Over-heating motor help !!!

[alfonzo]

Lads, got me X10 running for the first time today. Awesome. BUT my motor has come unsoldered three times! Each time no more than 4 minutes run time. I've got a big big meet tomorrow morning :-(

I'm running a Fantom Vortec V2 10x2. I started with 19 - 73. That melted solder on the negative motor wire twice. I then tried 17 - 93. That melted the negative again. I've tried hi silver content solder. The transmission is lovely and smooth. The motor is strong. The speedo seems fine. HELP! I've only hours to go !!

Cheers guys

Al

[restimax]

dissipator on the motor?
www.the-pred.co.uk/images/articles/manuals/X10/x10ratios.pdf

timing motor?try first sign on motor

good luck

[bigboss]

Hi Alfonzo
This happened to me also.
OK what is happening is the motor is pulling too many amps & that causes too much heat & that melts the solder.
you need to do :
1.gear down 16 tooth pinion or maybe 15 tooth.
2.give the motor more cooling. open up the vent holes in the body. (this was not enough for me so I added 2 mini fans around the motor wired so that as long as the battery is connected they blow on the motor, this also helps when the race is over & you need to go marshal the motor is cooling off).
3.as cooper restimax suggested motor timing should be no more than 15 Degrees.
Novak fans are very good for this application.
hope this helps & good luck tomorrow

[restimax]

bigboss said:

1.gear down 16 tooth pinion or maybe 15 tooth.

i use 14 or 15 on brushless lrp competition with star 4...

[bigboss]

That's what I'm talking about.

[alfonzo]

Hi guys - excellent response. You guys rock. I've knocked the motor advance down approx 5 degrees. I haven't got time to try cooling fans. I might try another tooth smaller pinion, but is it possible to create problems by undergearing too far?? I'm sure I heard somebody say that can cause overheating too - even though I thought it was only overgearing that would cause problems.. thoughts?

It's a real shame, because the car goes great. There will be no less than 7 preds racing tomorrow, pretty good eh?

I'm thinking it's in the gearing? I ran this motor in my old CAT 3000 and it never had problems..

Thanks for your help

Al

[restimax]

for me you are undergearing! i use 14-15 pinion with lrp star 4 (that it is the much fastest one than 10 turns!)
you put the timing to the first sign, and test with 18-19-20 th pinion
this is my idea, don't worry tomorrow you will resolve!
if you have a dissy with fan use it!!!
controls the chart of ratio for your motor, x10 ratio chart!

[alfonzo]

Just a quick update. The car ran all day without any overheating issues . I guess the combination of heatsink & lowering the advance a few degrees did the job! Yesterday was an unusual race meeting, it was a 'Pairs Championship' where everybody was a team of 2 and your combined points counted. Also unusual was the fact that our club runs lap racing (not lap dancing), each heat is 6 laps with racing to the line. No clock. No 5 minutes. No AMB system. Just flat out racing, fast & furious. Little time between heats, any retirements and your chances are basically blown. We had 18 pairs and it was pretty hotly contested! I'll cut a long story short - me and my team buddy won . The Pred was superb, my driving was patchy ;D Thankfully my team buddy Richard was doing a flawless job with his driving. It was a sweet win as Richard and I first won the Pairs Championship (it's an annual event) 17 years ago!!!

Check out here for a look at my car www.beatsabanginmusic.co.uk/17.09.06_web/pages/DSC01423.htm

And check out here for the Pred contingency yesterday (including one still in the box!) www.beatsabanginmusic.co.uk/17.09.06_web/pages/DSC01426.htm

And check our club out. It's a great organisation that does racing with a difference www.lawfordbuggyclub.co.uk/

Cheers

Al

[chris burgess]

Excellent Result there - good to see a club with so many Preds running at it. Killer question though, apart from you and Rob, how many of those drivers are members of this forum? If they aren't - recruit them!

[alfonzo]

I'm working on it buddy! Expect to see some new faces soon. And thanks for the lead on your 'Paint Man'. I've thanked him via email, top chap. Now, how do I go about 'improving my driving' ? Any top tips on the psychology side of things? i.e. how to keep calm and keep a cool head! I did consider a beer, but I'm not sure about that ;D

[chris burgess]

how to keep calm? Dude, when I have worked it out i'll let you know!

Actually, I'm not too bad, because een though I am competitive, I have discovered the art of not trying too hard - it's an approach that gives results surprisingly.

[pro4nut]

Tried beer, in moderation that helps. I then switch to chain smoking and coffee to counter the calming effects.

[DirtRacer]

alfonzo said:

I'm working on it buddy! Expect to see some new faces soon. And thanks for the lead on your 'Paint Man'. I've thanked him via email, top chap. Now, how do I go about 'improving my driving' ? Any top tips on the psychology side of things? i.e. how to keep calm and keep a cool head! I did consider a beer, but I'm not sure about that ;D

You guys have some unique and creative way of keeping calm ;D.

Mine is pretty borring, semi meditation and visulisation. Find somewhere quiet and think things over in your mind of what you are supposed to be doing, focus on the job in hand and more importantly channel your thoughts in how you want your race to go. Imagine you are winning and won the heat and the final.

Its all about disciplining the mind, if you do this. You will just simply follow through in your actions when the time comes. It takes more than one go, i would normally do this for about once a day for the whole week prior to a big event. Ofcourse i started this concept for the small meetings first to try out. This technique is free and you wont suffer from any withdrawls ie a hang over. ;D

Some people have a natural ability to just turn up for a race without some mental conditioning. But like me, if your one of those who can get easily distracted and loose track of things then this is what i found to have helped when excitement levels go through the roof.

Does that make any sense?