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SuperHornet

Help With An Old Motor

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Not too sure how old this motor is. It was on my uncles old car. Its called.. or well it says on it Sapphire 17 turn single 18.5 awg. on the back side of it oposite the pinion is says Epic 5.0 with a little + symbol

What I want to know is how I can tell if this engine needs any type of repairing. I had this engine in my superhornet for a few runs and it goes noticeably faster than the stock 540. I was just wondering if I needed to do anything to it before I put it into my df-02.

and If so, where can I find some sort of tutorial for cleaning these engines as I have never done it before and have no idea where to begin

thanks

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Sounds like its part of Trinity's Speed Gems family.

They should be rebuildable so when needs to you can open them up and get it cleaned. True the comm on a comm lathe if necessary then rebuild with new brushes. Oil the bearings regularly.

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Does the motor have two small screws on the end where it says epic? If it does then the motor can be disassembled and rebuilt.

To do this you need to remove the springs that hold the brushes in and pull the brushes clear of the armature (that's the bit that turns :P)

You can then undo the two screws and take off the end bell.

Examine the commutator on the armature, this is the bit that the brushes make contact with, it should be a nice gold colour and smooth and flat. If it's blackened then it can be cleaned with a bit of wire wool if you're careful or if it's rough or has a concave profile then it will need skimming (machining back to good metal) which any decent model shop should be able to do.

The armature will pull out of the motor body, be careful not to lose any shims that may be on either end of the armature.

Once appart dust and debris can be brushed off and out of the motor

Check the brushes on the end bell,If they are shorter than about 5 or 6mm or pitted and burnt then you will need new ones for what they cost you may as well replace them anyhow. If you have the armature skimmed then you will need new brushes, again, any decent model shop will be able to sort you out. Some brushes are easy to replace as they are screwed onto the motor end bell, others are soldered so you will need a soldering iron (or a decent model shop)

The whole motor can then be reassembled in reverse order.

I'm not surprised that your 17turn motor is faster than your 540, just be careful what speedo you are using as the 17turn will draw a lot more current than the 540 and could easily burn your speedo out. You will find also that your run times are considerably shorter.

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I tried taking apart the motor to see if it needed anything according to the instructions and what to look for, It looked like it just needed a little cleaning and everything looked good. As I was taking it apart a small metal washer fell out of somewhere I have no idea where. I put the motor back together without the washer and everything seamed to be fine.

I put it back in and took it for a drive, Now I notice my car hesatating and moving unpredictably... like something is wrong with the receiver. When it decides to go it actually runs great.. its just this new issue im having that was a non issue before I messed with the motor.

Tonight I'm going to throw a stock 540 in to see if I get the same issues, just to make sure its not anything else.

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The little washer was most probably from the end of the main shaft (armature), just on top of the commutator, as a spacer shim.

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