Brushless Care

[GearHeadV8]

I recently got the 1/16 VXL E-Revo and i was wondering as far a motor car what should i do. What should i use on the bearing on the truck and the bearing on the brushless.

[dontspamme]

Don't run your BL motor without load. It's going to ruin it, how ? I have no idea. Read the Traxxas boards and Youtube comments for people being stupid and running it without a load.

And just typical care for bearings. Wipe them down after running in water to prevent rust. Shove them in WD-40, shake then dry them on paper towel. Then re-oil with some bearing oil.

[Donziikid]

While it is generally not a good idea to run any type of electric motor without a load for a prolonged period of time you can do it. Most racers break in their brushed motors by running them at half to three quarter voltage (2.4-3.6V) for a few minutes to even a few hours to wear down and "break in" the brushes. It won't instantly ruin them (brushed and brushless). I run my motors (brushed and brushless) open (not even a pinion!) like that to work them for a few seconds but that's about it. Oh, and people on YouTube are idiots.. Never trust YouTube comments.

You can use the same bearing oil that you use for your suspension bearings on your motor bearings. Just be carefully not to apply too much but just enough. An excessive amount will burn up and turn into a powder. This could potentially seize your motor up. I would suggest Trinity Royal Oil bearing lubricant.

Comparatively brushless motors are "maintenance free" when compared to brushed motors. Due to their mostly closed design it is very hard for dirt and debris to get inside them (also making them that much tougher to clean and lubricate). Just be sure to wipe everything down after every run (or as close to every as you can) to keep as much debris as possible out of the motor can. I've been running the same two brushless motors for two years without either one seizing up. Just care for them and be sure they're clean whenever you clean your E-Revo and you'll be good to go!

Cheers,
Kyle.

[GearHeadV8]

cool thanks for all the info. When you say with out a load do you mean simply not having the motor in the car and just holding it and reving it? With the trinity oil is that just like 2 drops on the bearings or is there a whole step by step for cleaning the car bearings. As for the brushless motor there is only 2 spots that i can see bearings one is on the back and one is at the top, are they the only ones i need to worry about?

[Action B]

Originally Posted by GearHeadV8

cool thanks for all the info. When you say with out a load do you mean simply not having the motor in the car and just holding it and reving it? With the trinity oil is that just like 2 drops on the bearings or is there a whole step by step for cleaning the car bearings. As for the brushless motor there is only 2 spots that i can see bearings one is on the back and one is at the top, are they the only ones i need to worry about?

Without a load means that the motor is receiving no resistance. So yes, having the motor out of the car and revving is essentially no load.

[Donziikid]

Originally Posted by GearHeadV8

cool thanks for all the info. When you say with out a load do you mean simply not having the motor in the car and just holding it and reving it? With the trinity oil is that just like 2 drops on the bearings or is there a whole step by step for cleaning the car bearings. As for the brushless motor there is only 2 spots that i can see bearings one is on the back and one is at the top, are they the only ones i need to worry about?

No load means no resistance, as Action B has stated in the post above mine. This means the motor is running as fast as it can, causing the most heat and from what some claim "the most damaging thing you can do to your motor!" I don't buy it. A little bit here and there will not kill your motor, but I do agree that prolonged no load running can ruin your motor(s).

To clean any sort of bearing (besides motor bearings) you should always disassemble them from the car/truck and clean them thoroughly. To clean my bearings I remove them from the RC, place them all in a Dixie cup and fill to the top of the highest bearing with the Trinity Royal Oil. Swish them around a few times to remove as much of the dirt and grime as possible and dump them onto a piece of paper towel covering a bowl (this way they don't go into the garbage or down the sink drain). Then I repeat the process until the dirt and grime is removed. I then either let them air dry over night or blow them dry with compressed air. After I know their dry I give them each a few squirts of straight Royal Oil and install them back into the cleaned RC. I typically do this about once every five or six runs to make sure everything is in tip top shape.

For motor bearings I just place one to two drops on each bearing every so ofter. Certainly do not go overboard because as I said a few posts above the fluid will turn into a powder when heated and dried which could potentially seize your motor. And yes, those are the only two you need to worry about because they should be the only two bearings.

[GearHeadV8]

Wow thank you guys so much i never thought i could learn so much about brushless motors and bearing maintenance. my truck is making a griniding sound so i will order the oil so when i fix the grinding i will clean everything.

again thanks for all the help