Running in a 540 johnson/mabuchi

I stumbled across some info which I will share to try and help the newbies with their motor performance, 'cause if you aint got a dyno, you aint got a chance.


By RR
silver cans don't need much. i ran the 540 class last year, routine maintenance for my motors was simple.

1. Spray motor out with Motor spray.
2. put a few drops of brasso on the comms.
3. spin the motor by hand for about 2mins.
4. spray motor out with motor spray again and repeat step 2 and 3.
5. finally spray the motor out completely with motor spray.
6. blow the motor out thoroughly with compressed air so that the motor is completely dry.
7. put a drop of oil on front and rear bushes.
8. put a drop of Trinity 2000 comm drops on comm.
9. spin the motor by hand for about 30seconds.
10. finally, install in car and tear up the track!!
in the 540 class at Natal champs last year, my car was unbeatable!!
the other very important things with 540 motors is correct gearing and a car setup that allows you to carry tons of corner speed!


By FP
the way i do it is as follows; i put the shaft of the motor into a drill press chuck, i then dunk the whole motor into water, while it is attached to drill press. Turn on drill press motor on a slow speed for about 30sec. This just seats the brushes properly, without arcing, as there is no power on motor. Oil bushes with Trinity or similar and you are ready to roll. Untouchable at brccc East London drivers.(a sec and more quicker than EL DRIVERS) Only Andy and Robert from PE about half sec quicker than my fastest lap. Sometimes beat them in the races though.


By R
To bed teh com in the easiest has been to run a motor with a 3/4 cell pack or almost flat battery pack while dipping in water soap solution. After that spray out with motor spray/Electronic switch cleaner that is available from most electronics shops and finally a drop of oil on bushings.


By MR
I won the Tamiya Cup Finals at TRAP this year, all i did was spray, dry, oil.....
no tricks.....i still got creamed by the 2nd & 3rd place guys down the straight...


By RC Car Tips
Making Your R/C Electric Motor Faster
Here are tips to help get the most speed out of your stock or modified motors. Let us start of with getting the most speed out of the stock Mabuchi 540 RS motor.

Entry level kits usually come with the Mabuchi 540 RS or the Johnson motor. These are the "stock" and "closed end bell" type design. You cannot adjust the timing nor change the brushes to gain more speed.
The best way to gain power from these motors is to properly break-in the motor brushes and the bronze bushings. One quick method to break-in the brushes is by using the "water dipping" method. Simply dip the motor in a jar of water, then attached a 3 volt battery supply to run the submerged motor.
You can make a 3-volt battery pack by putting two 1.5-volt batteries in series. DO NOT use a battery charger or electronic speed control (ESC) as a power source for the submerged motor. You might damage your charger or ESC.

This "water dipping" method will also break-in the bronze bushings, which will make the armature rotation smoother, giving you more rpms and power. Another method to break-in the bronze bushings is to attach the motor armature to a drill or Dremel tool. Just be sure not to over do it.

Let the motor dry out, and put 1 or 2 drops of lightweight oil on the bushings. Now your motor should be 20% faster than before.

Hot Tip: Serious racers in the stock motor class usually break-in several of these stock motors. They then test for power by using a dynamometer. The best motors are then used for racing. This is the reason why some stock motors seem to be faster than others.


And for Mod Motors

Modified Motors
It is easier to get more speed out of modified motors, primarily because you can change the brushes and advance the timing.



With modified motors, you can disassemble the entire motor. You can "true" the commutator to make it as round as possible and remove the carbon deposits left by arcing and the motor brush.

The washers are used to align the armature properly with the magnets and magnetic field inside the motor can. Washers prevent the armature from moving back and forth inside the can, which robs the motor of power. With the proper use of washer, you can gain power and speed advantage over your competition.

Brushes play an important role in providing maximum power. The composition (e.g. silver, copper content) and the brush "cut" vary. Also there are "hard" and "soft" brushes.
Hard brush - More power, more commutator wear.
Soft brush - Less power, less commutator wear.

Full brush - More power, more torque, less rpms.
Cut brush - Less power, less torque, more rpms.

Springs are used in tandem with the correct motor brush. In general:
Hard springs - More tension, more amp draw, more torque, less rpm. For off-road and 4wd touring cars.
Soft springs - Less tension, less amp draw, less torque, more rpm. For 1/12 on-road pan cars.

Warning: Using springs that are too soft will cause the brush to bounce around, causing excessive arcing, and premature commutator wear.

Adjusting the motor timing will have a significant impact on performance. In general:
More timing - More rpms, less torque.
Less timing - Less rpms, more torque.



Hope all this helps in some way. There are different techniques used, what you do is up to you. Good Luck.