Burnt out Firestorm motor?

[Bog Blocker]

My 6 week old Firestorm Flux has died on me, I think the motor has burnt out!!

It suddenly stopped working yesterday, 2 minutes into using it on a freshly charged 5000 11.1v 3S battery. I noticed the motor was extremely hot so I switched everything off and went home. It still doesn't work even today.

So, heres my questions;

1) Is the 5000 11.1v 3S battery responsible for killing the motor, or have I been driving it too fast for too long?
2) If I buy a new motor should I buy the same Flux Vektor 4800Kv brushless motor, or perhaps a more powerful one such as the HPI Flux Warp 5700kv?

Cheers
BB

 

[Phins Fan]

I'm not a huge electric guy so I would wait for other more experienced guys to chime in but....... From what I've read on these forums I would look at your gearing. Theres many times where noobs and self called "pros" will have too tall of a gearing setup and the motor struggles to keep up causing it to overheat and burn out. Just a thought.... Good luck!!

 

[Bog Blocker]

Thanks PF, other than the battery the car is unmodified and straight out of the box. I can't think of any reason why the motor (if it is the moror?) would fail so easily.

I was driving it normally and wasn't abusing it. Unless the battery is to blame then I would expect a HPI car to have tough enough components to cope with day to day driving?

 

[Metalhead Matt]

Sounds like a gearing issue. You have to monitor temps and tune accordingly. The box stock setup can't cover all driving conditions. Going to a higher kv motor would make the problem worse unless you geared way down. I'd grab a similar kv motor and a selection of pinions. Start two teeth smaller on the pinion and monitor temps. I shoot for 150 degrees max on brushless motors.

 

[Bog Blocker]

Thanks Matt. If its a gearing issue then would I still hear the motor spinning, or are you saying the gearing has probably burnt my motor?

 

[hamz9561]

It's possible that too high a gear could fry a motor. It could also be the ESC.

 

[Bog Blocker]

Considering its a brand new car I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of the parts. Unless its something I've done wrong?

I decided to inspect the motor so I've removed the cover to the gears..

and removed the motor, but there are two tiny screws that I can't remove as the heads appear to have rounded off!!

 

[hamz9561]

Does the motor turn freely off of the truck?

 

[Bog Blocker]

Yes, the motor turns freely when off the car, though it is notchy as if there are some cogs inside?

 

[MudSlinger33]

That is normal for it to cog when turning it by hand. You may have had the gear mesh to tight.

 

[Greywolf74]

HPI iis known for using castle electric motors and castle motors are known for gluing their motors together.try s flat head in there and see if you can catch couple of the corners in the screw and try to get it off that way.

 

[Bog Blocker]

Update - I phoned the shop I bought it from and they have asked me to return the motor and ESC for inspection. I shall wait and see what they say.

 

[MudSlinger33]

IMO, the firestorm does not at all hold up to its reputation as a durable HPI product. I have done many upgrades on mine just so I can bash it w/o something breaking. Hopefully you get everything worked out with yours.

 

[Greywolf74]

I've heard the HPI while not bad quality is definatly no Savage

 

[HPI-Killer]

Hmmm, if you plugged your pack in and turned it on with no response from the esc, you poofed your esc. If it lights up like normal with no response from throttle but have with steering, you fried your motor.

 

[Bog Blocker]

...If it lights up like normal with no response from throttle but have with steering, you fried your motor.

Thats the one^^^. I'm sending it back to the retailer for them to inspect it.

Cheers.