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The Mabuchi 540 RS, also known as the “Johnson engine” is the standard engine that comes with most starter kits, they are also inexpensive and are often given out at racing events so that no one has a competitive advantage. There is a secret to getting a lot more power out of your 540, it’s called immersion, while this will reduce engine life if you plan to race at any point, this is a critical step.

A little history

There are two main types of motors, rebuildable and solid can motors. The main difference (aside from not being able to smash sealed can motors) is that in closed end bell motors you cannot replace the brushes, the brushes are the contact between the communicator and the electricity. Now to get the most out of your motor you need to mold the brush into the communicator, the generally accepted method is to run the motor for a short time with little power, I normally use 2 AA batteries giving me around 3 volts. . I run this for about 2-3 minutes, then I give it a break and run it for another 5 minutes.

The secret of dipping

Submerging the motor speeds up the molding process from the brush to the communicator, in sealed can motors the brushes are very hard, due to the need to last a long time. The trick is to submerge the motor in a glass of water, holding it by two cables at the back. Don’t worry, it will work perfectly underwater and there is no risk to the motor. Do not use WD40 or any other lubricants, these tend to burn at high temperatures and the interior of your engine will get very hot. It is even possible to melt the brushes on the communicator. Which is not so good for performance.

The real secret of diving

Well to be honest it depends on who you ask, but the actual solution used by the professionals is a very well kept secret, some people use a little bit of soap in their solution, you can also buy commercial solutions that claim to give 20% additional. I personally always use water, and if I’m just tapping with it, I’ll just use the 3-volt drying method above.

Much of the high-level information is impossible to find, people just don’t want to share their winning tactics with the world, the best option is to experiment, by joining a racing club you get a lot of people who are more than happy to give you all the advice in the world, but one thing you’ll notice is that the advice will vary depending on who you ask. In most cases, everyone is right and there is no wrong way to do things in RC, you need to go out there and see what works for you. Using a basic guide like this to give you a head start, but the actual discovery of information is a big part of the fun.

If you invest the time you will get results.

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