Cleaning motor in water
 

Well watch the video, anyone has tried it. Any thought?

Make Your Electric RC/Airsoft Motors Run Faster - YouTube

I had no idea you could do this... I'm gonna try it in my Stoner's motor since it's slowing down on me.


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i wish i had an aeg motor to try this out on

I'll be damned.
What does a person do to make sure that no moisture or corrosion are left behind? Blow all the water out with contact cleaner then let the motor dry?
Any need for lubrication after this?

this method has actaully been around for quite some time.

I did it to this super old TM mp5 i bought, I ran it in distilled water, the water was black when i pulled it out.
from 8 to 15 rps
*sorry I forgot to mention that this is not for brushless motors* from edit

He suggested to do that until the lipo battery dies, and that "cloudy" stuff is just aerated water...

Not much merit to this video.

Yeah, I'm gonna do some poking around before I go ahead and buy this.

This method is mentioned and recommended on other forums all the time but there seems to be no clear consensus on whether it does much. I'm personally not convinced that water can do the job, it certainly can't in the case of the equivalent trouble spot on trigger contacts, where carbon (or otherwise) buildup can only be properly cleaned with direct scrubbing.

back in the day of brushed r/c car motors, people used this water method to break in their motors (work in the motor brushes to match the curvature of the motor armature contacts)

if you want to clean your motor your better of using r/c nitro cleaner / motor cleaner to clean your motor. when you spray that stuff in a motor the stuff that comes out of it is nasty black crap.... not foggy white water.

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXUSS8&P=7

other ways of improving motor performance of old well used motors include re-cutting the armature com, and swapping out the motor brushes.
which is typical in the world of brushed r/c cars, but not so much for air-soft.

the performance gains are easily noticeable in cars, i don't think its that big of a deal in air soft, unless your motor is realy realy worn out.

Could you not just put your motor in an ultrasonic bath? Would an ultrasonic machine be more effective? Either that or just rewinding your motor.

I agree with Sloweddy: back in the days of brushed RC motors, I heard of/saw this method countless times: but it had specific limits. 1) it works best on sealed can brushed motors, the softer material commonly used in the brushes of rebuildable motors absorb water. 2) you use a fraction of the recommended voltage for the break-in. 3) you COMPLETELY dry and lube the motor afterwards (IE heat gun, alcohol, etc.). 4) you cannot use the water method on ball bearing motors (unless you enjoy dismantling and lubing tiny bearings!).

It works as a break-in procedure under certain conditions, but I would not recommend it for cleaning. Please guys, if the brushed motor in your airsoft is that bad, just take it apart and clean it properly. There is a reason why RC shops keep ample stock of motor cleaners :)

I'll take an RPS reading before and after I try it... I know that the m120 motor in my M63 is starting to slow down a bit, and the field we play at is pretty sandy. it's seen 15k rounds.

just don't use tap water :x

[sarcasm]You know I've had an ultrasonic bath in my garage for like 3yrs, and have had nothing to put in it until I heard this [/sarcasm]
:)

I don't think this method does much for an AEG motor. Most AEG motor's brushes are already set for the commutator so the water only cleans and remove the carbon. It's ok with a brand new brush that doesn't have the correct groove for the comm, but other than that, it's not necessary. The RC community been doing this for many years as they need the top peek power or a new brush is installed. I've tried it and didn't see much of an improvement. Plus, if you don't dry out the motor as soon as you're done, you could damage your motor beyond repairs. I just rebuild the motor instead of doing this.

Best method to clean the motor is to take it apart, clean the commutator and brushes with an erasor, clean out all carbon build up and dirt inside, relubricate the bearings, and shim the axle.

It works really good. The main reason for water is that it will take the crap away (with the armature spinning, the motor acts as a pump). And it keeps everything cold and lubricated, so a smoother finish is achieved (wet-sanding a fresh paint job anyone?).
The water needs to be conductive a little for the cleaning to work (it will help the motor turn properly if there is carbon buildup on the com).

