MRorange

Well I am not new to RC but I am new to electric. So how often should I change the brushes in the motor?

OTE_TheMissile

iTrader: (2)

Depends on how serious you are about motor tuning, with my old MVPs I'd change the brushes whenever I cut the commutator, but I was getting a LOT of mileage between cuts. Yeah, truth be told a lot of those brushes I tossed could've been re-used, but to stay in the top of Stock Truck requires you to really keep on top of motor tuning, so why go through all the work of rebuilding a motor just to pass on a new $6 set of brushes?

What really makes a difference is the condition of the commutator. Once that's due for a cut on a comm lathe (ask your local hobby shop), you can decide if there's enough left of the brushes to make them worth cleaning up and re-installing. Typically when they get down around 75-66% of their original length, it's time for new ones.

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

it all depends how often you brush your hair, but if you cut your hair short your brush should last you a very long time!!






oh you meant brushes for the motor?? Didnt know people still use those

MRorange

Ha ha very funny. The problem is that I can't decide to go brushless and lipo or brushed and nimh. so do you have any sugestions?

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

brushless and lipo will save you alot of money in the end and will give you more time on the track

OTE_TheMissile

iTrader: (2)

...if they're legal

quick5pnt0

iTrader: (8)

What happened to the good old days when people enjoyed working on their cars? To me motor maintenance is just part of the hobby, I don't know why so many people want to get away from it.

Soon people won't want to build kits either...oh wait, thats already happened.

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

they are legal

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

you still work on your car, I can spend more time on the cars set up than spending time cutting a motor

OTE_TheMissile

iTrader: (2)

Oh please, once someone goes BL around here all they do in-between races is whine about how "bad" a shape the track is in because their car won't hook up on it.

Low_E

I luuve working on my car, motor, ... and using the comm lathe soldering new brushes, braking a motor or brushes in, ... are just things that belong with RC, I think ...
but on the other hand, a comm lathe will cost you, and so will brushes ...
AND when racing, it is a luxury, not having to care about the regular maintenance of your motor (I use to check the comm and brushes every three runs) or even not having to care about the ideal managment of your batteries, just to be sure to have optimum performance, ...
Take it from me, LiPo and BL are here to stay, and IMHO it is a bit silly to invest in all the other equipment for Ni-.. batteries and brushed motors.
Just my 2 cts.

I did ran my E-Firestorm in a competition last weekend and having troubles with my ESC and motor overheating and other stuff. I just had a new mamba Sidewinder-kit in my toolbox ready to be mounted in my X10.
I simply ripped (actually I did it very gently and with respect ) the ESC-Motor out and replaced by the Sidewinder-kit (Sidewinder ESC + 5700kv BL) .. and had plenty off time later on to concentrate on the setup of the suspension instead of dealing with the motor problems. Very convenient!
... also, that new Sidewinder-kit worked brilliantly. I allready had it set up through the PC-link at home, just in case. Another case of being well prepared

grassrootsracer

iTrader: (20)

Yeah, you could be right. Depends how you looking at it on that day. Its a combo of both though.

Marcos.J

iTrader: (239)

maybe in wisconsin