No more brushed?

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Gumby

Gumby

Supamod
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The engineering class teacher was asking me about R/C stuff to build projects with. He kept coming to me with brushless motors. I thought that was strange because he isn't looking for anything fancy. I started looking and brushed motors are getting more expensive and hard to find. Brushless are everywhere.

Damn this hobby moves fast.
 
The good side is that brushless will get cheaper! I'm bummed that I will need to buy a new speed control to work with one though. Probably a lipo too. Exactly why my truck may stay old school.
 
Yikes! I have some brushless motor systems that I purchased for E Sailplanes in the late 90s. A couple of those seemed to be over $300 for just the motor and ESC.. Hate to see what they are worth now. They sure made a ton of power though.
 
I ran brushless motors in my crawlers for a couple years, at the time they were great. Now I have switched back to brushed, and loving how well they work. The speed controllers have improved a ton over the past 4 years for crawling. I run 35 turn motors on 11.1 volts, love the speed, and low end control.
 
sprocket3 said:
Yikes! I have some brushless motor systems that I purchased for E Sailplanes in the late 90s. A couple of those seemed to be over $300 for just the motor and ESC.. Hate to see what they are worth now. They sure made a ton of power though.
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I just purchased a brushless system for my Losi and i the motor + ESC was $189!
 
the brushless to brushed debate is hitting hard.

its literally ac to dc to drive the motors, I have a loving spot for brushed motors because non sensored brushless stall at low rpm and a brushed motor just doesnt care

I picked up 2 hand would 55t motors last go around and i love how clean they work on the rigs. I have a bunch of brushless now but they just dont hold a candle for sake of troubleshooting and repairability to the brushed
 
Grape Ape said:
the brushless to brushed debate is hitting hard.

its literally ac to dc to drive the motors, I have a loving spot for brushed motors because non sensored brushless stall at low rpm and a brushed motor just doesnt care

I picked up 2 hand would 55t motors last go around and i love how clean they work on the rigs. I have a bunch of brushless now but they just dont hold a candle for sake of troubleshooting and repairability to the brushed
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jfz80 has a hand wound 55t brushed in his axial and it works great. I like comparing the two types of motors like a harley and a honda... the harley is like a brushed motor, low torque and maintenance, the honda is like the brushless, high rpm power and less maintenance.
 
I have yet to have to maintain my brushed on the crawler,

I think its unfair to compare brushed to harleys, (this statement is for 05 and prior models of harley)

Brushed motors have been updated since they were designed, harleys have not they still have the grace and functionality of their first conceptional design, a tractor.

I ride a Kawi and love it, I dont think i will every own a harley, poor power for displacement, noisy and cant really get out of thier own way.
 
Grape Ape said:
I have yet to have to maintain my brushed on the crawler,

I think its unfair to compare brushed to harleys, (this statement is for 05 and prior models of harley)

Brushed motors have been updated since they were designed, harleys have not they still have the grace and functionality of their first conceptional design, a tractor.

I ride a Kawi and love it, I dont think i will every own a harley, poor power for displacement, noisy and cant really get out of thier own way.
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i've never owned a brushed motor either, but from what all the guys on the rcforums say you are supposed to do some type of maintenance on the brushed motor after so many hours of use. :confused:
 
brushed is pretty easy, maintenance is when (not racing) your motor seems doggy and batt run time starts to suffer you take the brushes out and screw/solder a new pair in. When you need to do that the second time clean the comm and inspect it if its warn have someone comm lathe it for you or if you have access to a lathe chuck it up and barely take any copper off the comm itself. put it back together run

there is a little more work/info but thats the basics. NOTHING worth worrying about and having low end torque without stall is SOOOOO worth it
 
i hear you, but i have to say that my brushless system never stalls or even comes close to stalling. Perhaps it's because i have the right gearing (worm drive in the Losi) in the axles and the pinion, but i have never had an issue with stalling. Now i can say before i went brushless the guy i bought the CC from had a brushed motor in it and i have no idea what it was, but it would stall bad. It would get hot and it would eat batteries like they were captain crunch!
 
Reading up on this, I just bought my sons a set of 1/10 scale monster trucks (electrix rucks and Traxxas Slash) for playing in the dirt.

So far, we have gone through three brushed motors in the Electrix (one factory and two Traxxas 12 turn motors) And I'm rapidly getting tired of it. The last motor lasted a whopping day. I'm breaking the electric motors in slowly as recommended by the hobby shop that sold me the motors. I have electric cleaner that I am spraying them down afterwards with as well.

Is it time to bite the bullet and drop another $300 on 2 sets of brushless motors/controls? Or is there a better alternative?
 
Mace said:
Reading up on this, I just bought my sons a set of 1/10 scale monster trucks (electrix rucks and Traxxas Slash) for playing in the dirt.

So far, we have gone through three brushed motors in the Electrix (one factory and two Traxxas 12 turn motors) And I'm rapidly getting tired of it. The last motor lasted a whopping day. I'm breaking the electric motors in slowly as recommended by the hobby shop that sold me the motors. I have electric cleaner that I am spraying them down afterwards with as well.

Is it time to bite the bullet and drop another $300 on 2 sets of brushless motors/controls? Or is there a better alternative?
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Something is not right! I have two brushed motors on my xr10 crawler and i haven't opened them up to clean them or anything in over two years with zero issues. They have been submerged under water, raced full throttle around a field with a 4S lipo and crawled hard on. Are you sure your speed controller is setup correctly?
 
Concretejungle hit a point some of the brushless users may enjoy:
"submerged under water"
No brushless would survive that. I run Tekin Redline sensored brushless in my rock racer, and Holmes Hobbies brushless motors and water-proofed esc's in my crawlers, knowing that many courses call for some sort of water crossing.
R. Holmes is the "Marlin" of the rc world, providing products and customer service for serious rc crawlers.
http://holmeshobbies.com/

*funny sidenote, I use watercooled brushless motors in my rc surfers, hoping for a good deck seal to protect them.
Leopard makes a wide range of brushless sensorless motors
in many sizes and kv's.

bottom line is quality is more $$, imo, traxxas, axial, and all the other mass producers use crap motors to keep overall costs down. You wouldn't drop a kia motor in your cruiser, pony up for a good power plant in your rc. RPP hobby is another good resource:
http://www.rpphobby.com/Default.asp
 
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Looking at the dead motors the brushes are still really thick. Something else is killing them. Perhaps glazing of the contact surface?
 
This my sound silly, but to echo concretejungle, make sure you are using the right motor and ESC combo. most stock ESC's won't handle a 12T motor. The slash may depending on what kind of motor ESC combo it came with. This definitely sounds like an electrical short or something. Brushed motors are generally very forgiving and are like a Toyota motor, hard to kill.
 
if you have a brushed motor running it in brushless mode on the ESC, you will ruin the motor. Also vice versa. So that would be my first step. Then, check your pinion mesh. If it's too tight, it can eat up a motor also.
 
How are they "dead"? Try them with a 9v battery instead of the speed control. Check that the brush wires aren't holding the brushes off the armature. 12t is a lot of motor for a kids toy. I'd go with something like 18t max. Back in the day we didn't even race anything hotter than a 15t, because they wear out so quickly.

I wouldn't use cleaner on a hot motor. Wait until it cools, spray sparingly and don't run it before the cleaner drys. I used to clean armatures with rubber like from a pencil eraser.
 
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