fulcrum2

Hi there,

I am planning to set up a car which will be used for wet races. Does anybody has some advice on the bearings? Should I run rubber shielded grease filled ones and use them for longer or take very cheap ones, remove the shields (to let the dirt go right through) and throw them away after the race?

How about engines? I have seen more then one guy having a completely destroyed engine after a wet race. Is it wise to change the front bearing to a rubber shielded type in order to avoid any dirt entering the engine?

Engine temperature - My friends are struggeling to keep their engines at a reasonable operating temp. I feel this wears them out quickly. How could I tackle this?

Thanks a lot for any feedback!

Cheers, Stefan

gfilos

Nice questions
1. Use rubber shield bearings with grease, they offer a better seal. After race clean them up and use oil instead. I wouldnt use my best ceramic bearings on wet race, regular cheap ones will do the trick.

2. Rubber shield bearing is better for the engine. Also, i wouldnt use my good engine on a wet race, normally you dont need too much power under these circumstances.

3. hmm, just some thoughts: well first, dont cut rear,side windows on lexan. Make the fuel hole on the top and not on the front window. If problem is not solved, try using some aluminium tape on the cooling head.

4. Be sure you waterproof your electronics very well. As for servos, i would use some silicone on the case join and servo head and for the receiver i would use 2 balloons and cleaning putty on the hole (this is in case you dont run receiver box, otherwise just use silicone on the join)

5. I would use an Ins-box filter.

6. Also, after the race, dissasemble engine, bearings and hole car!

Roelof

Keep a large can WD40 with you. When driven in real wet just pray WD40 into any hole of the car, when on the bearings use the air compressor to blow it into the bearings.

Place a piece of lexan beween the chassis plate and the motor mounts, it will keep more heat into the engine.

Try to wrap in the cooling head wiyj aluminium tape or cut down an old head to something smaller. I have a small Novarossi 3.5cc airplaine engine head.

Use an INSBOX but cut an hole into the lower side of the foam filter so water in the filter will not block the airflow.

Use a glowplug nr5

And be smart, use a disposeable engine, even a Force will work, some do use a Novarossi or Picco Basic engine

fulcrum2

Great tips guys - thanks for your help!

@Roelof: What do you mean with "cut a hole in the lower side of the filter"? and do you know if it makes sense to use a rubber shielded front engine bearing?

Thanks again

Roelof

The problem with airfilters is that they do hold water and can block the airflow. With rain there is almost no dust and other kind of dirt in the air, with an insbox you already do keep out a lot of dirt so it is wise to cut a hole into the filter so there is a free airflow all the time. Just make a hole to the lower placed side of the filter so it will prevent drops of water falling down comming directly in the carburator. (airplanes and speedboats do not use a filter as well....)

As mentioned bearings with a rubber seal filled with real greese will keep out the water a long time but open bearings will work also but be sure to spray them with WD40 after the raceday so they will not get any rust

gfilos

nice idea about the insbox if you're running 1/8 cars where the insbox is exposed to rain, no need for this with 1/10 touring lexans. About the bearings, i highly recommend after the race day to remove seals, clean them and relube.

Roelof

With 1/10 the filter is placed under the body and is under a heavy spray made by the rear tire. When making a hole into the filter it is stil very wise to use an insbox with the holes facing foreward so spray from the rear wheels will not thrown into the filter.

gfilos

+1 About the original insbox holes. Must be mounted forward. Also, what comes into my mind is, maybe use a piece of lexan to avoid the spraying from the rear tire go into the filter.

MikaR

on our semi-wet race I wrapped the receiver with tissue before putting it into a plastic bag inside the RX box to keep the water out from the receiver. it worked.

Roelof

Just bind all the wires together with cleaning putty and place a balloon over it, the cleaning putty will stick on the balloon making it water resistant.

But do this at home and not on the wet raceday itself. And place an extra ballloon over it as protection.

gfilos

cleaning putty is magic! quick and effective way of waterproofing!

gfilos

what i was thinking about 1/10 touring and how to avoid water spraying into the filter, is that make a piece of lexan and mount it onto the roof of the lexan so as all spraying goes onto that and not onto the filter and carburator.

fulcrum2

One more time, thanks a lot guys!

The only question which remains open to me is the one about the rubber shielded front bearing for then engine - is it mandatory to run one? I tend to say "yes", because the metal shielded ones leave a gap and dirt contaminated water could enter the internals. Personally, I would just try it, but I have only Nova bases engines and cannot find rubber sealed bearings. On the other hand, the Nova Buggy engines come with them, so there must be a reason...

Roelof

Prrrrfffff..... nothing to worry about. Ofcource a rubber seal does prevent some dirt comming inside as it also prevents some air leaks but in the rain I do not think you have to go to special bearings. I never took care of....