What do you use to clean your RC?

[Husker1]

Greetings,
As the title mentioned, what product(s) do some of you use to clean your car? I just purchased a used RC10 with a lot of oil/dirt stains on the plastic parts. Before I tear it down and do a complete rebuild, I wanted to see what other members were using for cleaning the plastic parts. What works well with deep dirt/oil stains. Any tips of links to a previous post is always welcome. I have done a search as well and have come up with a lot of posts and didn't want to sift through all of them right now. Appreciate the tips.

LT :)

[pyro18t]

for plastic parts I use softsoap and hot water with a used toothbrush.

For metal and bearings I used to use buggy blast, but now that I'm in germany I having a hard time finding anything.

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

i use simple green, and wd40 and sometimes denatured alcohol

[Husker1]

i use simple green, and wd40 and sometimes denatured alcohol


TRX,
Do you use Simple Green 100% or dilute it? I have also read about other members boiling their parts. Any experience with this? With the WD40, do you use that before or after cleaning? Do you leave it on, because I have heard that it helps repel a lot of stuff as well. Thanks for the tips.

LT

[Husker1]

for plastic parts I use softsoap and hot water with a used toothbrush.

For metal and bearings I used to use buggy blast, but now that I'm in germany I having a hard time finding anything.


Air Force? I take it it is probably that much harder due to local laws. Would the WD40 work on the bearings? I have not tried this yet but thought I would based on another post. Happy 4th :)

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

TRX,
Do you use Simple Green 100% or dilute it? I have also read about other members boiling their parts. Any experience with this? With the WD40, do you use that before or after cleaning? Do you leave it on, because I have heard that it helps repel a lot of stuff as well. Thanks for the tips.

LT

boiling is supposed to make them stronger. i usually use the wd40 after i clean it with simple green. i bought the simple green at walmart, the concentrated stuff, and yeah i dilute it with water, and sometimes i mix the dentaured alcohol in it, but i usually do straight diluted simple green and it cleans everything on my revo

[pyro18t]

Air Force? I take it it is probably that much harder due to local laws. Would the WD40 work on the bearings? I have not tried this yet but thought I would based on another post. Happy 4th :)

Yup Air Force, some of the laws really suck, but all in all it's not to bad. It all boils down to finding a good RC hobby shop which is really hard to do when you don't speak german... I keep seeing post about nuerenburg (SP?) I know where it is and how to get there does anyone know if there is a track or hobby shop out there?

Jay

[pyro18t]

boiling is supposed to make them stronger. i usually use the wd40 after i clean it with simple green. i bought the simple green at walmart, the concentrated stuff, and yeah i dilute it with water, and sometimes i mix the dentaured alcohol in it, but i usually do straight diluted simple green and it cleans everything on my revo

Boiling parts ONLY works on plastic, and it doesn't accually make them stronger, it gives it more flex so the parts are less likely to break.

Jay

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

Boiling parts ONLY works on plastic, and it doesn't accually make them stronger, it gives it more flex so the parts are less likely to break.

Jay
k thanks for the clarification

[___rollin___]

Air Force? I take it it is probably that much harder due to local laws. Would the WD40 work on the bearings? I have not tried this yet but thought I would based on another post. Happy 4th :)

WD-40 works on the bearings fone, but it will atract dirt and other debris.

I clean my cars with denatured alchohal and a toothbrush. Sometimes warm water and some type of absorbing material:)

[pyro18t]

so then what should I use on my bearings, I know gasoline (which you should never use to clean parts) works great, but will it kill my teflon sheilds on my bearings?

Jay

[XXWoodmanXX]

I use soap & water on body parts (dis-assembled)

Lysol or some other foaming agent on shock bodies, A-arms, springs, etc that have oil & dirt build-up for when I rebuild shocks.

With things like hing-pins, I clean w/ WD 40, polish with an SS brush wheel using my Dremel, then I coat them with a teflon grease to reduce friction.

I've yet to use an "aggitator" for my bearings, but I'm interested in trying it :)

[XXWoodmanXX]

One more thing about WD40.......I wouldn't suggest using it for a lube. For storing your cars for long periods of time? Sure! But not for running them. It's not what you call a "working" lubricant.

Remember,....all WD means is "Water Displacement" :p

[pyro18t]

WD-40 will atract(SP?) dirt, if you drive off road your gonna regret it. Like I said I NEVER (yeah right) used gas to clean bearings, but they were the ones before teflon became popular. So I don't know if it's going to eat away at my sheilded bearings

Jay

[USATorque55]

well, what I've been told, and experienced is that WD40 makes dirt stick alot less.

It leaves the parts not only looking new but also a lot less likely to collect dirt.

I use a simple green solution, of about 1:10, never really measured though. Spray that on, rub it with a toothbrush or some paper towels. Once that is dried, take WD40 and spray the car, and wipe down all the parts lightly so that it still leaves everything lightly coated.

