How do you clean your RC?

[Notorious J]

How I clean my rc's? Well let's just say I take a slightly less sophisticated approach.

 

[The Bean]

So I have been cleaning my RC 'wrongly' for the past year or so, so can you guys confirm these are the most popular methods?

Quick after bash clean:

1. Spray off the dust
2. Dry it so it doesn't rust

For a deeper cleaning:

1. Spray with 50/50 simple green and water
2. Scrub difficult to reach places with a toothbrush or something
3. Rinse with a light stream of water
4. Dry with compressed air
5. Silicone lube the bearings
6. (WD-40 on a brush for a nice shine)

 

[N.Mango]

 

[Maxxamillion]

I get into the cleaning - it doesn't have to be perfect. Try not to leave it dirty for an extended time.
First turn it upside down and knock all the loose crap out of it. Second, use the air compressor and blow out debris. It gets 90% of it. Follow up with 50/50 simple green & water spray... blow it out again. I use a toothbrush, bottle brush and a bicycle chain brush, plus a pick to pull out jammed rocks. Blow it out again. Simple green again. ...Blow it out. Till its clean.
I dry brush the electronics mostly so as not to soak them with cleaner or water.
Blow the body off, then soap & water wash the body. Simple green the tires scrubbing with a tooth brush. Rinse.
Takes about an hour.
Half the craps sprays back on me usually lol - I get filthy... And my Mojave gets pretty filthy every time I run it.
A clean rc can look like a new rc for a pretty long time if you keep it clean.

And a clean r/c is a happy r/c.

 

[Doom!]

In the summer I Just take it down to the bikini car wash.

 

[Mazin]

16 pages and I think I got it, WD40 FTW...JK yea I'm that guy. Going to go to depot and get some of the SG and SG foam. I used to just wipe them down with dawn and water and use the compressor but that was about 15 years ago and a lot cheaper HPI racers, Think I will be way more in involved with the Kraton 8s and Outkast 6s. Thanks for all the members here for the info!

 

[AddictedtoRCs]

Spray the car/truck with simple green, let sit for about a minute so it drips down.

Rinse with water hose , mist or angle setting so water is NOT pouring into the car

Air dry off with leafblower or air compressor

Then I spray anything that would need lubrication with WD40 silicone spray

I give it one more spray with the air compressor on the lubricated parts so the liquid spreads around any missed areas/unreachable.

 

[gethall]

I'm a fan of Simple Green myself. It's great stuff!!! I use it on everything in my shed and garage, not just RC.

The simple green foaming spray is awesome.

 

[Jman54]

I have seen a couple threads and even get emails asking this question, how do you clean your RC? So I thought I'd share how I clean all of my RC's, plus others can share their methods as well.

How to clean your RC

How I have always cleaned my RC's have been to use a 50/50 mixture of water and Simple Green in a spray bottle.

Spray the RC down and let sit for a minute or two then either wipe down with clean cloth or air blast dry with an air compressor. Spray again on any stubborn spots and use an old toothbrush on any hard to reach areas.

Optionally, you can use WD40 on the RC after it's been cleaned to give it more of a shine if you prefer.

How to clean your RC bearings

When cleaning bearings I will remove the bearings from the RC and place inside an RPM Bearing Blaster then spray brake cleaner into the bearings to clean them followed by a light application of very light oil, such as this 3 in 1 oil.

If you really want to get serious about cleaning, pick up a Ultrasonic cleaner like this one which you'll be able to easily fit all of your bearings as well as many other RC parts. The ultrasonic cleaner will do magic in getting pretty much anything clean. But remember, if cleaning bearings with the ultrasonic cleaner to oil them afterwords.

That's it, now you should have an RC that's clean and ready to go get dirty again. What methods do you guys use?

Do you pull the electronics out first before you clean with green I presume? Or do you clean with them in? I'd like to know with being new to the hobby, because I just air blow the inside of the chassis out, but woukd like to learn a thorough way to clean.

 

[The Bean]

They are water resistant, but try not to drench them with pressurized water. The fans aren't waterproof though

 

[jkflow]

Keep water away from bearings and motor. ESC can be tricky, they are 'waterproof' but over time micro-cracks will occur and water could penetrate. Especially, the bonding between epoxy and the plastic shell is prone to cracks. I have yet to lose an ESC for that reason.
Don't hit it with a pressure washer or blow compressed air right on it when it's wet. The Green foam works great, my go-to solution, but I only do it when it's truly necessary, not after every outing. Just blow off the dirt and call it good, if it gets wet you have to check bearings after a couple of days. They seize up quickly.

 

[Jman54]

Keep water away from bearings and motor. ESC can be tricky, they are 'waterproof' but over time micro-cracks will occur and water could penetrate. Especially, the bonding between epoxy and the plastic shell is prone to cracks. I have yet to lose an ESC for that reason.
Don't hit it with a pressure washer or blow compressed air right on it when it's wet. The Green foam works great, my go-to solution, but I only do it when it's truly necessary, not after every outing. Just blow off the dirt and call it good, if it gets wet you have to check bearings after a couple of days. They seize up quickly.

Hopefully not a dumb question, but what bearings do you speak of?

 

[Greengaunja]

I prefer "steam cleaning"

 

[The Bean]

I use a moist toothbrush. It reaches almost anything, while being precise so I don't make the bearings wet

 

[WoodiE]

Do you pull the electronics out first before you clean with green I presume? Or do you clean with them in? I'd like to know with being new to the hobby, because I just air blow the inside of the chassis out, but woukd like to learn a thorough way to clean.

I leave the electronics in.

 

[Warby]

I just try to avoid spraying them directly with the cleaner and water.

 

[jkflow]

@Jman54 bearings as in every wheel/axle has 2, motor front and back, steering and diff bearings.
Take a wheel off, and you see one on each side of the axle (on 1/8).
Check all of them over time and multiple times in the season.

 

[Adamj804]

Ordered some of that foaming simple green with my Walmart order this week. I’m going to try it this weekend to see if I see a difference between it and the regular spray simple green.

 

[Just Joe]

I just shake them upside to get rid of large debris,pick out any rocks or weeds off and the use the air compressor & a small brush for the caked stuff. I try not to run in wet weather

 

[Jerold]

Blow it out with compressed air and or shop vac. I might also hose it down if needed followed by more compressed air.

Before you use a hose, make sure your stuff is "waterproof" and don't let the water sit.