ROLLIN ARMOUR

I have finished my Tamiya M26. Everything works except the turret rotation. The gears in the motor are turning when activated. Should I grease the grove where the turret sits? I am stumped. All the wires are tucked down so they are not in the way. With the turrent on when I activate the turrent just sits there and I here the gears binding.

Jeff489

My Feedback: (12)

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_98...tm.htm#9848622

ROLLIN ARMOUR

Thank You. Did everything and it is working. I order the Tamiya part #72005 to replace the slipper gear. Is this just a straight drop in?

Panther F

Yes, just take notice how everything comes apart as it goes back together the same way.

And don't lose the jesus clip, whatever you do!



















~ Jeff

thecommander

I'm glad to see you have your Persing rotation in back in service. I have some tips that may also help you and other M26 owners.

Of all the Tamiya tanks I have bought, sold, traded or repaired, the M26 Pershing crosses my workbench the most. NOT that it is a trouble prone or unreliable tank.

But because there are more places for that tank to be vulerable to these factors:

#1) Careless tank building due to not properly following the Tamiya instructions.
A: The turret ring is easily installed 180 degree out and will cause significant rotation and binding issues. I have found this in 70% of M26s with rotation issues. The notched end of the turet ring MUST be under the gun mantle.
B: The 3 black turret guide wheels on the inside of the upper hull are binding or the retaining screws were over tightened. These can be lightly greased at the shaft only.
C: Improper instalation and/or placement of the DMD, MF or radio Rx units and the related wires. They will obstruct the rotation ring and press on the rotation unit.

Helpful hint: If you have trouble in determining what is hitting or binding on what inside a sealed up tank with turet in place, lay a cut to size piece of paper with a hole for the wires to go thru atop the lower hull before adding the upper hull and the turret. Button up the tank and then open it back up. Tears, rips, creases and such in the paper will high-light the trouble areas that you could never see otherwise.

#2) Poor interface between the rotation unit and the turret ring. The rotation unit has a essentially U shaped metal framework that the rotatin ring passes thru. Often the gap is too wide and allows slippage. Squeeze by hand the two halves and close that gap unitl you get full gear engagement. Some guys even use wire ties to keep it tight. I have never needed the wire ties.

#3) Excessive grease/lube in the Tamiya slipper gear from the factory. This occurs about 25% of the time.

#4) A defective slipper gear that is just too loose to and will not provide enough moxie to turn the turret. This used to be quite rare but is occring more frequently in new Tamiya kits that I have built in the past year.

Note: Both 3 and 4 can be fixed the same way. I use the soldering iron to "weld" my troublesome slipper gears solid (less that half of my IR Battle tanks needed this modification); This can be done in place on the tank with the turret off. Some guys remove the unit, disabemble, degrease the slipper and CA it solid. Both are free fixes and achieve the same goal as the blue solid gear. One fix takes 2 minutes, the second fix 15 minutes and the last fix a few dollars and 10 minutes. The choices are all yours. Remember this gear is made to slip for a reason....to save your gun barrel and recoil units from impact damage. So do not solve a problem that you don't have by doing this modification as a standard build routine. Reserve it to cure a problem after checking the other items listed here first. It is not a cure-all like some perceive it to be. Fix the problem, not the symptom.

Helpfull hint: When working with small parts (like the aforementioned retainer clip) tie a few inches of of sewing thread to the part to keep from losing it should it pop off. Cut it off when your're finished with the assembly. Perform the disassembly and assenbly inside and large clear ziplock bag. This way when (not if) the E clips do pop off your tools or components and into the Bermuda Triangle which exists in all of our workshops.... (NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN)... the parts will be captured by the bag. This trick really works well!

#5) Too much wiring interference and what I call "poor wire hygiene". Avoid a "bird's nest" of wires. I use very few, if any, wire/zip ties on the turret wiring. A tight and solid stem of wires to a moving part is not a good idea. I use narrow tape every two inches. Keep it neat and flexible and coil that wire bundle atop the batery and MF/DMD units the same way evey time to impart memory into the wire harness. Eliminate the "Y" harness to gain more room in the crammed lower hull. Deans connectors save even more space.

#6) I do not recommend any grease on the turret rings or surfaces. It will attract dirt, debris and dust and hinder instead of help. The M26 ring area is exposed and not protected like in the Leo. If you do not do IR battle and only run inside this may not be an issue for you. I battle on dirt and dust. It gets in everywhere that is not protected or sealed. I have added clear shiney scotch tape to the bottom of the turret in a circle where the turret rollers from the upper hull ride to decrease rolling resistance. Do not grease those rollers or ball-bearings either.

Note: If your turret tends to jam at the two retaining lugs on the bottom of the turret, try beveling the upper edge so that it is not a flat edge hitting the gap but a angled beveled edge that will glide thru the gap smoothly.

These tips have paid off for me many times and I hope it helps a few of you guys too.

sgn0921

I removed the Bullet connectors and soldered the motor wires directly from the MFU to the motors also binned the over-large tamiya plugs and Y harness and wired them up to the battery via some multi-block connectors I also cut the speaker box in half to make more room for the battery lead and Deans plug, the wires going in to the turret I used some cable ties to make an wiring loom and push most of them into the turret to get them out of the lower hull, also glued up the clutch with epoxy resin Araldite glue

thecommander

I have seen many guys do this mod to the speaker. I have never had the need to do so but it is a simple way to get more room in what is Tamiya's most cramped tank. I have also seen elminate the speaker box and use a small low profile speaker attached to the upper hull.

Panther G

I eliminated all the Tamiya plugs and wired everything to a termination strip. this free's up alot of space in the hull and is even better at conducting power than the Deans plugs. I always leave enough wire on the DMD and MF to replace the plugs if something goes wrong. 

Panther F

Yeah, I did that speaker mod back in 2006.

Now everyone is doing it. I even cut another one down to fit into my A1E8 and mounted the power switch there.



One thing in the M26 is to eliminate all motor connections and hardwire them in. Also, eliminate the Tamiya battery connectors and the plate for which the electronics sit on and you will have much more room under the turret, which is where the wires get tangled up with the turret rotation assembly.

















~ Jeff

danlrc

How well do these work in tanks? I bought some for a Tam Tiger and Pershing build, but haven't used them yet. They look like they would solve a lot of teh rotation issues.

Panther G

Really not enough room for them to stand verticly under the turret ring gear.Depending on size I would guess.

bowlman

I see you found my 4 things to do with the Pershing turret problem I built that Pershing in 2009 it still works good one extra thing to do is put a plastic tie on the turret mech housing around motor area so it is less likely to twist also keep it well greased and wires wrapped tight and out of way .

Jimmy