greasemonkey74

I bought a 4pl about 4 weeks ago and and having issues with it. The 2nd week I had it out, at the end of a 6 min heat, the entire radio lost contact and I smashed my truck into the wall at the end of the straight. Last week, it got really bad. I'd turn left, the truck would turn right (occasionally), radio would lose contact momentarily, then come back in then it finally just died. I can't stand dropping out of an a main due to equipment problems on the 4th lap! When I got the truck off the track at the end of the race, I turned it off and back on and it came back to life. I asked a few of the most knowledgeable guys at the track, and they said the dirt in the receiver is most likely the issue. We dumped some dirt out, I ran it for 5 minutes without a glitch. Once I got home, I disassembled the receiver and there was quite a bit of fine dirt still under the circuit board, so I cleaned that out and sprayed down the board with motor spray as instructed.

Can dirt (not wet mud) really have that effect on a receiver?
If so, why are they not better sealed against it?
What do you all do to protect your receivers?

I like the radio overall, but a glitch can really ruin your night!

Duster_360

iTrader: (21)

If the dirt has enough mineral content to be conductive, it can and will provide a path to short between two solder connections on the bottom of the board. All its got to do is provide momentary contact between two adjacent solder points and you've had a glitch of some kind. Depending on whats being shorted, you can lose contact, lose direction, lose control, lose anything the radio controls.

Most run their rcvrs in some kind of sealed radio box, thats what I do with mine. If an RC doesn't have one, I buy one made for another brand and adapt it to fit.