How to fix stock motor contacts of RedCat RS10 XT

[halon]

Hi ppl,
The wheel of my redcat took a toll on one of the contacts of the rear motor (after I planned a crawling day with my bro and friend, ), so I decided to do a fix for it. I hope this info will help you somehow.




Main Materials (imagination is the limit)
small Pliers
cutting pliers
Copper (or other conductive material)
Tin
Welder
desire to want to do it

This method is a cheap one assuming you already have the materials to do it, otherwise get a new motor. I verified the replacement motors for the redcat and they come with the terminal already soldered in the same way the stock comes, so the wheel will break it again.

So, to remove the cap of the motor, which hold the contacts, one must cut the cable soldered to the motor chassis and pull back the small tooth that hold it(careful not to brake them). Once the cap is free, slowly pull it back by the contacts or with a small plier. Note: the inside part that makes contact with the brushes have a border that will stop them, by slowly twisting the cap the brushed contacts will come out. This is how the cap looks inside (the picture already have part of the fix):



Now, the rivet that hold the broken contact is really a bolt without face type, so take again the pliers and firmly but carefully grab the head(side to side) and turn it counter clockwise, it will unscrew and the contact will be free. You will need to expand, just a little, the size of the hole of the contact, you might use a small flathead screwdriver (or any tool you consider better suited for the job). Now, some conductive material will be needed, I used copper, so I'll going with that. I got the copper from a choke coil inside an old computer power supply (warning, if the power supply was recently disconnected you might get an electric shock, wait no less than two day and still be careful).



Using a hammer (or any other hard metal tool you desire) flattens the cable just enough for it to pass through the contact space along with the original contact, cut it form the rest and bend one end. Now this part is a little tricky, you will have to insert both the cable you cut and the original contact so they will end like this:




To put back the rivet, just screw it back clockwise with the plier.
Now for the welding part. I didn't do it myself as my older brother was like "I want to do it!" and he had these big shinny eyes , so I was just an spectator. Anyway, I will assume you know how to do some welding (not perfect but some practice), weld the two contacts together, so they do better contact and the new one stays in place, like this:



Then weld the broken cable to the new contact without touching the cap, in a T form, the cable going toward the electric components (ESC, battery, receiver, etc) this way the wheel won't touch the contact again. Put back the cap into the motor (mind the brushes, you might need a really small screwdriver to accommodated the brushes into the motor also the cap have a guide pin so it will fit only one specific way) and weld back (what I believe are) the noise interference cancellation cables to the chassis of the motor.



Cut the contact excess and push back the small teeth that hold the cap.(yes mine are not set back in the image)



Well, I added hot glue just to protect it a little more, just in case.



Now my wheel doe not touch the contact anymore.

Even though this "How To" shows you how "I" did it there might other way to accomplish what I did, so your imagination is the limit.

Well, I hope you ppl like this "not so quick" and "not so cheap" fix on a stock RS10 XT motor.

[Romad]

This is a great "how to" write up for a common issue with the cats. Good job! I found it useful and now I have a spare motor in the toolbox. This is why I joined this forum, help from people who don't mind giving a hand here and there. Kudos Halon. good write up.

[heefageLA]

I also have just repositioned my motor contacts.

Mine is alot less attractive so no write ups coming from this guy.

Good thinkin' on the hot glue.