Essential Tips For RC Car Maintenance
Not everyone is a engineering geek and even if one is then sometimes a quick tip or some helpful advice is always welcome. So here's a selection of maintenance hints and tips for your radio control car.
We all want some kind of help on
how to keep all unwanted particles coming into your car engine. A
simple remedy is to secure your air filter. Another option can be to
buy du-bro body clip retainers and make sure that they remain clipped
and do not get loose.
Sometimes your car may act funny. If you turn on your car and it keeps steering to one side, even if you keep the wheels straight, check if your car has a “steering trim” knob/wheel/button option. If there is none then may be adjusting steering servo armature length will do the
trick.
A lot of dirt gets accumulated under the chassis and the most to get affected are the screw heads. To get clean and sparkling screw heads under the chassis, spray denatured alcohol on screw heads and then pick the dirt with the help of paper clip. It is an effective way to clean your screw heads that are packed with dirt enough so that your hex driver can have enough meat to grab on. It is recommended to use denatured alcohol as it seems to work better than the simple green or motor cleaner.
Compressed air also works better for cleaning after a good day of racing. But an old sock always does the trick to clean your car sparkling and shining. The soft wool or cotton wipes off the dirt like magic. But one has to be sure not leave any loose threads going into the car. A small painter brush always cleans unreachable areas and cleans them gently. To wipe of sticky mud under the chassis or on the body of the car using a toothbrush to brush it off also helps. But make sure not to scratch your cars paint with a too hard brush bristles.
Sometimes your car may act funny. If you turn on your car and it keeps steering to one side, even if you keep the wheels straight, check if your car has a “steering trim” knob/wheel/button option. If there is none then may be adjusting steering servo armature length will do the
trick.
A lot of dirt gets accumulated under the chassis and the most to get affected are the screw heads. To get clean and sparkling screw heads under the chassis, spray denatured alcohol on screw heads and then pick the dirt with the help of paper clip. It is an effective way to clean your screw heads that are packed with dirt enough so that your hex driver can have enough meat to grab on. It is recommended to use denatured alcohol as it seems to work better than the simple green or motor cleaner.
Compressed air also works better for cleaning after a good day of racing. But an old sock always does the trick to clean your car sparkling and shining. The soft wool or cotton wipes off the dirt like magic. But one has to be sure not leave any loose threads going into the car. A small painter brush always cleans unreachable areas and cleans them gently. To wipe of sticky mud under the chassis or on the body of the car using a toothbrush to brush it off also helps. But make sure not to scratch your cars paint with a too hard brush bristles.
Keeping spare starter batteries and
checking on your tx, rx, and glow plug starter before going out with
your car also helps. This is a must when your batteries or lights etc
have been in use for a while.
If you want an alternative way out to shut down the engine in comparison to du-bro exhaust plug you can use a pencil to plug the exhaust to shut down the engine fast.
Everyone uses the cable tie trick to fasten the bec plug together so they do not get disconnected accidentally. But this does not seem practical because every time you have to cut the tie and use a new one to recharge the cells. To overcome this problem, a simple solution is to replace the cable ties with the twist tie that holds your rx antenna. They are reusable and do the job perfectly.
Drilling your tires on the outside edge in the middle, instead of the rim, keeps the dirt and other debris out of your tires. They'll stay in balance a lot longer as debris gets thrown out as you drive. If you drill the rims, then every bit of debris will stay in your wheel.
To make your own chassis, a blank circuit board or an aluminum plate does a great job. Use vise grips to clamp the original chassis to the blank material and drill all your holes by drilling straight through the existing holes on the original chassis. You'll get everything to mount up nice that way! If you are worried that the circuit board might be too light. No fret!. It is more or less like a fiber glass board and works well as top plate on bigger cars too.
By putting Velcro on the bottom of the radio and also at the top of the toolbox, you can stick the radio to the toolbox. This will make carrying everything easier.
By using 5 to 10 ohm ceramic resistors in your starter box, you can make your own glow plug driver. Over time the 10 ohm may degrade, but adding another in parallel should do the job.
