. You can gear as low as 11/54.
Hobbywing 1080, and a Holmes Hobbies 35t 540 motor will cost $55ish dollars. I have had good sucess with $20 power hd servos... And like Spectrum Tx/Rx.

[ScottyPotty]

21T Trailmaster motor $20ish

[Seven.Three.Seven]

So a higher turn motor gives slower speed? Ideally I’d like to run a 2 S setup.

[lonleycreeper]

Originally Posted by Seven.Three.Seven

So a higher turn motor gives slower speed? Ideally I’d like to run a 2 S setup.

Why? Just out of curiosity....

A 27t 540 or 21t 550 Homes Hobbies Trailmaster...

I understand if you already have a 2s you are using.
I get 1.5 to 2 hours out of a 2200mah 3s 30c and about the same out of a 4000mah 2s 50c.
The efficiency of 3s is about 50% better. Throttle control is unaffected and you have more wheel speed to perform as needed. The extra power is noticeable too, but only increased drivetrain wear. There have been many converts who have used 2s for years before deciding to try 3s... When they did they never went back to 2s

[Smokin' Joe]

I personally would go for a 5 slot motor like the Crawlmaster motors from Holmes. They have very noticeably better low speed control than the 3 slot motors I've used. Like others have mentioned lower turns equates with higher speed, but note that the turns are not equivalent between 3 slot and 5 slot motors. A 13T 5 slot would be equivalent to a 27T 3 slot in the 540 size and would be a good starting point depending on how you are geared. Also 550 and 540 size motors are not equivalent in turns vs desired speed. Holmes has a good chart that can give you some basic equivalences for their motors: https://holmeshobbies.com/motor-recommendations

I also would recommend 3S. You can gear it low which increases your torque, but still maintain a bit of wheel speed which is helpful at times for passing certain obstacles.

[Inspector86]

The 5 slot crawlmaster motors from Holmes Hobbies are amazingly smooth at slow speeds. A HobbyWing WP1080 ESC and a HH Crawlmaster Sport 550 16t is arguably the best combo you can buy for $62 total. A 550 can motor is preferred over a 540.

[Minnesota]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

The 5 slot crawlmaster motors from Holmes Hobbies are amazingly smooth at slow speeds. A HobbyWing WP1080 ESC and a HH Crawlmaster Sport 550 15t is arguably the best combo you can buy for $62 total. A 550 can motor is preferred over a 540.

Right here is an excellent way to go. Plenty of torque and crawl speed.

[Voodoobrew]

If you just want to go slower get a smaller pinion gear. You will go slower and have more torque. If you want lots of torque get faster motors and/or higher voltage batteries and get even lower gears.

You can put a 48p 96t spur and a 9t pinion in an scx10 for less then $20, it will cut your speed in half and double your torque, so the motor dosen't stall.

Handy gearing spreadsheet

[Stollenritter]

I went from to 2s to 3s as well and will never go back. You can gear down for low speed without loosing to much wheelspeed. Higher Voltage will enlarge your speed range, so there is less need for a two-speed gearbox. I am running a Holmes Hobbies 5slot 16T motor and WP1080 esc on my SCX10ii kit and highly recommend it. The 1080 esc has a strong build-in bec, which allows you to run a powerful steering servo without any problems

[Seven.Three.Seven]

What is the difference in a 3 slot vs 5 slot motor?

[eucasafari]

Originally Posted by Seven.Three.Seven

What is the difference in a 3 slot vs 5 slot motor?

2 slots

[JatoTheRipper]

A 5-slot has the advantage for crawler motors because it offers smoother start-up low speed. 5-slot motors have less turn counts than an equivalent 3-slot motors. A 16T 5-slot motor is similar to a 35T 3-slot motor.

For a budget motor, I'd recommend the Holmes CrawlMaster Sport 16T or a Reedy Radon 16T.

