We have a small group racing the Losi's, and having a ball. Thing is we have smoked two motor's in the past week, windings coming apart. We would like to keep these little hot rods as stock as possible, to let new comers blend right in. Yet not able to afford a new motor every 8 weeks! Any suggestions on a more durable motor with the same power and torque? Thanks for the help. Been more of a reader than a poster, so bear with me.

Well for 1
There are nothing wrong with the slider motors. The problem is everybody looks at the motor and think its a 27t motor and it rebuildable well its not I think the number 1 problem is People will not leave the motors alone and run them they start taking the motors apart and taking the brushes out and goop them up with comm drops. So my request to your problem ask everybody what they did to the motor.

Nothing done to the motors, no com drops, and the only time they were opened up was to see why they were jammed. The windings had dropped a wire in both motors and jammed between the magnet and the com. One motor was mine the other my brother in-laws. The pinions had been changed in the cars, and we run a high grip track, small oval.

After racing my Slider every week since they were released to the public (I got one of the first at the LHS in August of 2007), I can tell you that the stock motors are as good as any brushed motor out there... You do need to take care of them, but not "mess" with them... No comm drops, etc...

In MONTHS of racing, I've only had ONE motor issue -- my first RX280 burned a winding and died after a month of racing, but that was MY fault... Watch the motor temp! Even on a 190' dirt oval, I found the stock 17:60 gearing was too tall -- the motor would come off the track about 130 degrees, which was too hot.

I geared down to 16:60 and the temps dropped to 100 degrees or less, speeds were still good (I've won more than my share of A-mains, even running against brushless)... On carpet, with the high traction, the motors are even more sensitive to gearing -- WATCH THE TEMP, and keep it below 100 degrees... I've got 3 months of racing on my current RX280 - NO problems. I just replace the brushes every 3-4 weeks... (Watch the springs -- if they get hot, they get soft and must be replaced.)

Thanks for the reply tfrahm, very helpful. Yes heat was a problem, and gearing was likely to blame. I will start monitering heat more closely. Again thank you.

I geared down to 16:80 and the temps dropped to 100 degrees or less, speeds were still good (I've won more than my share of A-mains, even running against brushless)... On carpet, with the high traction, the motors are even more sensitive to gearing -- WATCH THE TEMP, and keep it below 100 degrees... I've got 3 months of racing on my current RX280 - NO problems. I just replace the brushes every 3-4 weeks... (Watch the springs -- if they get hot, they get soft and must be replaced.)


Where did you find an 80 the highest I can find is an 61? I would love to know where.

You may want to try the new Trinity XXX brushes that have come out for these motors. I have found that if you leave the eyelet on the screw and cut offt he old brush, you can solder the new one to the eyelet and it is a better connection. It is also very important that you keep the brush spring below the brush shunt wire as it sits in the hood. If you allow it to get above the wire, it will cock the brush and overheat the motor. The hottest we have seen a motor is 210 degrees. It stopped in the race because the motor wires came unsoldered. The Losi brushes are not very dependable. My Slider and Late Model come off the track at 100 to 110. I use Novak ESCs as I believe the stock one creates heat. Before changing the ESCs I was coming off at 130 to 150.

We run on a short high banked carpet oval. Fast laps are 3.7 seconds. Four minute qualifiers and five minute main. We have 8 Mini Late Models and 6 Sliders that are there every Tuesday night. Some night more. Also run Vendettas (buggy and truck), Mini Ts, and an unlimited four wheel drive class.

Where did you find an 80 the highest I can find is an 61? I would love to know where.

MY BAD.... That was a typo... (I'll go back and correct it... Sorry.)

I'm running 16:60 on my Slider.... OH -- that is also the stock gearing that came with my new Mini Late Model... Makes me think LOSI realized that 17:60 was too tall and was killing motors...?

My Slider and Late Model come off the track at 100 to 110. I use Novak ESCs as I believe the stock one creates heat. Before changing the ESCs I was coming off at 130 to 150.

Which Novak ESC's do you run...? XRS? or ??

I think that nutz4rc is running the XRS in his slider, as a few other persons at our local club are also running the XRS. I have been running the LRP Quantum Competition 2 with excellent results in my slider for quite some time. The car definitely feels like it has more punch with this ESC over the stock Losi unit, plus I like the fact that it has no reverse.

~Brad

Brad was close. Orange is orange..... I am running GTXs in both my Slider and my Mini Late model. I noticed an immediate temperature drop when I installed the GTXs over the stock ESC. I still run the large Novak cap on the speedo. I think I could use a smaller but have never bothered to change. I am now able to play more with gearing than before but not go out in a blaze of glory. I run GTXs in everything I have except brushless motored.

Brad is definitely fast so the LRP works good. With ESCs it is and always has been, you get what you pay for. I know many dislike Novak and as many dislike LRP. I think what you have the most success with is what you will run. Go for it racers.

After you guys race what do you use to discharge these stock batteries(for the mini slider/latemodel) and at what rate? We have messed around and we found that charging at 1.5 amps on turbo30/35 has works well for a 4 minute race. Normally we let the battery cool down for 2 races then charge back up again. Our turbo 30 will discharge down to 5 amps(which should work?) the turbo 35 will only go to 10 amps I think, which I think is too high?


Any Suggestions/Help?
Thanks, Kris

I don't discharge my NiMh packs after use... They don't have "memory", and I haven't found a reason to discharge them...

However, when I cycle them to test them (so I know how they are holding up), I discharge at 10 amps. From some testing I've done racing on the local dirt oval (190' racing line), my Mini LM actually seems to pull an average of about 10 amps for a 5 minute race, so 10 amps matches actual usage, and the batteries seem "happy"...

Thanks for the info about the batteries I'll try that when I get ready for this weeks racing.

Thanks again,Kris

Due to the failure rate of Losi late model motors, our club voted to allow the use of the Losi Insane as well. This motor has a better end bell and seems to handle the heat better. We will run our next six week series running both motors (drivers choice) and then see how they compare. First runs indicate they are almost identical in speed with the Insane possibly having just a bit more rpm.

We're having the same problem here in NC with the motors in the Late Models. I have one motor that I've run several races in my Slider, that still runs great. I have the motor that came in my Late Model that I've raced one day, and the brushes are shot. Isn't the Losi Insane motor a 370, and will it bolt up to the stock motor plate? And what part number is the XXX brushes?

thanks!

The part # for trinty xxx brushes is TRI13523NT tower hobbies these on stock.

Kris

Thanks for the info, Kris.

Insane is 370 but has two different sets of mounting holes and will bolt into a Slider or Late Model. I just mic'd them and Losi is 24.33, Insane was 24.36 but has a label on it which Losi doesn't.

Thanks, nutz4rc. There is two race tracks locally that have started running the late model, one has an indoor flat oval and outside flat paved track, and the other has a banked concrete oval. We've seen motor issues at both places. I'll pass the word on to the guys and see if they want to try the Insane motor. A friend of mine tried the 18T 370 motor, but it wouldn't bolt up.

Thanks, again.

Even though the Losi stock motor has bearings, and the Insane doesn't most of our guys have switched to the Insanes. If you are lucky and get a good stock one, they run really well and when they get really fast; they usually quit. I am speaking from experience, been there done that.