Saving the paint in a fast racing car has always been problems. A quick solution to the long standing problem can be to put tape inside the body where things might rub
Make a pigtail for your charger with all the different connectors you use. This way the TX, Rx, deans, power pole, and alligator can be clipped all in one off the charger.
One can put a ziptie on for body clips, or clips in general, and for fuel tanks as well.
If there is more than one car, that uses a removable radio tray like HPI, instead of buying 2 sets of electronics, switching the radio tray in and out does the trick. It takes a little more time, but saves money. When you buy a new chassis and the old on is not badly damaged if at
all, one can make something out of it, like a radio tray or something that may be used as another car part. Using old car parts is always a part of creativity. You may never know if you would surprise some judge in a participating contest.
Something as simple as a silly putty can also become a must presence in the tool box. It serves several purposes. It seals the receiver from dirt, dust and moisture. It also insulates and holds car wiring in place. It works great as a different lock. It also helps make custom chassis. It
really helps to make mould out of the part that needs to be fit in every time. To add a part, a thin layer of putty can be laid down, press the piece that needs to be fit in onto the putty. Lifting the piece off will leave an impression of the part and its bolt pattern. Once the center is punched and drilled, the part will fit perfect every time.
Putting a small piece of zip tie down the hole of a stripped plastic part will hold the screw in place until it is replaced with a new one.
If you want an alternative way out to shut down the engine in comparison to du-bro exhaust plug you can use a pencil to plug the exhaust to shut down the engine fast.
Everyone uses the cable tie trick to fasten the bec plug together so they do not get disconnected accidentally. But this does not seem practical because every time you have to cut the tie and use a new one to recharge the cells. To overcome this problem, a simple solution is to replace the cable ties with the twist tie that holds your rx antenna. They are reusable and do the job perfectly.
Drilling your tires on the outside edge in the middle, instead of the rim, keeps the dirt and other debris out of your tires. They'll stay in balance a lot longer as debris gets thrown out as you drive. If you drill the rims, then every bit of debris will stay in your wheel.
To make your own chassis, a blank circuit board or an aluminum plate does a great job. Use vise grips to clamp the original chassis to the blank material and drill all your holes by drilling straight through the existing holes on the original chassis. You'll get everything to mount up nice that way! If you are worried that the circuit board might be too light. No fret!. It is more or less like a fiber glass board and works well as top plate on bigger cars too.
By putting Velcro on the bottom of the radio and also at the top of the toolbox, you can stick the radio to the toolbox. This will make carrying everything easier.
By using 5 to 10 ohm ceramic resistors in your starter box, you can make your own glow plug driver. Over time the 10 ohm may degrade, but adding another in parallel should do the job.
Saving the paint in a fast racing car has always been problems. A quick solution to the long standing problem can be to put tape inside the body where things might rub
Make a pigtail for your charger with all the different connectors you use. This way the TX, Rx, deans, power pole, and alligator can be clipped all in one off the charger.
One can put a ziptie on for body clips, or clips in general, and for fuel tanks as well.
If there is more than one car, that uses a removable radio tray like HPI, instead of buying 2 sets of electronics, switching the radio tray in and out does the trick. It takes a little more time, but saves money. When you buy a new chassis and the old on is not badly damaged if at
all, one can make something out of it, like a radio tray or something that may be used as another car part. Using old car parts is always a part of creativity. You may never know if you would surprise some judge in a participating contest.
Something as simple as a silly putty can also become a must presence in the tool box. It serves several purposes. It seals the receiver from dirt, dust and moisture. It also insulates and holds car wiring in place. It works great as a different lock. It also helps make custom chassis. It
really helps to make mould out of the part that needs to be fit in every time. To add a part, a thin layer of putty can be laid down, press the piece that needs to be fit in onto the putty. Lifting the piece off will leave an impression of the part and its bolt pattern. Once the center is punched and drilled, the part will fit perfect every time.
Putting a small piece of zip tie down the hole of a stripped plastic part will hold the screw in place until it is replaced with a new one.
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