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Speed,Combat,Scale,Racing => Combat => Topic started by: Greg McCoy on March 26, 2010, 07:05:54 PM
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Just beginning to consider electric practice plane, and wonder about the durability of an electric, sticking it in?
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In runner motors are stonger, but still subject to bent shafts. Most electrics use pretty small shafts like 5 mm or so. Some people use a prop driver set close to a firewall so the shaft can't bend to far.
Out runner motors are a lot more fragile. If you mount it on the stator base the rotating can is exposed and can easily get knocked cock-eyed. You can mount it on the back side of a firewall with the rear shaft sticking through. Then the shaft can be protected like an inrunner, with a close fitting prop driver. You might even mount a bearing assembly on the can so both ends of the shaft are supported.
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I use to race r/c offroad, make sure to have some brake cleaner or wd-40 handy. Terra firma has a way of getting everywhere, doesn't take much to ruin a good motor.
Steve
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But then, if you wreck one, it's only an electric motor, not like wrecking an OS or a Rossi, or a Nelson.
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I agree. It's like the difference between destroying a Stradavarius and a banjo. It's not like your hurting something that sounds good.
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Lee Liddle has been using electric motors on his RC Combat planes for several years. He is using various Turnigy brand outrunners and has been having great success. He occasionally bends a shaft on a "dirt nap" but they are so cheap, that it really doesn't matter.
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Some of the 05 size modified motors we ran were $75 or more. Granted that is not as much as a Nelson or Profi, but it would put a dent in your wallet. What really hurt was when the 'sponsored" racers showed up with the 3200 mah batteries you couldn't afford. Now they have brushless technology and LiPo's, way more expensive than my small fleet of C/L planes. Not near as fun either!!
Steve
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I saw an 18-oz. high-zoot LiPo get flung out of a stunt plane once. It hit the ground and nothing happened. These things do not spew fire as advertised. They have no place in combat.
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I saw an 18-oz. high-zoot LiPo get flung out of a stunt plane once. It hit the ground and nothing happened. These things do not spew fire as advertised. They have no place in combat.
Mid-airs could be a blinding white flash like a crashing Prius.
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That, too, has been a disappointment: four (4) accidents in one year, no fire. The Prius is smaller than it looks, hence people think it's farther away than it is.
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You don't need much of a battery to start a fire. My old van went up in flames when the alternator shorted(while the damned thing was parked and not running). The fire extinguisher knocked out the flames and you could see the white hot glow down in the back of the alternator. The flames didn't really stop until we got a cable pried off the battery.
An insulation failure in a speed control could make a pretty spectacular mess.
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Years ago my mother picked up my stuff and put in a box to go to the basement. She set the box of batteries, and steel wool... on the stairs for me to find, it wasn't there long when I found it smoldering in time to pitch it out the back door.