shortcut3d

Preparing for winter maintenance and planning to refresh my vehicles 100%. With that said, I picked up a Hobbywing Tunalyzer for the motor rebuild and tuning for my first time. I plan to upgrade the bearings to hybrid ceramics, change screws to titanium, and re-shim the motor.

What is the verdict for carpet off-road on using PTFE / Teflon motor shims? I know they’re used in the top of the line Fantom Works motors, but I see sparse comments about failure.

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

You would be better off buying a new motor than spending the money on all those hop-ups. If you really want to know the strength of your motor, pick up a Rotor Master from WMHracing.com. On old motors, it's usually the rotor that needs to be updated.
Teflon doesn't last as long. When they get hot, they get soft.

These videos might help.

https://youtu.be/9AppiadUGos

https://youtu.be/1x1TKn_GJKM

HOTROD716

I have been using teflon in my motors for a while now. I guess if you get them really hot 200 plus they might get soft, I do not get my motors that warm, usually at most 160 degrees, so I cannot confirm or refute the degree of softness. If you are starting off with tuning your motors, I would suggest using brass spacers, see where you timing and gearing is. Once your temps are good, you can always change over to teflon spacers and not have to worry.

shortcut3d

Taking all the advice so far into account.

I already had Trinity Slot Machine Certified motors ready to replace HW G4s, but “things” happened.

So I’m going to upgrade to Fantom Helix Works motors.

The HW G4s are still very serviceable, so I plan to tear them down for a good cleaning. Looks like they aren’t really shimmed based on YouTube tear downs. I drop in some new Acer Ceramics and Titanium screws (about $30 total per motor).

For the HW G4s, is there a good amp target? The spec on the HW site has 4.1 amps and 3.7 amps for 13.5 and 17.5 respectively, which seems super low. I’ll test/tune for the sweet spot, but concerned it might run too hot.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

I have my HW G4 13.5 set to 47 degrees on the endbell. Don't remember the current value but it is fairly low.

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

Yesterday, I ordered a HW G4 17.5. I plan on putting it through all the same tests and my last motors. I'm curious on how well it will compete with the Surpass V6.

shortcut3d

I tried using a multimeter to measure the amps on on of my HW Xerun V10 G4 17.5 motors today. It only pulled just over 1 amp. It peaked at 1.6 amps on trigger pull. Am I doing something wrong?

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

It will read different with an ESC. It also depends on how you are measuring it and from what point.

shortcut3d

I’m used a Klein RMS Multimeter that is 10A current rated. I connected it in series with the ESC / battery using alligator clips. ESC positive lead to the positive 10A port. ESC negative lead to the battery negative. Battery positive to the comm port on the multimeter. Throttle control with the transmitter

OffRoadJunkie

iTrader: (6)

so, you wired it in-line with the battery? I'm not sure I'm reading this right. You should have the meter hooked up in-line with the positive lead on the battery. The negative wire, from the battery, should hook directly up to the ESC.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

It makes no difference which lead it's connected to. Kirchhoff's law, current in is current out.

shortcut3d

Correct. The ESC positive is going to the meter positive. The ESC negative is going to the battery negative.

DirkW

iTrader: (1)

It does not matter where in the circuit you insert the meter.

trilerian

iTrader: (50)

Do remember the signal will be chopped by pwm. This can cause all kinds of issues trying to read the current if it isn't correctly accounted for. Most likely, the meter is reading the pwm as a pseudo sine wave and giving you an rms reading, which will not be accurate.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

There's no PWM at full throttle. I've also never seen a meter do an RMS conversion when in DC mode.