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I have pretty much resigned to running only Carrera 124 cars the past few years. I sometimes run the 1/32 but 1/24 is where the fun is for me the group I run with. Which is VERY strange. When I opened our shop in 2000, if somebody would have said, "in 15 years Carrera is going to be your main slot car focus", I would have told them they were CRAZY. Not a little crazy, A LOT crazy. As we all know Carrera has more than up'd their game since 2000. Excellent quality cars for a great price. So back to why we're here. In my endless pursuit to find tips for my cars, I learned a very simple yet effective tip from a friend/fellow racer of mine. I figured if it works for me, it may work for you. Let me start by saying, if something goes wrong in the process of trying this break in method, you're on your own! LOL I've done it many times and every time has been positive. Here we go.

You'll need:



Before putting any electric to the motor, take it out of the car and put it in a cup of WD40. I used 2 cut down beer can bottles. I the photo below you can see the little motor hanger a made to keep the motor steady. Otherwise the gear will end up beating on the side of the aluminum cup. So now that the motor is submerged in the WD40, apply 3V-4V power to the motor. It's suggested to leave it running for 24 hours. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A QUALITY POWER SUPPLY IF YOU'RE LETTING RUN OVER NIGHT. After the 24 hour run time, you should have a nicely polished comm. Now remove the motor from the WD40 and let drip dry for a few minutes. Then take canned air or a compressor and blow out the motor. Once the bulk of the WD40 has been blown out you then submerge the motor in CRC Electra-Motive(I'm sure there is other stuff you can use but we use this). Let it run in the cleaner to remove the excess WD40. After about 5 minutes, it should be safe to remove the motor. Repeat the drain and air process. When you are satisfied that the inside is dried out, add a drop of oil to either end of the motor shaft. Install the motor. If all goes well, you should be enjoying a smooth running slot car.



This will also work on motors that have already been run but for best results, do this before running your cars.

Good Luck,
Bruce@Cincyslots

Thanks for taking the time to post this.

I've never tried to run-in a motor, just letting them seat themselves through normal racing. But if the difference in a run-in motor is as much as tires sanded on a tire truer versus just on sandpaper stuck to the track, then I'll have to give it a shot.

There's a lot of inconsistency in some of my car's running, and I can't figure out if it's me, track power, or the motor. This trick will at least eliminate one possibility.

Well done Bruce. We all have our ways of doing this but it's great to see the different methods.

Thanks for taking the time. :auto-checkeredflag:

No problem. Yes I'm sure there are 100's of methods out there. Just food for thought. Enjoy!

Bruce

Bruce -
Thanks for sharing. That is a unique spin on some of the other methods I have tried and will have to look at giving that one a try to see how it compares.
:D

As a returning newbie to the sport (a 50 year layoff), I've read several articles on breaking in motors including using water. My questions are, does breaking in a motor really make a difference, does breaking in motors apply to the commercial track brands or home base such as Carrera, and lastly, what type of power supply can I get that supplies the 3-4 volt requirement that I read about here?
Thanks in advance for your replies. It sure is fun being back behind the controller with all the changes since I was a kid.
Pierce

Pierce,

Your power supply question can open another bag of worms! lol We use the one below. It works great for breaking in motors, truing tires to running multiple scale cars on your track.



I think the cars run smoother compared to cars I didn't break in. I've only tried this break in method on Carrera cars but I would think all motors would be safe. Do more research to be sure???

Thanks for your input