[Jim85IROC]

Originally Posted by Inspector86

The 5 slot crawlmaster motors from Holmes Hobbies are amazingly smooth at slow speeds. A HobbyWing WP1080 ESC and a HH Crawlmaster Sport 550 15t is arguably the best combo you can buy for $62 total. A 550 can motor is preferred over a 540.

This is the combo I run in my Enduro, on 3S. I'm extremely satisfied with it, other than wishing that I had a little more wheel speed. One of these days I'll get the 12t and move the 15T to my Gen8.

The 5 slot crawlmaster 550 is a fantastic motor.

[Inspector86]

I would also add that a HH Crawlmaster Sport 550 16t and HW WP1080 ESC combo will work equally well on 2S or 3S with no changes to the setup required. The 2S battery will give you a softer slow speed throttle but the 3S will give you higher top speed and you can switch back and forth between the two batteries at will.

[Seven.Three.Seven]

Thanks for recommendations thus far. All are great and I appreciate everyone’s experience. I think I’m definitely set on the hobbywing 1080 esc, just still not exactly which motor to get.

I’m on a budget, probably running two cell, want slow speed, don’t need fast and ideally would like a motor that will last a little while.

As per your guys’ recommendations (thank you this far) I’ve read up and researched a little on Holmes Hobby’s line up. On the bottom of their motor recommendation page on their website for slowest motors, they recommend either the TorqueMaster 540 55T, Trailmaster Sport 540 55T, or the Trailmaster Sport 550 45T.

Anything there I should know? I’m running a stock Axial SCX10ii and want to know if all those would work? 540 vs 550 can size? Do either work? Is one better than the other?

Are they too slow? Durable enough? Should I change the gearing? I don’t need top end.

What does the option to “Install Holmes Straight Leads?” Does that mean they simply solder wires to the motor? Is it worth the little extra?

Sorry for the rambling questions, I’m just entirely new at this. Thank you guys in advance.

[Voodoobrew]

Don't ever buy a 55t or 45t motor. I will let you know why later.

Handy gearing spreadsheet

[lonleycreeper]

Originally Posted by Seven.Three.Seven

Thanks for recommendations thus far. All are great and I appreciate everyone’s experience. I think I’m definitely set on the hobbywing 1080 esc, just still not exactly which motor to get.

I’m on a budget, probably running two cell, want slow speed, don’t need fast and ideally would like a motor that will last a little while.

As per your guys’ recommendations (thank you this far) I’ve read up and researched a little on Holmes Hobby’s line up. On the bottom of their motor recommendation page on their website for slowest motors, they recommend either the TorqueMaster 540 55T, Trailmaster Sport 540 55T, or the Trailmaster Sport 550 45T.

Anything there I should know? I’m running a stock Axial SCX10ii and want to know if all those would work? 540 vs 550 can size? Do either work? Is one better than the other?

Are they too slow? Durable enough? Should I change the gearing? I don’t need top end.

What does the option to “Install Holmes Straight Leads?” Does that mean they simply solder wires to the motor? Is it worth the little extra?

Sorry for the rambling questions, I’m just entirely new at this. Thank you guys in advance.

Imo a 55t is much to slow...

A 35t 3slot, or 16t 5 slot will be plenty slow on 2s.

[Voodoobrew]

So there are many factors that affect the speed, power and torque of your rc car, just going slow is terrible if you don't have any torque. Using a 2s lipo and a 55t 540 motor will slow your crawler down, but you also won't have any torque. what this means is your crawler will stall when it hits a rock and you will need to load up the motor to climb over the rock, this makes the car lurch forward and launch over obstacles.

Remember Power = Torque x speed (it also is inverse to battery life, so more power = less runtime) IMO you can always use more power.

Voltage - increases Torque, Speed and Power (3s is good, 4s is better).