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

if there is excess wd40, it will attract dirt

[Grant Tokumi]

This thread might be useful to you.
"10+ Hour T-MAXX Tear Down and rebuild project completed..before and after pics inside"
http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=221702

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

^^^^ he did a very nice job, and i think he used simple green and wd40

[Duster_360]

I started out using denat alcohol and water mix in a spray bottle. Had some Simple Green given to me and was real impressed with it, but its expensive. I read of mixing SG with denat alcohol/water mix and tried it. It seemed to clean better - attacked nitro goo a little more agressively - quicker and easier (not as much rubbing) clean ups. I add 10-15% SG to my denat alcohol/water mix and that makes SG go a lot farther and last longer.

After cleanup, I spray a rag with WD40 and wipe the plastic down. Like that like-new look it gives the plastic.

[evaderstman]

I usually pull the engine and electronics, and hose my car. Then i use a compressor to dry it. After that i go over it with a 50/50 simple green/denatured alcohol mix which works great. I usually add some wd-40 to that as well to prevent rust. Also i use a cleaning wand attached to the compressor to do all this.

[pyro18t]

Yeah but what do you guys use to get the dirt out of bearings?

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

you can use compressed air, or some simple green i guess, but i would wd40 or grease the heck out of them after i cleaned them up good

[Husker1]

This thread might be useful to you.
"10+ Hour T-MAXX Tear Down and rebuild project completed..before and after pics inside"
http://forums.radiocontrolzone.com/showthread.php?t=221702


I read a little of that thread after doing a 'search' on the forums. I was quite impressed with the before and after.

[TRXrevoRacerOS18]

yeah he did a nice job, looks like it is new

[Grant Tokumi]

Since I had to clean my buggy today anyways, I decided to take some pictures of my own little setup for the cleaning process.

http://www.rcarchive.com/pics/2006/cleanup02.jpg

http://www.rcarchive.com/pics/2006/cleanup.jpg

Major Steps:
1. Blast the bottom of the chassis with liquid/air nozzle to clear the hex screw holes best I can.
2. Remove 7 screws on the bottom (Ofna Hyper 7) and remove the whole battery tray which removes all the electronics including servos. Thats a design feature I really like.
3. Go to town on the rest of the chassis with the liquid/air nozzle and high pressure nozzle to give it a nice cleaning.
4. Sporadic WD40 on the whole chassis, and blow dry it off, clean with rag.

[Budget racer]

^^^^^^ Grant, that a nice set up there.
I take it apart and spray it down with WD40 and blow it off with a air comp. I use the simple green on the tires and bodys.

[Karadjas]

Whatever happened to good old elbow grease?

I use a toothbrush and a rag. For the air filter I use nitro to expand the foam and water from the inside out. My r/cs always look like new when I take them out

[masterchief06]

Try some Orange Fantastik. They sell it at Safeways and Giants on the East Coast, and it is available online for those that can't find it. It works great, leaves no residue like Simple green does, and smells like oranges, not like Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream like a certain Green cleaner does. I then spray it off with my 6' tall 5HP air compressor with about 120psi and it looks brand new. I've would never let my stuff get as filthy as some of these guys.

Mike

[GT Freak]

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream...mmmmmmmm :)

[masterchief06]

Lol :d

[masterchief06]

Wait- you use mint chocolate chip ice cream to clean your rig? Really? How does it work? Im envious! ;)

[streetforcegp2]

his jokin around geee......

[streetforcegp2]

i use rag, paint brushes, wet n dry paper towels, n air compressor w/blow gun tip....

[masterchief06]

thank you Captain Obvious!...erm... Streetforce...I wouldn't want to give away your superhuman identity! :rolleyes:

[XXWoodmanXX]

I've tried Orange Wheelblast from Wally-world auto section. Same as Orange Fantastik, but cheaper. :p

[masterchief06]

Gotta love the cheaper :D

Mike

[rs4 rally boi]

i like to use the afformentin simple green mixture, and then one of the things i like to do is spray some wd-40 on a tooth brush. i do this because it lets me lightly coat the plastic parts whithout leaving too much excess on the chassis.
on the bearings i use wd to remove the dirt but make sure you oil them afterwards to make sure they spin smoothly.

[XXWoodmanXX]

Gotta love the cheaper :D

Mike


Damn skippy. :D As for the "dying" from the green cleanser, I know exactly what you mean. I remember when I had gotten some white (from RPM?) lower control arms for my RC10T and presoaked my truck in some Simple Green (diluted 1:4 w/ water) and went to rinse it off, there was a green tinting to the plastic, especially where there were a few scratches/scrapes. UGH!

[zakerid]

Hey Grant Tokumi,
Does the WD-40 actually mix into that solution? Usually in a mix like that I would mix some denatured alcohol to help speed up evaporation, then spray WD-40. Just wondering...
Zak