Oooo bugger. Mud in my motors

[JonC]

 

Managed to pull off a quiet spectacular crash this afternoon, luckily the ground turned out to be very thick stinking mud, saved the quad but the motors have mud in them. Any advice on mud removal? Should I let it dry and blow out with an air line, or strip and wash out with deionise water, followed by a bit of oil?  Only other causality was a prop.

Cheers

JC

[barneyg]

So far I';ve just flushed them out under the tap and then dried them with a hair drier.

[JonC]

So far I';ve just flushed them out under the tap and then dried them with a hair drier.

Music to my ears, will give it a clean later

[barneyg]

wait for some other comments ... who knows what unknown damage I';ve been doing :)  That said I';ve not noticed any problems.  I put a little 3 in 1 oil on the bearings afterwards.

If you do try it watch you don';t let the motor get too hot under the drier

[Ross]

3-in-One supposed to be the watchmakers best friend!  (In that it eventually clogs up things)!!

[nub]

strip them down, wash them and oil the bearings.

[Hands0n]

So far I';ve just flushed them out under the tap and then dried them with a hair drier.

Mine spent 2-1/2 days in the hissing rain in a field in Kent and were no worse for wear. I didn';t even flush them out, the rain did that ::) Just fitted to replacement rotor arms and flew the bu99er.  Good old SunnySky motors.  Awesomeness at 980KV

[barneyg]

3-in-One supposed to be the watchmakers best friend!  (In that it eventually clogs up things)!!

Just don';t use wd40 

[Doug]

Just don';t use wd40 

There is a product on the market called TriFlow which is a Teflon based lubricant excellent for bearings of all kinds and you can get it in an aerosol can if you so wish.

look here and then search for a supplier

http://www.triflowlubricants.com/

[nub]

i wouldn';t use wd40 maself but each their own.

[guest325]

Just don';t use wd40 

Very good advice - wd40 is penetrating oil not a lubricant; this is what I always use: http://m.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-ptfe-spray-lubricant-400ml/80487

[JonC]

Very good advice - wd40 is penetrating oil not a lubricant; this is what I always use: http://m.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-ptfe-spray-lubricant-400ml/80487

What lube was going to be my next question.

[barneyg]

PTFE is good ...  My bike chain oil has PTFE in but it is too thick for this applicationm and I';ve got a dry spray ptfe can but it doesn';t have a fine nozzle so that was out too.

Just remembered I';ve got a fine applicator tube of Tuf-Glide and a Tuf-Glide impregnated cloth in the bathroom ... I wonder if that would be any good for this purpose

[Biffa]

I never use oil it just gets clogged up with dust n stuff, I use Silicone or PTFE

[Chami82923]

I did the same, buried one of my motors about 15cm in to the ground after a prop failure, just rinsed it through with warm water, dried it off on the radiator for a couple of days, connected it up and ran it for a couple if minutes then blew some compressed air to get any remaining debris out, then oiled the bearings with a ptfe based lubricant (GT85), now I couldn';t tell you which motor it was, as they all run fine.

Callum

[guest325]

The rctimer motors on  my bitza sound b awful but they run as smooth as silk, all down to generous application of ptfe spray - BUT make sure that it';s dry before you run them!

[robshaw]

+1 Silicone or PTFE.

I remember the days of model car racing and in the stock/standard heats there was a restriction on only using standard 540 motors which couldn';t be taken apart. To clean them and to get more oomph out of them we used to hook them up to an old nicad and dunk them in a bucket of water doing full rpm. Seems nuts when you think about it but it worked a treat. The amount of crap that you got out of it turned the bucket of water black.

I still have the commutator drops I used post dunk and use this on my multi motors. Not actually sure what';s in it but it';s a very thin oil with a needle nozzle for precise application. 

[Flyinegypt]

Must get some of that PTFE spray next time I';m in the UK.
About a month ago I had a bit of sideways drift when landing and tipped over burying 2 motors in soft sand
I took the quad home and blew the motors out with compressed air then gingerly turned them to check for grit. Phew! they were ok and have made a good few flights since then.
I really do not want to oil the bearings if I can avoid it to prevent grit or fesh-fesh getting stuck inside. A dry lubricant like PTFE seems perfect for my needs.

[dyls]

Another +1 to silicone or PTFE sprays.
I spray it all over my bearings with lots of it going inside the motor, I do this often as routine maintenance.

[tony]

how oftern i never spay my bearings as there closed case bearings so what stuff do you use how oftern do you use it and where can i get some from

[Biffa]

You can get GT85 in Tesco. Silicone spray is readily available on Ebay.

[teslahed]

Search ebay for "silicone spray" - £5 

[guest325]

I tend to shy away from silicone spray, it';s main claim to fame is its water dispersing properties but as a lubricant it is better suited to large surfaces, whereas ptfe spray is good regardless of surface area.

[Hands0n]

This is bl**dy ridiculous!    I';m knocking on 60 years old ... and still I can';t see the word "lubricant" without at least a mental snigger or an out lout chortle!   

I don';t use any lubricant (oh FFS here I go again!) but if I did then it would be PFTE for exactly as Darrell says.   The thing is, my motors, so far, I';ve not had to, even the SunnySky that have bathed in several days of Kent rain. ::)

[guest325]

There is reasoning why I use the ptfe, I don';t use it to lubricate the bearings, my main reason for using it is for the internal faces that are running closely together,  if for any reason there is any contract it shouldn';t cause a major problem immediately; it';s more prevention rather than cure.
Sealed bearings do not need any lubrication, none can get into them anyway so a bit pointless doing it for that reason.

[Biffa]

This is bl**dy ridiculous!    I';m knocking on 60 years old ... and still I can';t see the word "lubricant" without at least a mental snigger or an out lout chortle!