Motor turns - This doesn't affect torque for the most part, but it will increase speed and therefor power. Lower turn motors have shorter thicker wires, so they have less resistance and conduct electricity better, allowing for more power to pass through. So lower turn motors produce more power. 2200kv motors seem to work best for me before you stop seeing power increases. 2200kv motors are all the same speed so
540 27t (3 slot)
550 21t (3 slot)
540 13t (5 slot)
550 10t (5 slot)

So running on 4s with a 27t motor is probably much faster then what your looking to crawl with, so you need to convert all this extra speed into torque.

Let's compare a 27t on 4s to a 55t on 2s. Now the 27t is around 2200kv and a 55t motor is around 1000kv. This means the same voltage the 27t motor is over twice as fast as the 55t motor. Next we double the voltage to the 27t motor, this makes the 27t motor 4.4 times faster than the 55t motor. Doubling the voltage also adds maybe 20% more torque but were just going to ignore that. 4.4 times faster is rather significant, you want to go about 3mph and now your crawler is doing 12+ mph. The final step, gear reduction. For the most part you're not going to easily get 4x the gear reduction but let's say you did. So you have 2 crawlers one with stock gearing a 55t motor on 2s, and it goes 3mph, and one with reduced gearing and a 27t motor on 4s that also goes 3mph.

So what's the big deal if they both end up at 3mph?
Well if you remember power = speed x torque, Our 27t crawler basically produces 4.4x power, 1x speed, and 4.4x torque, and in the crawling world this means when you creep up to a rock your motor wont stall out, and you don't need to pull the throttle as far (if any) to power over this rock. What you end up with is an incredibly smooth and powerful low end with an even lower minimum startup speed. Probably about 4 times slower initial start speed in fact.

Personally I only run 48p gears for crawling because they offer 1.5 times more reduction then 32p gears. If you have the standard 3 gear transmission in your scx10II you can (with a slipper eliminator) fit a 96t spur gear and a 9t pinion, this takes your 42:1 stock rig and puts it at 104:1 gear reduction. with a 2200kv motor on 4s you will go stock 2s speeds but at 2.5x the power. You can also do a 10t pinion and an 80t spur with a 2200kv motor on 3s for stock 2s speeds but at 1,9x the power. Either of these will offer the same speed but more power and torque.

This picture from a Holmes Hobby dyno test Illustrates my point if you like charts and facts and stuff (although its with different motors so...).

Also better quality motors can even double your power. In my signature there is a gearing spreadsheet that might help you choose a good speed motor and some gears.

[Inspector86]

Originally Posted by Seven.Three.Seven

Thanks for recommendations thus far. All are great and I appreciate everyone’s experience. I think I’m definitely set on the hobbywing 1080 esc, just still not exactly which motor to get.

I’m on a budget, probably running two cell, want slow speed, don’t need fast and ideally would like a motor that will last a little while.

As per your guys’ recommendations (thank you this far) I’ve read up and researched a little on Holmes Hobby’s line up. On the bottom of their motor recommendation page on their website for slowest motors, they recommend either the TorqueMaster 540 55T, Trailmaster Sport 540 55T, or the Trailmaster Sport 550 45T.

Anything there I should know? I’m running a stock Axial SCX10ii and want to know if all those would work? 540 vs 550 can size? Do either work? Is one better than the other?

Are they too slow? Durable enough? Should I change the gearing? I don’t need top end.

What does the option to “Install Holmes Straight Leads?” Does that mean they simply solder wires to the motor? Is it worth the little extra?

Sorry for the rambling questions, I’m just entirely new at this. Thank you guys in advance.

We already recommended the best motor for you. Just buy the HH Crawlmaster Sport 550 16t. At $20 it is the BEST all around scale crawler motor you are going to find in that price range. I would add that just because it is a $20 motor don't assume it is a low quality motor. Far from it, this motor would still be a good deal at X2 or even X3 the list price. Finally, John Holmes, owner of HH, is an active member here on RCC and is always willing to answer any crawler motor question you may have. You will not find a better motor for your needs and budget period.