RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

jackalope wrote:Well then its NOT the same problem I had! I think I remember reading the plastic gearboxes have a slipper clutch setup but never having owned one I can't be sure. But if they do that'd be a place to start looking.

Are steel gearboxes out of the question? They get rid of a LOT of issues.

They do have a clutch Jack...it will make a nasty clicking noise when it slips ...only the plastic set have them to preserve the life of the gears... I would epoxy those so they would run like metal boxes.... advantage is they are quieter.... disadvantage is the final drive gear can split where the gear teeth are ......then that gear will spin on the axle

ALPHA

So all of you suggest me to open up the gearbox and there is no problem with sprockets?
By the way, I owned a Heng Long before and by experience, these products might be the worst products of all sorts I have ever used. Especially considering their price. I just used twice it or so and there is problem again

you could pop the upper hull off and run it topless to see whats going on , if all the gears and ouput shafts are spinning then its a sprocket , but, as mentioned, if all the gears spin but the output shaft is not ,then you have a failed gear ,
i know it sucks when they fail but persevere , half the fun is fixing and improving things .
good luck fella ,

orckhan wrote:So all of you suggest me to open up the gearbox and there is no problem with sprockets?
By the way, I owned a Heng Long before and by experience, these products might be the worst products of all sorts I have ever used. Especially considering their price. I just used twice it or so and there is problem again

Tough call... once you feel that way about a product... there's pretty much no turning back... what you have to realize is that it isn't the brand...because no matter what model you buy...there will be problems... I've had problems with my Heng Longs..but I choose to fix and improve upon their design instead of condemning it ...change to metal gears... you should have no problems after that

the sprockets rarely give any problems...on any tank... I've only heard of one in the time I've been on the board... a miss casting so the teeth literally did not line up ...gears and gearboxes... are the most common gripe ...yours are plastic...the weakest of the bunch... the gears crack for various reasons...mostly because of the stress put on them....I've messed with them quite a bit.... some of my tanks still run them...but once past a certain weight change them out...but trouble shooting is the key...
thing is I have a pile of reserve plastic gears....if you don't have that...then switching to metal is the only choice...

We here cannot solve all the problems...mostly because everything is in written word...we can only suggest the actions you can take ...reason you will rarely see me asking for this kind of help... figuring it out is much better for me... as I know everyone has their own methodology

BE PATIENT... problems don't work out themselves...but through a process..can be repaired...this is how it is in all hobbies

ALPHA

alphatiger88 wrote:you could pop the upper hull off and run it topless to see whats going on , if all the gears and ouput shafts are spinning then its a sprocket , but, as mentioned, if all the gears spin but the output shaft is not ,then you have a failed gear ,
i know it sucks when they fail but persevere , half the fun is fixing and improving things .
good luck fella ,

ALPHA

Hi,

I just ordered a metal gearbox. Do I have to grease it with oil or WD-40 before running?

Pro-tip: Never use WD40 as a grease. It's a temporary lubricant only. Use actual grease, you shouldn't need that much. Interesting thing to note; WD40 was developed for "military" use in the 1950s. WD stands for Water Displacing.

It's a good idea to grease the gears, run it for awhile, clean with soap and an old brush and then re-grease it. This will "wear" the gears so that they mesh and washing it once the gears are slightly worn to get rid of the metallic bits that are trapped in the grease. Should run better, and make less noise this way.

I've come to like furniture polish...johnsons or Pledge ...it's wax...so won't harm the plastic should any residual get on it



ALPHA

hi just me thinking out load here you say you get a wizzing sound that tells me the motor is running fast and that the pinon gear is slipping on the motor shaft
i may be wrong but thats my guess it will run ok on blocks but when put under load on the ground it will slip
dave

Well gears should probably not be run dry. Think of them as the same as gears in a car, should they be run dry? NEVER. If you have the plastic gears, the only plastic safe grease is 100% silicone divers grease. The silicone grease from the store is only about 10% the rest is petroleum base thickener.
After using it on my steel gears for a while, knowing how costly it is, I just decided to make grease shields, cut from a sheet of 1/16 tin or aluminum. And after that I figure you can use any grease you want.

People recommend everything from silicone shock oil (rc hobby car shock oil) at the "thick" viscosity, to white lithium rattle can (i ttried that but it turns into powder after a while). To regular car wheel bearing grease.

I'd say use the silicone shock oil, or automotive CV driveaxle grease, both would be proper and effective. I tried using lube without making the gearbox shields it was a mess, now i make the shields in 5 minutes. The sheet tin or aluminum can get at lowes, or the hobby shop, just cut and bend by hand.

Here's someone else's work, they just used, I guess, copper sheet or bronze, if you bend it so that you can tuck both ends under the gearbox housing they will usually stay put.