Super Stock RZ, BZ, TZ stopped working

[Pkpiano 1]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum, apologies if this has been answered elsewhere. I put a super stock RZ in my son's Frog, and a super stock BZ in his Blackfoot. Both worked great for 6 weeks. This week, both motors stopped working completely. He uses each car almost every day approximately 30 minutes.

Is this common? Are the motors just burned out? Or, would the motors just stop completely if the brushes need replacement? Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[vodka 35]

ESC and battery are ok?

[Pkpiano 1]

Yes, battery and esc are good...we put the old silver can 540 back in and everything works fine on both cars.

[alvinlwh 4113]

Check your brushes. I have a TZ that one of its brushes always get stuck and need pushing in. Also, if brushes are worn out completely, it will not work, stop suddenly probably. 6 weeks and 30m per days sounds about right for the brushes to go completely. 

[alvinlwh 4113]

https://www.tamiyaclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/99934-strange-motor-stalling-problem/

[Pkpiano 1]

1 hour ago, alvinlwh said:

Check your brushes. I have a TZ that one of its brushes always get stuck and need pushing in. Also, if brushes are worn out completely, it will not work, stop suddenly probably. 6 weeks and 30m per days sounds about right for the brushes to go completely. 

Thanks, I'll try some new brushes

[DPR250R 47]

Great that he uses them so much. 
 

 

[alvinlwh 4113]

5 hours ago, Pkpiano said:

Thanks, I'll try some new brushes

When you pull out the old brushes, take a picture and post it here and we will tell you if they are gone or not. 

[Howards 442]

9 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

6 weeks and 30m per days sounds about right for the brushes to go completely. 

Good reason to move on to brushless right there. 

[ad456 202]

12 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

When you pull out the old brushes, take a picture and post it here and we will tell you if they are gone or not. 

A good call, a picture of the comm might handy as well, could be dirty/dusty depending on running surface.
Brushed motors do need a little more attention than a brushless system but for some it’s another avenue of interest in the hobby. 

[Pkpiano 1]

15 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

When you pull out the old brushes, take a picture and post it here and we will tell you if they are gone or not. 

 

[alvinlwh 4113]

3 hours ago, Pkpiano said:

 

That don't look too short, should be able to go down by another 40 - 50% of its current length. Put them back in and try again, it maybe a jammed brush. 

[WillyChang 1768]

Brushed motors need constant cleaning for proper operation. Dirty brushes arc & heat burns them out. 

New brushes are bright bronzey orange. They turn blue when overheated & dried out. 

As brushes wear down, springs need to be adjusted to press harder on the shorter brushes. If they bounce too much that causes more arcing too. 

At a minimum brushed endbell should be flushed out regularly, relube bearings. Clean brush hoods inside to avoid hung brush. Retension springs to suit. 

Truing the comm on a lathe keeps it round so brushes don’t bounce as much. 

[Willy iine 15178]

@Pkpiano Sorry to hear about your motors.  If you can, take the motor apart and take a picture of the commutator.  I think it’s overdue for a cut to remove the outer layer even if its something else causing the failure.

Typically I cut the comm about 10-15 runs on bashers, after 2-3 runs on race cars.. tattletale signs is motor runs progressively slower as grime builds up on the comm..

Some hobby shops have a service to cut the comm for you, or you can get a comm lathe and a 4 cell to do it yourself.    GL! 

[Pkpiano 1]

 I guess the brushes were stuck. Took them out and put them back in and works ok now. Ordered new brushes to have on hand. I'll look into cutting the commutator. That's new to me, but we'll figure it out. Thanks everyone, my son is happy to have his cars running again 

[alvinlwh 4113]

2 hours ago, Pkpiano said:

 I guess the brushes were stuck. Took them out and put them back in and works ok now. Ordered new brushes to have on hand. I'll look into cutting the commutator. That's new to me, but we'll figure it out.

Same thing with mine, one (not both) brush gets stuck and even new brushes are the same, and swapping the brushes makes not difference. So it is a issue with the bellend channel. 

Before you rush out getting expensive comms cutting equipment, try getting some 53486 and/or 7 first. They cleaned up mine and if you are just doing general bashing, they are fine. No reason to splash out for a brushless setup if you do not wish to. 

[El Gecko 1235]

3 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

So it is a issue with the bellend channel.

Exactly, sometimes they need a small file run through the brush channels in the endbell to de-burr the inner openings (with the brushes removed obviously).

@Pkpiano Take the springs off and slide the brushes back and forth in the channel, and make sure they're smooth all the way to the comm. The brushes should literally just drop in and out--very little to no resistance. If you feel them getting hung up at any point, take the brushes out and file inside the endbell channel. It's trial and error, so you may have to repeat the process a few times, but once you're satisfied that the brush action is smooth on both sides, put it all back together and it should run a lot better. Make sure to put a piece of plastic or something to protect the comm while you're filing (it's better if you take the endbell off the can for this--less chance of damaging the armature).

[Rb4276 720]

On 10/6/2022 at 6:19 PM, alvinlwh said:

Check your brushes. I have a TZ that one of its brushes always get stuck and need pushing in. Also, if brushes are worn out completely, it will not work, stop suddenly probably. 6 weeks and 30m per days sounds about right for the brushes to go completely. 

100% the issue, i had the same issue about 6 years with a bz superstock. I ended up tossing it not knowing after little use and i did try messing with the brushes. Then a year or two later had the same issue with a rz tore it apart and worked perfectly fine after messing with the brushes.