lush

Hi there, I have some questions about johnson 540s I would like answered, and would love it if someone who knows what they're talking about could help me out.

I am trying to get the most out of my new 540. My friend has an orion digital motor checker which he swears by - this little box measures the amount of amps the 540 (or any other motor) is pulling at any given voltage.

I have heard plenty of people tell me to dip the motor in shellite to beak it in (run it on a 3 cell pack in the shellite for a few minutes seems to be the general concensus) but I noticed a very distinct DROP in performance according to the motor checker after doing this.

Also, I noticed that adding comm drops or cleaning the comm with cotton buds soaked in shellite also decreased the number of amps the motor pulled. I thought this was strange, since comm drops are supposed to make you go faster, not slower! More amps through the motor = more speed surely...

I guess what I'm asking is, is all the talk of using shellite for breakin and cleaning just a load of rubbish? Is it actually decreasing performance? Am I putting too much faith in the numbers of the motor checker? What's the best way of cleaning the comm on a 540 without too much expense, and without decreasing the power output? Is there something wrong that my comm drops are making the motor pull less current?

Thank you to anyone who can help.

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Essentially dippin the motor speeds up break in...I have always just broke them in without water or Shellite....I run it at 3 volts for up to 3 hours....taking a break every 30 min or so to spray it out with motor spray and putting a drop of bushing oil on. These motors run better with age. And I wouldn't put a huge amount of faith in that motor checker or any dyno....most Tamiya classes that run these motors have a fixed gear ratio. And I have found that breaking in these motors normally yields more RPM and less amp draw...but overall power will come up. So you will have more top end and carry a little more speed in the corner.

Also as far as comm drops....I always used either Duralube or Prolong...but u have to spray the motor out each round!

Core Creations

iTrader: (108)

Oh, and cleaning the comm......I always used Brite Boy metal polish on a q-tip and rotated the arm a few times....no more than 3 times or you will upset the brush seat. Then spray it out with motor spray and relube the bushings....