Commutator Cleaning Brush Issue

[Wooster 30]

Hi all!

I’m having trouble using a Commutator Cleaning brush (part 53486) on my Super Stock TZ motor (53696). I have tried replacing either the +ve or -ve brush with either of the 2 cleaning brushes in the pack - but when I connect up the motor (having removed it from the chassis and taken off the spur gear), it won’t rotate. I just get that high pitched electrical noise you get when there’s something wrong. The instructions tell you to run the motor for 2 or 3 mins at full speed. When I put the original brush back in, the motor works just fine. I know the cleaning brushes and motor are supposed to be compatible. Am I missing something obvious?

[Wooster 30]

Anyone? It’s really weird - I haven’t found anyone with experience of using these things but the instructions that come with the SuperStock motor state that they are the recommended way of cleaning the commutator! I picked some up on eBay for a few quid - so no biggy - but just wanted to see how they worked :/

[Fruitfly01 595]

I've no experience with the cleaning brushes either, although I'm thinking of buying and trying some on my non rebuildable Tamiya motors.

The Stock TZ motor is rebuildable and it's quite easy to disassemble, clean and rebuild, as long as you're careful.  The trick is to remember where the washers go and to not scratch the stack across the magnets, or  break the soft fibre washer.

The armature and inner can and endbell can be flushed with motor spray (don't forget to remove the brushes and re-oil the oolite bearings)

The commutator can be rubbed down with a pencil eraser, although to remove any heavy scoring it will have to be trued on a lathe.

If you want to improve the longevity of the motor a little, you can replace the bronze bearings with ball bearings.

 

[Wooster 30]

Thanks @Fruitfly01 - I can report back the cleaning brushes do actually work- you just need a freshly charged battery to use them. I think the extra resistance they cause is too much for anything less.
I don’t think you’d be able to use them on none re-buildable motors though as you have to have access to one of the brushes to replace it with a cleaning brush.

Re: those washers. Do you know if the brass washer goes on top of the fibre washer, then the other (aluminium?) one - or is it the other way round? Not sure how much difference it would make - and the instructions don’t make a point of saying which is which in the exploded diagram - but I would like to know I’m rebuilding the motor correctly.

Finally - do you know what size bearings I would need to replace the bronze bushings?  Not really sure what the best tool for removing and replacing them would be either..

You can see why Brushless motors are so popular now -  just plug em in and go! A lot of fun can be had in the tinkering about with brushed motors though

 

 

[Superluminal 3408]

On 3/23/2021 at 10:29 PM, Wooster said:

Finally - do you know what size bearings I would need to replace the bronze bushings?  Not really sure what the best tool for removing and replacing them would be either.

R2ZZ is the bearing size. I have changed the bronze bushes out in several Superstocks now, very easy to do. I pushed the pushing out of the can with an alan key by hand, doesnt take too much force.

 

[Wooster 30]

Thank you Superluminal! I’ve recently added an RZ to my collection (lined up to go in a Hotshot ReRe) so I will get tinkering with that one too! Thanks for the link to the thread - that Tamiya Legends vid was my inspiration to start pulling my motors to bits! I’m not sure if the bearings will make much difference but I’m of the mind - if you can swap out the bushings, why wouldn’t you? Looking forward to feeling warm and happy inside, if nothing else! 😀

[Willy iine 15226]

Back in the 90's I use to race stock and modified touring cars and I cut the commutator after every 3 races and replaced the brushes often.  I mean I had a bag of brushes I'd use and just toss them when they started to discolor or show wear.  I also had a bunch of different spring tensions where I would tune the motors (which was normal back them for anyone who raced).  Actually I still have the lathe and stash of brushes and those brushed motors.. and the matched NiCd's.

I tried that commutator cleaner back then and I remember it was only marginally good.  Cleaning the brush surface with a eraser was about the same.  If you want to maintain a good performing motor, you really need to cut the commutator often and be ready to swap out those brushes.  

 

[simalarion 1485]

On 3/25/2021 at 2:45 AM, Superluminal said:

R2ZZ is the bearing size. I have changed the bronze bushes out in several Superstocks now, very easy to do. I pushed the pushing out of the can with an alan key by hand, doesnt take too much force

What size is that?, i would actually think this is a hop-up worth doing if its bronze bushings inside the motor

Edit: Found out that R2ZZ actually describe the size when searching Ali-E

[Pylon80 646]

Please delete my post

Edited May 26 by Pylon80
I got my motor names wrong!

[taffer 855]

I have used the cleaning brush set many times with success, if I recall there was one time a similar situation happened, I think I replaced the working brush first, rather than just putting the cleaning brush on one side....so in effect I was changing the brushes a built earlier that time