Is my motor shot???

[Sandracer_NL]

My front motor (DR8) bearing lasted 1 battery. Ever since, motor bearings get ceramic ones and I make the rig more sand proof. Never had a problem since .

 

[AnimalHippie]

Did you open the motor? Clean the BB's and all with an Electrical contact spray, (CRC automotive brand ) and Relube the BB's while you were in there. Do this regularly when you do pull the power module. Need to visibly examine the condition of the armature also.
When you powered the motor while it was out, was it silent and smooth running, little to no vibrations felt?
A motor will run under no load even though the BB's are worn.
It should just hum and be fairly silent. A properly running motor is very quiet.
I test my BLX motors on my Motor Analyzer. And when I do a Decibel Motor Noise Test, a proper New motor will show below 95db most of the time. Varies by motor brand.
That's my reference. As BB's wear out, Vibration increases, because the armature and BB's don't spin true, so decibels increase, a sign of needing new BB's. Or even the Armature shafts are galled out and worn. Sometimes even New BB's may not help in this case. The armature is now worn. Can still run it this way up to some point. Neglecting maintenance can cause this. Ultimately needing a new motor. New Armatures are not available for most motors.

EDITED.

No I didn't open the motor. Once it ran fine after removing the spur I put it back together. This is my first brushless. So I didn't know to pull it apart. I will have to look up some videos.

My front motor (DR8) bearing lasted 1 battery. Ever since, motor bearings get ceramic ones and I make the rig more sand proof. Never had a problem since .

I'm looking into bearings now. Are Stainless or ceramic better? Any advice on more sandproofing?

Thank all of you for your help and advice!!!!

 

[SrC]

Just use a set of Jims standard motor BB's (Abec 3's or higher) dedicated motor specific BB's. No need for the $Ceramics$. Especially at the price point of this motor. And if you neglect Ceramics, they wont last any longer than the others. SS may work for you also, if wet running is a concern. It's your wallet.
The standard stocker BB's are junk out the box. And give a bad name to this motor overall.
Just be on top of maintenance, cleaning and lubing the motor. Replace BB's as a practice, like the rigs other BB's. They are all consumable items. Motor runs cooler and could last for years.

 

[Sandracer_NL]

I'm looking into bearings now. Are Stainless or ceramic better? Any advice on more sandproofing?

As mentioned stock beatings are usually pretty bad when it comes in handling heat and high rpm’s for longer periods if time. And we are all pushing our cars to run faster and longer.
This is what I do:
1. Replace stock motor bearings with hybrid ceramic ones; not the rubber sealed ones, but the stainless steel ones.
The ceramic bearings can take much more rpm’s than the stock ones, and I don’t want any rubber in my motor,
stainless steel is stronger and has less friction. Yes, ceramic bearings cost more, but I can live with a cheaper wheel
bearing going bad on me, which will still allow me to finish my hike with the car. A motor bearing going bad can and
has destroyed my motor and ended my hike (well I had to walk back to the car with a pretty heavy rig.

2. Seal up any gaps in the chassis.
Gaps such as the spur gear slot and any unused holes for screws. For the spur gear slot, I’ve used a thin metal plate
before, but I’ve found out that you can cut out a plate from the bottom aluminium part of a Pringles can. I use
expoxy for metals to attach it to the bottom of the chassis and also to cover the plate with it. A bit of sandpaper to
make it smooth and thin, so it won’t stick behind rocks etc. and it will stick to the chassis.
As for any unused chassis holes I fill them with the metal epoxy and sand them smooth afterwards.

3. Cover the front motor plate with gorilla tape.
First make a hole that just fits the motor shaft In the tape. So making a 6mm hole in the tape if you have a 5mm motor
shaft. Puts it on the front motor plate and use a exacto blade to make it nice and round. If you press on the taoe you
can see all the screw holes after which you can cut out the motor holes you need.

4. Cover as much as ’air’ vents in the front of the chassis.
I know this will limit air flow for cooling, but there are fans for that. I use lexan and tape to make my own covers for my
buggy. As for the Mojave I use the Scorched inner fenders and out tape between the front ones. Still some airflow and
sand/dirt can pass but significantly reduced.

