Lehner XL2400 locked up...
 

I was having a great little bash session at a new local spot I found until... cog - cog - cog... truck just sits in one spot without moving. At first I thought one the motor connectors came off because it was only cogging, but I checked them all they seemed fine. Then I tried to push the car on all 4 wheels and it wouldn't budge. So I tried to turn the pinion and it appears to be completely stuck. So I got home and took out the motor, and the only way I can turn the shaft is if I hold it with pliers, and twist the motor can by hand... :neutral:

So, any idea's what could have happened to the motor? I would like to take it apart... is the end cap screwed on? How should I unscrew it assuming that it will be VERY tight? This was also in my CRT.5, and motor as mentioned before is a Lehner XL2400.

Thanks for any help in advance. :yes:

same thing happened to my 8xl, sound like the rotor split

IIRC, the endbell on the basic series of motors has a screw on front endbell.

Sounds like what happened to one of my feigao 200L size motors too. Definitely check the rotor.

Hopefully, it's just the bearing(s). Good luck!

Thanks for the replies guys. I can only hope that its just a bad bearing. But I can't imagine a bad bearing practically ceasing the shaft and keeping it from moving. How would you recommend me go about taking the front end bell off? I really have no idea's on how to go about doing this... :neutral:

What truck is it in? If you can get the motor mount by itself you can use that for leverage to unscrew the front endbell.

My XL2800 once unscrewed itself when I hit the throttle too hard...needless to say it hasn't done it since. Can you say JB Weld? :mdr:

I have an XL1200, and i mounted the motor to a motor plate (had a truggy one sitting) and used a belt type wrench. Mine was giving me problems like that, It turned out that the wires were crossing in the motor. I just moved them around and the motor freed up, never had the problem again. I know i'm taking a chance on the motor, but it hasn't given me a reason to replace it since.

same motor also seperatred the rotor, from the shaft. I reglued it back with JB weld, just be sure to remove all the glue from the shaft and as much from the inside of the magnet as possible. This is only if the magnet hasn't split

Well took it apart today by mounting it to the motor mount as you guys suggested and it seems as all is well. But when I put it back together, something starts rubbing and keeping it from spinning freely... Will it be very obvious if the rotor/magnet is split? Anything else o look for?

I am taking pictures of it right now to post up. :yes:

Thats weird. And the bearings arent done? Both smooth?

If the rotor was the cause, id say it would be noticeable being broken/cracked.

If the magnet is toast, it will be shattered into 2 or more large pieces, and come away from the shaft. The binding you describe sounds more like a dud bearing really- make sure there is no debris inside the motor, and that there windings are crossed as they exit the can (or any loose strands causing a short somewhere).

Check bearings and they are both very smooth and the rotor is in one piece. It actually looks/feels like the rotor is rubbing against the windings in the can. I'll clean them right now and take a closer look...

EDIT: Well something is wrong and I can't figure it out. :neutral: The thing is that I bet it is something very simple. Unfortunately, my brother went on vacation and took my camera so I can't take pictures right now. I'm probably going to email Mike and see what he can do about it...

Are there spacers at either end of the shaft? Or, have either of the bearings backed out of their races? As far as whether the windings are rubbing, that would be fairly obvious as well. Take it apart again and run your finger along the inner radius of the windings to see if you can feel any of them jutting out. It is a VERY long shot, but I suppose if you got a large enough pulse of current through the stator it COULD cause the windings to expand and hit the rotor. Like I said, VERY long shot.

Nope no spacers, just a couple washers next to the front and rear bearing. I also tested both bearing and they are as smooth as can be. :yes: I also ran my finger across the windings and they seem very smooth. Your "very long shot" seems to be the most probable thing, although I can't beleive the current can be so high... if it was that high I doubt the MM ESC could handle it also... :neutral:

Well then, it would seem the only option left would be an internal short. Possibly through all 3 stator windings, since it's giving you so much resistance. Have you tested it with a (mili)ohmmeter to make sure they are good?

^^^ Check where the motor leads exit the can on the rear endbell. The enamel has probably worn off the wires and they are hitting the metal can.

is the magnet/shaft bent?.. Lehner just sent me a brand new 2280 .. similar thing happened to mine.. one of the windings came a bit loose and rubbed against the magnet.... Is your rotor shiny/silver.. or does it have black spots on it.. if it has black spots, then it definately was rubbing against the stator...

Looking closely at it, the enamel has actually worn out, and it appears that the windings are touching the motor can. This will cause it to short, correct?

The magnet/shaft spins perfectly straight and for a very long time in the bearings. :yes: But I did notice that on the magnet, there are black stripes on only one side of it. It is about 1/3 of the circumference of the whole magnet going up to the top and bottom of the magnet. :oh: So that probably means that not just one strand was sticking out, but pretty much the whole side.

My brother is coming back from vacation tomorrow with my camera so I'll get a close up shot by tomorrow evening probably. Thanks so much for the help so far guys. Really appreciate it. :yes:

Correct. :cry: :lol: If you can, try to bend the wires so that they aren't touching the can and then try to spin it. When a motor is shorted, it's like having 100% brake all the time.

I'll try this. Just want to make sure that nothing should be connected to the motor, right? If it did indeed short out, does this damage the motor/windings permanently?

The motor should be fine, aside from the short, if that is the only reason for the resistance. Usually a short in that location will only damage the controller since the short is not inside motor itself. It's basically like putting a 12AWG jumper wire across the controller's output terminals in a "triangle" configuration. :oh: Some shrink tubing on the wires and a piece of plastic between the wires and the can should prevent it from happening again.

I had this happen to my 1200xl lehner once, I moved the wires till it spun free, never happened again. I think you should be ok. If you get that wierd cog again, Stop! Don't push your luck. I haven't had it happen, but i'm sure that the crossed phases or shorting on the can will hurt the esc

I am trying these things, but nothing seems to fix the rubbing the magnet is experiencing. Here are a couple pictures I took of it.

You can see here when the windings were rubbing on the magnet:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0493.jpg

This is the side where it wasn't rubbing, although it does look like it rubbed a little on the right part of the magnet:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0494.jpg

These were the best pictures I could get of the inside of the motor can...
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0495.jpg

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0496.jpg

Here are the wires/plugs coming out of the motor can, the shrink wrap definitely looks pretty beat up and ripped apart:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...s/IMG_0498.jpg

The windings dont appear damaged, and the magnet is solid- I would suggest cleaning the inside of the motor with some compressed air or an old dry paintbrush, seems to be lots of debris in there..

Bent shaft maybe?

^ :oh: But how?? Extremely severe startup cogging? I think he's on to something since the rotor only shows signs of wear on one side. :yes:

It sounds like everything that could go wrong with a motor has happened to your Lehner all at the same time! :lol:

Edit:
I must have missed that part, sorry Aqwut. :mdr:

My bad, totally zoned out on that one.

I really have no idea what happened to it. :lol: I am now completely lost at what to do with it. :rofl:

Hey Travis, would you mind if I sent you the motor to take a look at? We may see each other on August 17th... if there is a bash so you can just give it to me there. Even if there is no bash, I'll be in OC so I can always get it back. Worst case I'll just pay pal you money to ship it back to SD. I'm PMing you about it right now...