How To: Break in a Stock
Motor
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Stock racing has really exploded on the Mini-Z
scene. Fewer and fewer drivers are interested
in the faster modified class where for a lot of
drivers time is spent trying to keep the car in
between the barriers instead of racing against
each other. With Stock Motors the racing is closer,
the motors are slow enough to where the cars are
very controllable, so any little extra edge you
can find helps.
One of the most important parts of stock racing
is obviously the motor. But since everyone is
running the same motor, we have to find ways (other
than set-up and practice) to make our cars a little
bit quicker than our buddies'. With this in mind,
We decided to show you how to properly break in
you stock motor so that you can kick some butt!!!
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These are our tools!
We need:
1.X-Acto knife
2.Reflex Racing's White Stuff
3.A couple of Screw Drivers
4.Motor Break-in Stand/ Dremel
5.Soldering Iron
6.Comm Drops
7.Electic Motor Cleaner
8.A power Source (2.0v is ideal)
9.Obviously, the Motor :) |
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First, we are going to take off the
brushes, so that we can break-in the bushings without
contaminating them. To do this we need to unsolder the
motor capacitors from the can.
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Don't forget to do it on both sides
:)
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With a flat head screw driver, lightly
pry off the brushes. Be careful, you do not want to
bend them.
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Once the brushes are unclipped from
the endbell, they are very easy to pull out.
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This is what the motor will look like
without brushes installed.
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Enter Reflex's awesome "WHITE
STUFF" bushing break in drops.
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Apply a generous amount of White
Stuff to the end-bell bushing.
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Now do the same to the motor can bushing. |
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Next, install the motor on your break
in stand or on your Dremel and get ready to spin the
motor for a while. Typically you don't want to do it
for more than 10 minutes though. The White Stuff
is pretty abrassive and if you spin it for too long
it will make your bushings sloppy and this will acutally
decrease the performance of the car.
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Once you remove the motor from the stand,
get ready to douse it with tons of motor cleaner. You
really have to get all that nasty White Stuff
off of the motor. |
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| Clean both bushings thouroughly,
otherwise the bushing will keep wearing in at an accelerated
pace.
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Now re-install your brushes onto your
motor can. Time to break in the brushes, this can take
a while :)
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Re-install the motor on your break-in
stand or on your Dremel. If you don't have 2 hours to
waste holding a dremel, you really need to invest in
a reliable break-in stand.
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Take some Commutator drops and lube
the bushings and the brushes on the motor before starting
to spin it. You really don't want to use anything but
comm drops on the endbell side of the motor. When using
oil, this will seep down to the commutator, contaminate
it and decrease the performance of the motor.
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Notice how the Picture
above the brushes look like they are almost ready to
go. THEY ARE NOT! And this is after 1 hour of break
in... |
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This is what they are
supposed to look like :) And it only took 1 hour and
45 minutes!!! |
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Now clean the commutator
of any debris and excessive commutator drops with your
electronic motor cleaner. |
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Time to re-solder the
motor capacitors to the can. |
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As always, don't forget
to do both sides :) |
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Re-lube your motor
and you are done. This process should take roughly about
2.5 hours. It is a bit tedious, but it is definitely
worth the advantage you get out of it. Hurry and go
install it in your car! Don't forget to let us know
how much faster the motor next time you go to the track...
email us to contact@reflexracing.net |
Written by Cristian
Tabush |
