gunnut

I've waterproofed just about everything on my traxxas bandit. EXCEPT for the motor. My question is, is there anything I should do to the motor to prevent water damage? Can water even cause permanent damage to a brushed motor?
It's a venom 15 turn motor.
Thanks,
GunNut

cavfighter

water doesnt hurt them at least in my opinion. I have gotten my motor wet many times without any probs. the thing that I would do is clean it thoroughly after words with electrical cleaner and lube the bearings. Now, I havnt driven in snow or anything like that but have in the rain. It actually has been hard on me not to get my brushless motor wet cause it kind of takes the fun out of haulin butt and spinning multiple 360's and just acting a fool. double check opinions but I havent had any probs with a wet BRUSHED motor (for anyone speed reading lol) yet.

gunnut

Cool, that's exactly what I was hoping.

cavfighter

get a second opinion. I dont want to be on your s%&# list if something goes wrong lol. When I said I ran in the rain it was after it stopped not during a down pour but there was allot of moisture on the street and the car would be completely wet. Not flooded but wet.

duneslider

Some people break motors in by running them while under water. They will run just fine when wet. Some motors cannot get wet. They have a different magnet or something. Yours will be fine. Just clean and lube it after the wet.

Duneslider

raz54

Water won't hurt it as long as you dry it and lube it afterwards so it doesn't rust. A lot of guys submerge them in water to break them in.

MBX5T Maniac

My Feedback: (-1)

As long as it isn't a brushless motor, you are fine.

carmatic1

some motors dont like being wet? anyone know which ones are ok and which ones are not?

gunnut

They might be talking about brushless. The magnets or the rotor or something is very sensitive to water and will become brittle if it gets wet.

Thanks for the help everyone.

raz54

I have never heard of a brushed motor that can't get wet. BL motors cannot get wet at all, even motor cleaner can damage the magnets.

kostaktinos_mt

most factory-standard 'rc-grade' brushed motors utilize boron ferritte magnets, therefore are called 'wet'. boron ferritte magnets can get into water without problems.

most brushless motors utilize neodynium magnets. neodynium can be extremely harmed when contacting water -especially when in use [i.e: cracking spots]. also, neodynium is unmachinable [which means that can not be repaired once damaged].

keep in mind that many brushed motors use neodynium as well. these brushed motors should not get wet as well.

the venom fireball [like most rc-grade brushed motors] uses boron ferritte magnets, therefore can be used through water.


one last thing: most wattery stuff found in streets and fields isn`t clean water: it contains many contaminants. once entering the motor`s can, that material can seriously decrease motor`s performance [mainly due to magnet field altering]. if the motor isn`t cleaned afterwards, a thin coat of such contaminants could be left on the magnets, causing a 'permanent' performance drop. therefore, most closed-endbell motors should never be exposed to water or mud without waterproofing protection. open-endbell ones can be cleaned anytime though...

gunnut

Good point. Thanks for adding that kostaktinos [8D]

love those warbirds

My Feedback: (39)

I have run my brushed motors allot in the wet and besides the occasional lube job they have never fussed about it.[8D]

carmatic1

coool.... so just as long as you dont get any hard particles that can scrape and knock stuff out you will be OK, like use a spongy thing that allows air (and water) to pass but not particles that would be in mud and stuff... i bet for off roaders they should always use boron ferrite, at least i hope the frenzy motors that come in my mlst does...

MONSTARUSTA

The neodynium magnets are stronger and rarer(more expensive). Thats why only high high end brushed motors have them.

Maxime

Been running my brushed motor in the worst conditions ( snow, rain, freezing rain, puddles etc...) and it never failed. As mentionned before... clean and lube after doing so...