Jump to content
67CamaroSS

Has anyone ever burned out a Torque Tuned Motor?

Recommended Posts

I race my Buggyra Fat Fox Truck in the spec parking lot race class. Other than a 22t Pinion and ball bearings, the truck is stock. It uses a 2S lipo.  I also put on a couple of Associated heat sinks on the motor. I practiced for about 5 mins, let it sit for about 30 mins and ran the first heat. Toward the end of the heat, the truck was running a little slower. Right at the end of the race, it got very slow.  The motor and heat sinks were very hot. 

After it cooled off, I replaced the battery for the 2nd heat and the motor turned a little then nothing. I’ve never burned a motor so I suspected the ESC. Today I hooked up a battery directly to the motor and it won’t turn.  When  I turn the shaft by hand it sounds like something is rubbing, almost sandy.  I then tried another motor and the ESC works fine. The drivetrain is free and turns easy.

I got this thing lightly used. I initially did the water break in on the motor and it ran fine the first 4 days of racing.

Did this motor just expire? In all my years of bashing with silver cans, I’ve never burned one out. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
30 minutes ago, 67CamaroSS said:

In all my years of bashing with silver cans, I’ve never burned one out.

Same here. Maybe I've just been lucky. My Hornet's silver can swallowed a stone through a cooling vent once. I believe it chipped a brush and that slowed it down some, but that's about it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I recently scrapped a Torque Tuned, I had the pinion mesh incorrect, initially for the first couple of weeks the motor ran fine, but after a while it started to intermittently run at half speed until eventually it gave up. Fixed the mesh changed the motor and all good ever since.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Just now, 67CamaroSS said:

I dont think the mesh was off since It uses the motor mount and essentially fixed.

I still managed to mess it  up :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Another non-gearbox related cause for a burned motor could be that some dirt/contamenant got between the brushes and commutator. Especially with a motor that has open slots to the outside and is not water/dirt sealed.

This will increase the electrical resistance between brushes and commutator, causing increased heat, which results in burning of the commutator which increases resistance even more with more heat, etc... etc... until the motor dies.

Had this happen in my basherbear after driving through a puddle. Smoke came pooring from the motor. For me, stuff happens just replace it. :lol:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You may have been unlucky, or there may be an underlying problem.  Check the drivetrain is running freely - an incorrectly-mounted pinion or seized bearing or bit of hair around an outdrive might be enough to spoil your fun.

Also is your gearing correct for the track?  If you're not hitting full speed on the longest straight, you can try going down a pinion and see if it improves your acceleration (and laptimes).  If you're overgearing you will put excess heat through the motor and kill it quicker.

It might be worth opening up the motor and inspecting it for damage or foreign bodies.  Dust or hair might have got in and bound up a bearing.  You say it sounds sandy - that might be a cause of the failure or caused by it, but it would be interesting to see.

Another thought that's popped into my mind is the heatsink.  Now I have no figures to back this up and this is purely speculation - but the truck bodies are low against the motor, so the heatsink will get very little airflow.  It might be that it's not dissipating as much heat as you think it is.  Furthermore the motor already has cooling slots which will be blocked by the heatsink.  I don't think the Torque Tuned has an internal fan but the comm rotation will encourage some kind of airflow, which can't happen if the heat sink is in place.  It would be interesting to run some bench tests on this sort of thing to see if a heatsink is always a good thing.

14 minutes ago, hedge said:

I still managed to mess it  up :D

I have done this too - it's always worth checking the mesh after putting everything together.  If the drivetrain doesn't run smooth, open it up and check again.  A simple mistake could cost a motor or ESC.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
3 hours ago, 67CamaroSS said:

I got this thing lightly used...

Hmm, do you actually know how lightly used? My guess would be it hasn't been as lightly used as you thought and the brushes are gone. Either that or it has over heated to the point of irrevocable damage to brushes/comm. Similar thing happened to my TZ motor. Tired replacing the brushes but because the comm was fried too it made little difference.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
8 hours ago, Silver-Can said:

Hmm, do you actually know how lightly used? My guess would be it hasn't been as lightly used as you thought and the brushes are gone. Either that or it has over heated to the point of irrevocable damage to brushes/comm. Similar thing happened to my TZ motor. Tired replacing the brushes but because the comm was fried too it made little difference.

 

The tires looked just about new, the body wasn't bashed and the chassis had very few scratches on it.  I don't know anyone that would go to that much trouble to hide a bad $15 motor on an entry-grade chassis, but you never know exactly what they did, I guess.

 

I may take Mad Ax's advice and pop it open and post some pics.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I've never burned out a torque motor, but since I went old school and started wrapping my motors in bandage wrap I haven't killed one yet. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I just killed a Sport Tuned Motor yesterday. Looking into the slot, one of the brushes is gone.. so either it cooked off or is in the case. Will be opening motor to see.

This happened once before to me with a sport tuned. At that time I thought it was gearing so I opted for the lower ratio in my sand scorcher.  

Motor did get hot and the gearbox case was warm.. so what did it in and SRB gear box along with rear cover does keep motor cozy warm :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I burned my black Sport Tuned motor :( on essentially the same TT-01 chassis.  I thought the gear mesh was smooth (it was) when I installed everything, however I neglected to install the plastic spacer used on the drive shaft drive cup on the front.  Neglecting this plastic spacer, P3, allowed the drive shaft to move when under heavy load.. and a wobbly drive shaft transferred its problem to the spur gear, causing the mesh to be too tight.. too much friction for the motor to handle.. and a nice smoky smell resulted.

TT-01EDriveshaftSpacer.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...