Catches fire? You mean flames, or just smoke? Are you putting lubricants on, too much perhaps?

 

Prime suspect = Capacitor across the motor terminals.

 

Smoke, especially apparent when the lights are on. I did over-oil it once but I think that has cleared up now. What are the solutions?

.

 

Hi 911,

what voltage do you use, maybe it's too high. I have one as
well, and it's running really good without any problems at all.
We're usually using 10V although that's a little bit low for that
engine, but I guess up to 14V should be now problem.

Cya!

Leon

 

A couple things are possible. First I would run the chassis with the body off to see exactly where the smoke is originating from. It could be the the small cap on the outside but these usually go all at once so I don't think that is the problem. The next most likely is brushes which have been saturated by oil/lub. This is not that obvious from visual inspection but causes large pieces of the brush to break off and get lodged between the comm segments. This is usually a monentary short and shows up as smoke, loss of performance, a "fire" ring around the comm as it burns off. If this is the case then you will need to disassemble the motor, clean off the comm with 1200grit sandpaper or finer, clean out the segment gaps with a fine tooth pick or back side of an exacto blade and clean each brush in alcohol then gentally sand off the ends to remove the corrupted material. The next likely cause could be a problem with the armature so you will need to check the "ohm" reading between each pair of com segments. The resistance should be greater than 2-3 ohms and less than 10 on each pair depending on motor type. All readings should be close to the same. If one reading is significantly greater then you can try adding a dab of solder to each connecting point on the solder ring. This should reheat the joint and reconnect the offending conection if that is the problem. If it doesn't correct the problem then the "break" is somewhere else and will need a rewind to correct. Also check that the brushes move freely in their holders. Once in awhile one gets hung up on a burr and this can sometimes cause extra heat and some smoke but this is generally not the case. Some other things to check is the spring connections between the motor and chassis. If these are not good you can get some sparking and a little smoke sometimes. If you are running allot of magnet downforce you may also be overtaxing the motor. This is usually not the case but can happen when extra magnets are used. Again, the first thing to do is visually isolate the problem then work from there. If you do the motor fixes above do a good break in after you reassemble it.

Jimmy

 

Probably oil fouling the motor if you didn't clean it out with a good 30 second soaking in lighter fuel (and 10 minutes to let it all evapourate)?

 

Thanks for your replies. Sometimes the lights just come on and no motor, other times it splutters and then smokes, other times it's fine. The whole things weird. Is there a method to ensure that the motor connections connect with the rails because they seem to be separating often. Thanks again.

.

 

Hi 911,

could it maybe be that your enginebay connection to the powerlines
are not always connecting and thus makings sparks and smoke. You
could try to fix it by bending the copper lines down, or if that doesn't
work, solder both parts together with a cable.

Have fun trying,

Leon

 

Just wondering if you have a fault with the lighting circuit board, i've found that they can be exposed to lubricants being flung of the axles/contrate,possibly a short, try disconnecting lights & see how things are.

Zak

 

I usually solder the spring connection of the motor to the copper strip in the chassis. Just install the motor, put a dab of flux on each joint and touch the solder/iron to the joint. the solder will flow and give a nice strong connection. You will not need allot of heat so the chassis will not be damaged. If the copper strip isn't shiney you may want to buff it lightly with some sandpaper; do the same to the end of the motor spring connectors.
Jimmy