# bummin



## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

I was cleaning on one of my vintage AFX chassis. Took it apart. Used Noxon on the comm and pick up shoes. cleaned the brush springs and scraped the crud off the motor brushes.

Reasembled, put it on the track....and nothing. Before I cleaned it, it ran but rough and squeaky thus the cleaning. What should I look at first?


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Make sure the brushes are hitting the comm. Use a toothpick to push it in the brush tube. Then help the wheels while holding the rear up in the air. Also make sure your track is on!!lol


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## joegri (Feb 13, 2008)

i,m with jskylark on this one. maybe add some tention to the tang that pushes on the brush. also get a fresh 9 volt battery so you can see stuff up close as you push the shoes to the battery.let us know what it is.


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

joegri help me with the battery idea. I test the cars by holding up the rear wheels and gunning the controller. clue me in on the battery idea.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

A 9 volt battery will line up on your pick ups to spin the motor up. These cars run on DC voltage so always have a handy 9 volt around. They are also good to run your cars a little slow to see if your axles, tires, and even gears are running smooth.

Just turn your car upside down and touch the pickup shoes on the 2 contacts. Now while doing that, use a toothpick and press on the actual little tabs that push the brush onto your armature. Sometimes they hang up and if it's not touching the comm on the arm it won't run.

Take it a step further, place the battery contacts directly on the little square plates on the bottom bypassing the shoes to see if your shoes aren't making contact to this plate.


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Here is a good tip for you.

Get yourself an old Model Motoring power supply for your bench. The 2 screws on the side of the supply line up on the pickup shoes too. Plud they have an on and off switch. Now you can hold the supply any way you want and test away!!!!


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

jo65, thanks for the tip with the battery. Feels good to get out from under the rock. I did what you suggested and still did not work. I will now try the battery with the toothpick to see where the disconnect is.


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## 440 (Feb 23, 2008)

Heh, I've got an old Aurora Wild One I can't get to run. It's been sitting in my box since '08 because I can't figure out what the issue is. I didn't know about the toothpick trick on the brushes. 

I'm honestly thinking it's corrosion on the copper where the shoes hook in but I dunno how to clean in that little area.


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## hartracerman (Jan 9, 2005)

Look for broken wires on the armature too. Hopefully it's just a corrosion problem.


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## 440 (Feb 23, 2008)

Hopefully it is. But on the other hand, if it is a broken wire it'll give me an excuse to try my hand at rewinding an arm.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

That armature winding path is an evil road to start on, its highly addictive.

Give it a shot

Boosted


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

Still bummin. Used the battery, toothpick and checked for missing wires on the arm still no go. As I past the battery up and doen the pick up shoes and the electricals, still no go but the bottom of the chassis was real warm. Not sure if that is the norm, but, obviously something is messed up


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## Super Coupe (Feb 16, 2010)

The brushes on the bottom could be to tight and squeezing the arm to much. Just a thought.
>Tom<


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## gobucks1a (Mar 5, 2011)

This is a magna traction car so if you are saying the motor brushes are too tight would that mean the springs are stretched? meaning the brushes are too high above the chassis?


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## Super Coupe (Feb 16, 2010)

Yes.But I'm just shooting some ideas out there for ya.

>Tom<


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## hartracerman (Jan 9, 2005)

Ohm out the armature too. It might tell you something. Does everything torn freely?


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