Noisy car

[joatham]

I've just finished building my Mission, but it's noisy :( It's got a Core stock 27 turn motor and a Ripmax Xtra No Limit ESC. The noisiest bit is when you go from 1/4 throttle to stop (when the breaking kicks in on the ESC). I've taken the pinion off the motor, and it's fairly quiet, but not as quiet as most of the cars I see (or hear) at the local club.

Is the Core a noisy motor normally, or could it be the way the ESC delivers the power, and are there any other things which I might have overlooked that would make it noisier? I'm not too sure whether I have the pinion too tight against the main spur, it's noisier if I tighten it and quietens down a little if I loosen it. I have also checked that the wheels and gears etc all turn freely without the motor pinion connected, and they are all nice and smooth.

Would adding some drops to the motor quieten it down?
Could the belt be too loose/tight?
Is it the meshing of the pinion/spur?

Any help or ideas would be greatfully received, as I don't really know where to start looking to sort this out. Thanks!

John

[Remo]

It is most likely you are meshing the gears too tightly.

When correctly meshed you should be able to "rock" the spur a little back and forth with the pinion stationary. I think its mentioned in the user manual "Tips" that you should try it at several points covering the whole spur...

a lot of people says you should be able to put a fag paper between the spur and the pinion and rotate the spur and if the paper gets cut then the mesh is too tight etc... since I dont smoke I suggest you use kitchen towel ...

[DA_cookie_monstA]

Don't forget to check the meshing on different places around the spur (especially if it is a Schuey one!!)

kitchen towel!!!! That will be way to thick, i used paper but i do it by eye now, i think people say use rizzla because it is very thin. might be you have the front diff on backwords, this would mean that the long belt is wonkey and probably rub on the motor mount or spur gear. hope this helps.

[DA_cookie_monstA]

By kitchen towel, I don't think he meant the one for drying the dishes, more the paper variety.

As for meshing, I prefer to use the eye than anything else, as you learn to mesh by yourself, so when you get a car like a xxx4, where you can't go putting in paper, you can still mesh. If it is too tight, it will make a whinning noise, and feel slow.

I take it the noise is when the car is on the track, in which case, I would check the belt tension, and where it is irunning to, making sure it is correctly tensioned and running true.

[joatham]

Thanks for the ideas, it does seem noisier if the pinion is tighter against the spur, but still quite bad even if it's loose. I'll take a look at the belt and diffs tonite to see if they are right (I remember that I had trouble working out which way they should go :-)

Is it okay to take the belt off and see how it runs then, that would make it easier to find the problem; if it's still noisy I would know it was not anything to do with the belt and/or driveshafts etc...

How tight should the drivebelt be? It doesn't seem to give any guideline in the manual, so I'm not too sure if it's too tight, too loose or just right ???)

I might try it with a different motor from one of my other cars too, just so I know it's not that which is making the racket..

[DA_cookie_monstA]

silly question, is it making the noise on the track, or when on a stand?

[joatham]

I haven't had it on a track yet, as I just wired it up last night and gave it a quick spin on the stand...

But, I think I might know what it is now. I just checked my receipt for the pinion, and I got the wrong one, it's a .6 MODULE 23T and not a 48DP 23T. I wonder if that could possibly be what the problem is :-[

That's the trouble with the internet, all too easy to click and order the wrong thing, and as the bag wasn't labled and the gear said "23" and looked about right, I didn't think to double check it until now.

Right, I'm going to leave the room and slap my forehead very hard now, but at least I've got a good idea what I need to do when I get home. Newbies eh, what can you do with them :P

[Remo]

hey at least you found the problem and just put it donw to experience.... you need 48dp or it will make some serious noise!
btw any pinion should not be hard against the spur... and yes once got it right you can do it by eye easily....

[joatham]

All fixed now, I've put the correct pinion in and it's lovely and quiet ;D

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions though, much appreciated!

John