My new E-Maxx lasted 8 minutes!

[old phart]

I bought it last night. Decaled the body, and ran it for about 2 minutes in the dark. Ran fine.

Today, I got home from work, glued the tires on the rims. With fully charged batteries, went out front and had a ball tearing around my front lawn.

Then, there was a loud clack-clack-clack!, and the truck stopped. The motors spun, but it went nowhere! http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/frown.gif http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/frown.gif

Called Traxxas, and they told me to remove the motor gear cover. Sure enough, one of the pinion gear set screws came out. It chunked a couple of teeth out of the spur gear and totally stripped it. The pinion gears got banged up pretty well too.

Traxxas said they would send me a new set of gears. Cool. Only problem it will take 8 business days. That translates into 2 weeks. Bummer.

I called Hobby Shack, and luckily they have spare gears, so after dinner my wife and I are heading down there.

Moral of the story? The gear cover is SUPER EASY TO REMOVE and you can inspect and tighten the set screws on the pinio gears, and do this before you run your new E-Maxx!!

If I had known how easy it was to remove, I would have done this first thing.

Hopefully, some new E-Maxx owners will read this before they chew up some gears!

[LatexMantus]

In the Track Report for the E-Maxx in RCCA one of the key things they said is to make sure everything is on properly. Even though it says RTR, it may not be. Also a lot of stuff can become loose through shipping. So I guess those RCCA Track Reports may just be worth reading after all.

Actually they are all worth reading, and so is the Back Lot.

[timesheet]

Hey OP, glad to hear you picked up an Emaxx, sorry to hear about your troubles with it. I would recommend to you a couple things:
Lower the body mounts all the way down. I was breaking rear body mounts constantly and haven't broken any since doing this. Um....er check your pinion and....er slipper um......nevermind. Also check that the motor to esc bullet connectors are snug, mine weren't and eventually lost contact with each other on my third run. I think this is a great truck, Have fun! (P.S. don't buy the esp wheelie bar)

[J mAn]

You can get 32 pitch pinions from RRP.

And don't forget to use thread lock!

[old phart]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, read the magazines....... http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/wink.gif

OK, my LHS had the spur gear only. So, I went and got it. The pinions were beat up bad, so I got out my needle files, and dressed up the gear teeth. The set screw was trash. Luckily, I had another 3mm set screw, but it was 8mm long! So, I had to grind it down. What a chore. Ever try to grind down a 3mm set screw with a bench grinder? Yeah.....

Anyway, got it shortened up to what I thought was OK. Put it all back together, and the gearmesh needed to be adjusted. When the set screw jammed in the rotating gears it moved one of the motors out of position.

Put the trans cover back on, and it worked! But, it made a terribly loud noise. http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/frown.gif OK, take it apart, what now? The set screw was hitting the inside of the trans cover. Take it out, grind it on the bench grinder some more (^%$%^$$%&&^%$$%^&&^%%$#$%#) and put it back together again. This time, it was cool.

Today, took it to work. Ran awesome! We had 2 E-Maxx trucks, a RC10 stadium truck, an old RC10 buggy, and a Traxxas Rustler all running amok in a small field in the corner of our work yard. It was a ball. The E-Maxx's conquered all! It digressed quickly into a free-for-all demo derby. Too bad we didn't get it on video, LOL. Nobody suffered any damage, however and it was all in good fun. The E-Maxx's impressed everyone with their speed and ability to tame all terrain.

Can't wait to run it some more http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[TOTAL CARNAGE]

Glad you had fun old phart!! The E-Maxx is a great truck and everyone has filled you in on the things to look for. One more bit of advice, PROTECT the esc from moisture!! One small drop of water (or anything conductive) and it will go up in smoke! I have a cover for my chassis that I use whenever I run outdoors.

[Interceptor]

Be sure to use lock tite on the pinion screws, I found out the hard way same as you :-) Another tip I found is to cover the ESC board in Dielectric grease to help keep moisture away from it.

Ain't demo durbys a hoot?

[2 DA MAXX]

hey interceptor, what is dielectric grease and where can it be purchased at? thanx Mr. MAXX

[Ras Thavas]

Sorry Old Phart, I did not mean to sound like I was chastizing you. Just wanted to post the info for others who did not read the magazine to see and take proper precautions. Actually I want an E-Maxx, dam things are delayed again till end of April. Keep posting and let us know how it holds up.

[jayskiia]

2 da maxx, dielectric grease can be bought at any auto parts store for little or nothing. you can also get it at wal mart or another similar retail store in the auto area. it is a protective, lubrivating grease that conducts elecricity but shields out water and dirt. it is a good idea

[old phart]

Not a problem Ras, I got a thick skin http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/wink.gif

Dielectric grease? Hmmm....... I have this stuff called Dielectric Silicone Grease that we use to waterproof relays and spark plug boots. I wonder if that is the same stuff you guys are referring to?

I would be willing to try it, except I don't want to cook my new ESC as I really don't know squat about them yet http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

[old phart]

jayskiia: dielectric grease does not conduct electricity. It is an insulator as far as conducting is concerned. However, it does keep moisture out, and does lube and help things like rubber or silicone boots pull off easily after they have been exposed to high temperatures.

Dielectric grease only works with electrical components as long as the metal-metal contacts are still conducting.

[ammoace]

isn't that Dia greas stuff what they used to give you with a mechanical speed controller in a tiny little tube that you you had to cut the tip off of?
AMMOACE

[Fergy]

Old phart, sorry to hear about your new truck in lay-up. But, thanks for sharing, us old farts learn from experience, both our own and others http://www.rccaraction.com/ubb/wink.gif

[rvrrun]

One small drop of water (or anything conductive) and it will go
up in smoke!

Just so everyone understands, water is not a conductor but an insulator, its all of the stuff floating in the water that causes trouble.

OP, you answered your own question with that definition of silicone dielectric. It can be used to protect the ESC.

MS