You need a glass container (empty jam container works great).
99% isopropyl alcohol
Brake cleaner can
Duster (with the trigger)
Ultra light silicon oil (AI GBBR oil or high grade RC bearing oil. I use Trinity Royal Oil)
A rag to take out excess water

And TAP water (does not work great in distilled water... tried it).

Put longer wires/clips on the motor and put it in the container. Ideally, you want the glass to be twice the length of the motor.
Pour water up to 3/4 (about 1" over the motor).
Add a little alcohol (maybe 1/2oz.).
Run the motor IN REVERSE on 3.0v for about 2 minutes.
The change polarity and run FORWARD for 3 minutes.

Take the motor out of the water.
Fully soak the motor with brake cleaner (to replace water).
Then spray with duster to remove the excess brake cleaner solution.
Oil both bearings with silicon oil. Place a few drops on the bearing, then turn the motor by hand to let it seep in the bearing.
You will need to re-lube the bearings once in a while (maybe once a year) since it is oil and not grease.

Alternatively, you can buy a com cleaner from Parma (made for 1/24 slot cars) and replacement brushes (again, for 1/24 slots). Take the hardest "speed" brushes you can find (as you want longevity over torque... theses are made to be replaced every week).

hurrr. interesting... all the videos I saw were distilled water... not that I'd do this myself... seems to be rather involved and closer to half the cost of a new motor... and you're adding to the maintenance cycle by essentially removing all the factory grease from the bearings.

Not really actually... since no one does the maintenance to theses motors.

Once a year is the bare minimum someone should strip down his AEG and clean/lube. Oiling the bearings do not involve taking the motor apart anyways... And factory grease is far from the best... we are talking about cheap chinese bearings, not CNC and reforged ABEC7 bearings

alcohol is the one to use, h2o will leave mineral deposits where ever it dries

unless its distilled

Hm, can't wait to try this on the old VFC motor I have. I want to see how dirty that thing is.

Ever caused sparks in a glass of 99% alcohol?

Also, re-read, there is no water left in the motor when done properly. Also mineral deposit don't mater unless it's on the com... and that is exposed enough to be cleaned by the brake cleaner solution.

I guess you are not touching your motor or wires in fear of oxidation or are not playing outside because there might be dust that gets into the mechbox...

Nothing personal, but theses are toys... no need to have white-room purity products to clean it.
Also distilled water is far more oxidizing that tap water...

So I just tried this with distilled water and at first it seemed to work with a small 9v battery, then I stepped things up with my 7.4 lipo and my motor began shredding the brushes down to nothing.

This was with a 5+ year old VFC motor which I am replacing anyway.

I'll have a video up by tomorrow, hopefully. I have a hypothesis of what happened but maybe others have more experience with this.

Your com was worn down a lot, and since the water removed the dust from the brushes while turning, it literally grinded them to nothing.

Running the motor on anything over 3V was not a good idea from the start...

Yeah, the other thing that looks strange is it looks like the copper around the commutator separated a bit and caused more grinding? I couldn't get my motor open to look but does this makes sense? It continued to grind and spark out of the water. I'm a pretty big noob when it comes to motors so I hope I explained this well enough.

Yes, running the small 9v battery seemed to do little harm. In the video linked, the guy uses and 7.4 lipo so I though I'd give it a try.

Once I make this video, you may be able to see what I'm talking about in terms of the commutator separating.

It means the com is too thin (worn) and overheats. The insulation core under it melted and let the com lift from it.

It means your motor is way beyond cleaning, it's time for a new one.

Yeahhhhh, I was pretty much going to buy a new one anyway... The damn thing doesn't stick to the fridge in the slightest. Anyway, I'll still post the video for reference.

I finally got around to editing and posting this for reference.
Most of what Kos-Mos addressed is shown in the video.
http://youtu.be/SNcQBQH9yPo

Nice dance moves. Hehe.

Thanks, breh. Footwork and balance translates well to airsoft.