Friday February 13, 2004
SlotCarHeroes Sun Tech SS10 Motor Test
Recently
SlotCarHeroes asked me if I would like to test not only their chassis but the
new motor they have changed to as well. Although I am no expert in either field,
I looked forward to finally getting the chance to race them.
If you are just joining us in this hobby you might like to know that I am one of the laziest enthusiasts you will ever meet. I say this as mostly I just enjoy the ready-to-run side of our hobby and do very little scratch-building. This helps explain why I have not yet had the pleasure of testing these chassis, however, regardless of my limited knowledge I still felt I could put this new motor through its paces.
Made of durable stainless steel, this chassis is adjustable from 2.75 to 3.625 inches and comes equipped with this new Sun Tech motor. This motor is rated at 34,000 RPMS @ 12 volts and with the chassis comes equipped with a brass 10 tooth pinion that drives a Cox 29 tooth crown gear and TSRF wheels and tires. Nylon bushings hold the axles in place with very little free-play. Right out of the box this new motor and chassis both were very pleasing. Smooth is a word we use a lot in this hobby to describe a nice running model and it more than applies here.
The motor is perhaps the item we should cover the most as it is brand new to this line and all I can say is it should please most of you. Although it has a more open end design than we have seen on standard Mabuchi motors, it is still a snap-in replacement for most models on the market. So just how would you test a motor? Well, I don't have any advanced equipment to verify any RPM ratings or Torque specifications...but I do have a track and a controller...so off to the races we went.
This testing began almost 3 weeks ago and we have really put this motor and chassis through some abuse to say the least. Before I started testing though I hooked one of the spare motors up to an old transformer rated at 3.7 volts and just let it run on my workbench to see how break-in would effect it. After it was running I took the chassis with a different motor to the track and ran over 200 laps with the power set to 12 volts. The motor was of course warm but not hot to the touch, so back to the track it went for more laps. After about 200 more laps I decided to hand it over to a customer who frequents our shop. He was more than happy to try something new so back to the track it went. After 100 laps we decided we have done enough for Day 1 and called it a night.
The next day I took the spare motor I had hooked up to the transformer and placed it in an older Carrera Corvette. This motor had been ran on this set-up for around 6 hours the previous day and I was eager to head for the track to see how it would perform. The first few laps told me that this little motor has excellent top end and torque, even with the car over-magneted. It isn't going to keep up with more expensive motors found on the market but for a snap-in replacement it is more than enough for my home use.
I then placed a third brand new motor in another Carrera Vette and decided we would do some drag racing on our 20 foot straights to see if our original motor had lost any of its power or torque. Well I can safely say that my small tests have shown it not only didn't lose any power, but actually was slightly faster due to the break-in it was allowed. It has excellent braking and acceleration in both magnet and non-magnet use and you should find that the speed it produces to be more than sufficient for many applications.
Soon available separately at only $8.00, this motor has proven itself to be an excellent replacement for many of the home-set models found today. Our test models are still running strong and I certainly plan on adding more for future products. Make sure you take the time to drop into the SlotCarHeroes website and read even more detailed information on the chassis and motor. This is a great resource that I feel caters to the scratch-builders out there and is well worth the visit.
- Harry
As always feel free to contact me about this article or just the hobby in general at harry@homeracingworld.com, or better yet drop into our Message Forum and share your thoughts with other enthusiasts!
Thanks go to SlotCarHeroes for providing us with these samples!