Motor not spinning - Newbie

[dadof2 6]

Help please!

I would appreciate any help please :-) I've just assembled a Plasma Edge II and I've been doing it with my 2 boys on and off, 11 and 4, it's my opportunity to pull them away from screens and enjoy some fresh air and the sense of achievement. To be honest, it is for me too, I am rubbish at this stuff and want to get better.

I am pleased to say that I managed to assemble it, resolved a small issue with the steering offset before our first run. We took it out yesterday, dry flat tarmac in a car, no bumps, no off road aspects, the perfect place for me and my boys to take it for a spin. I was conscious of over doing it so i set it on 50% throttle and it trundled around well, we all had a quick turn. I took back the remote and put it on 75% throttle, again testing the water before i let them loose. It was so much more fun and was going great, until suddenly is stopped. I could hear a noise, like a whirring noise, sounded like the motor but the pinion gear was not spinning. I can see inside the side of the motor and its moving inside, just nothing moving the pinion gear.

I've been researching for the last 12 hours to see if I can find an answer and I am struggling. I've took it apart more, take the motor out and when the motor is out, the pinion gear will spin. When i put it back in, it won't, it looks like its trying but can't spin, almost like its lost all power. The steering works fine so I don't think its the receiver? Not 100% sure how I would know if it's the ESC? 

As it was 5-10 minutes into our first go, shall I go back to the retailer I bought it from, could it be a faulty motor?

Like i say, any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Adam

dadof2

[Twinfan 1252]

Has something seized?  Can you push the car on the ground forwards and backwards?  It could be something jammed somewhere internally or externally.

Don't run the motor too much at the moment, you could burn it out...

[Wooders28 4723]

The small grub screw is tight, and against the flat on the motor shaft? 

[mtbkym01 4008]

Yep sounds like pinion is slipping on the shaft, make sure its tight on the flat surface as @Wooders28 says above. See how you go with that. 

[dadof2 6]

Thanks all, the grub screw, you're right. Looks like it's not gripping the pinion gear because of the way the grub screw was locked on. I noticed in the instructions as well that I should have had the pinion gear further out so it meets the spur gear better.

Cheers all, really appreciate that :-)

[Willy iine 18805]

3 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

The small grub screw is tight, and against the flat on the motor shaft? 

This is usually the culprit.  

Enjoy your new car @dadof2!!

[Frog Jumper 3661]

A tiny drop of thread lock on the grub will keep it in place.  Wipe off any excess so as to not damage the plastic innards.

[dadof2 6]

Cheers all,

The boys loved it when I ramped it up to 75% and were so excited, it was a little bit of a dampener but the fact that it's fixed, this is exactly the things I wanted them to see. Now i can explain them how it failed. 

@Frog Jumper what is thread lock and is it worth it? Is there a particular grade that you should look to get or is it 1 size fits all?

Would you all recommend to upgrade in the future to brushless motor? Is it worth the new investment or look to upgrade the bearings etc first?

[Willy iine 18805]

25 minutes ago, dadof2 said:

 

Would you all recommend to upgrade in the future to brushless motor? Is it worth the new investment or look to upgrade the bearings etc first?

Yes, but for now I would stick to just driving with the stock motor until you get the hang of the car.  I mean, be able to drive it without crashing it at all.  Bearings are good to have, but not necessary.  When I was a kid long time ago, I could not afford bearings and ran plastic bushings..until the front wheels were wobbly..  and my buddy's dad would give us a small jar of fresh take off bushings and used those.   

Until you are certain you want to dump hundreds (tens of thousands ) into the hobby.  

[sosidge 624]

1 hour ago, dadof2 said:

Cheers all,

The boys loved it when I ramped it up to 75% and were so excited, it was a little bit of a dampener but the fact that it's fixed, this is exactly the things I wanted them to see. Now i can explain them how it failed. 

@Frog Jumper what is thread lock and is it worth it? Is there a particular grade that you should look to get or is it 1 size fits all?

Would you all recommend to upgrade in the future to brushless motor? Is it worth the new investment or look to upgrade the bearings etc first?

I would not recommend threadlock on a pinion as you may never get it back off again. Hand tight with a good quality Allen driver is enough.

[Twinfan 1252]

For threadlock, you want the type that can be easily removed with hand tools not the permanent type!  I use Loctite 222, and if it's been on a while and fairly stuck a small amount of heat releases it.

I would upgrade to bearings first, you'll need them for a higher power motor.

[dadof2 6]

Thanks all, 

@Willy iine I think that's definitely good advice, it's making sure my kids are interested in it long term too. My intentions are good but it was ultimately for their purposes, so best to keep at a level they will enjoy too.

@sosidge Thank you, again sound advice, that was my slight concern by the name of it, thinking it might cause issues longer down the line.

@Twinfan Thank you for explaining about Thread lock, not even something I would have considered and it's great to know this product is out there, think i'll wait for my knowledge and confidence to creep up first before handling this stuff but it's definitely good to know it's out there for the future, thank you.

[Frog Jumper 3661]

2 hours ago, dadof2 said:

 

@Frog Jumper what is thread lock and is it worth it? Is there a particular grade that you should look to get or is it 1 size fits all?

 

I use Locktite blue.

https://www.loctiteproducts.com/en/products/specialty-products/specialty/loctite_threadlockerblue242.html

 

 

[Frog Jumper 3661]

1 hour ago, sosidge said:

I would not recommend threadlock on a pinion as you may never get it back off again. Hand tight with a good quality Allen driver is enough.

I had to buy a pinion remover tool to get one of a used motor i got from eBay.  I guess they used red thread lock???  it gave me a reason to buy a vintage Thorp tool!

[Twinfan 1252]

Some good info here for those interested.  I personally feel blue is a bit overkill, which is why I use purple, but either will do the job on RC motors  

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/applications/all-applications/industry-insights/choosing-the-right-threadlocker.html

[Wooders28 4723]

I've never used thread lock on a motor grub screw, but I would invest in a decent 1.5mm driver. I've tried a few, but MIP are the best, and worth an investment imo (just the 1.5mm though, the rest of mine are, arrowmax).

2 hours ago, dadof2 said:

Would you all recommend to upgrade in the future to brushless motor? Is it worth the new investment or look to upgrade the bearings etc first?

Bearings and a steel pinion. The tamiya pinions wear fairly quickly with brushless power (or brushed modified motors, we used bitd) ,and leave a lovely aluminium grinding paste around the gearbox as they wear.

Depending on what you've got now, but a radio with epa works well if you've young ones, you can turn the speed down in seconds.

[Willy iine 18805]

Yeah, I’m not sure I would recommend threadlock on the grub screw either as I’ve had the hex strip. 

Just torque it up real nice and on occasion check for tightness.

 

I would also go over the entire car after maybe 10 runs as habit to retorque the screws.