Originally Posted by
hotrod87
Hmmmm maybe not. I've always broken my brushed motors in with a 1.2 cell ran in a large cup of water until dead. Change water and run another one after oiling bushings again. Usually I do it 3 times.
That certainly is an acceptable method, but there are much easier ways to achieve the same results. This method works cause you're using low voltage and clean water. There are so many sources of low voltage outputs such as chargers, motor testers, power supplies that using a 1 or 2 nicad cells is an unnecessary inconvenience.
Now there have been a couple of posts recently that have advocated the use of mineral spirits and lifting the brushes away form the comm, mainly to break in the bushings. Now, I'm not saying that the posters were not successful in their efforts, only that, maybe not a wise thing to do for most of us. First, mineral spirits are a paint thinner aren't they???? Second, lifting the brushes off the comm an tweak the brush arms or holders. Usually not a good idea. Third, those bushing buster materials are abrasive and will get into the bushings and will not clean off.
For those who want to experiment with various materials, Here is a relatively safe way to do it. Use a slave motor and drop your material on the comm. If you're into mineral spirits, use it here. The current generated in the motor should not be enough to ignite it. Your bushings should break in at the same time. Whether you oil them or not is up to you. Clean the motor every so often, and you will get the beautiful looking comms you're looking for. Disadvantage is it takes a long time and is a bit of a PITA.