Quite a lot of text, you see pictures of it though in the build thread I did:
https://www.arrmaforum.com/threads/kraton-6s-build.28831/

 

[AnimalHippie]

Well haven't messed with this thing in a while. Due to just having a baby. Charged up the batteries for some play time and it's right back like it was. Cogging trying to start up and not going. Not even with a push would it go. Kinda aggravated with it at the moment

 

[Velodromed]

Well haven't messed with this thing in a while. Due to just having a baby. Charged up the batteries for some play time and it's right back like it was. Cogging trying to start up and not going. Not even with a push would it go. Kinda aggravated with it at the moment

It does sound like your motor. You could try to warranty it through horizon. Or If you don’t want to try fixing it you can pick up a stock one off Jenny’s for $50 I think. Or better, get a surpass 3670 for $30-35, 3050 kv I imagine. Then get a ‘non safe d pinion’ for 5 bucks.

Will the 3670 surpass run off the blx 100esc? I have a 3670, 2850kv with 130 esc and 18t pinion in my granite and vorteks. It’s perfect for me, runs cool and strong. But I never tried it with a blx 100 esc…

 

[Kla912000]

It does sound like your motor. You could try to warranty it through horizon. Or If you don’t want to try fixing it you can pick up a stock one off Jenny’s for $50 I think. Or better, get a surpass 3670 for $30-35, 3050 kv I imagine. Then get a ‘non safe d pinion’ for 5 bucks.

Will the 3670 surpass run off the blx 100esc? I have a 3670, 2850kv with 130 esc and 18t pinion in my granite and vorteks. It’s perfect for me, runs cool and strong. But I never tried it with a blx 100 esc…

Yes, of course it will run with the BLX 100. No problem at all.

 

[Velodromed]

Yes, of course it will run with the BLX 100. No problem at all.

Ok thanks man.
The reason I was wondering is when I hooked up a 6 pole, 2800 KV 3660 motor to a BLX 100 it ran like crap. When I switched to a 130amp ESC it ran beautifully. So maybe maybe the blx100, which is kinda old (the one Kusher gave me a while back) is going out? You know far more about this technical stuff then I do

 

[Kla912000]

Ok thanks man.
The reason I was wondering is when I hooked up a 6 pole, 2800 KV 3660 motor to a BLX 100 it ran like crap. When I switched to a 130amp ESC it ran beautifully. So maybe maybe the blx100, which is kinda old (the one Kusher gave me a while back) is going out? You know far more about this technical stuff then I do

Never tried a 6 pole motor. Don't know what the performance difference between a 6 and 4 pole motor would be. Maybe the 6 pole pulls more amps than the 4 pole motors and that might be why it didn't run so great on the 100a ESC. But I'm just guessing. Maybe someone else knows the answer.

 

[Velodromed]

Never tried a 6 pole motor. Don't know what the performance difference between a 6 and 4 pole motor would be. Maybe the 6 pole pulls more amps than the 4 pole motors and that might be why it didn't run so great on the 100a ESC. But I'm just guessing. Maybe someone else knows the answer.

No clue either. I got it a while back… impulse buy lol.

 

[AnimalHippie]

Horizon is sending me a new motor and I have a set of Jim's bearings on the way. I think I'm going to try the new bearings in the old motor first and see if that fixes it.

What do you guys recommend for cleaning and relubricating the bearings?

Thank you guys for all the help!!!!

 

[GraniteFox]

Electronics spray for cleaning out the can. Normally motor bearings are not worth cleaning…just replace. Make sure to pull the rotor and bag separately as it will magnetically pick up stuff. Use a wooden dowel or similar to seat the new bearing. Anything too hard will crush the bearing. 1 drop of bearing oil per bearing is plenty….really don’t need any. Replace rotor with spacers and you are good to go. Should work just fine.
I fix them all the time. It’s the front bearing that fails. Too much debris enters the power module. Rear bearings are usually fine. Either seal the module or cut a hole in the chassis to let things escape.……or both.

 

[AnimalHippie]

Thank you guys for all your help!!! I will be buying a few sets of bearings to keep on hand. Picked up the cleaner today. Going to try to replace the ones in the old motor. At $114 retail for the motor. I'll give it a shot LoL!

New motor is working great! Installed the HR motor plate I've had for months and switched to a 15t pinion from the stock 20t since I don't do 50mph, I could use the extra torque and here in FL any thing that will help with temps is a good thing. I like it! It definitely fits my driving style better now.

Any suggestions to help lock up the rear a bit more? Heavy grease? Foam ear plugs?