8 replies to this topic

[Rick42]

I read on another forum , that was inquiring about a spuddering motor. In a reply , he was told to flood his motor with 97% alcohol while it was on and throttled. Flood it to the point the alcohol ran out the bottom of the motor. This was to clean the motor of of any gunk , dust or any other contaminates. Will this not short out the motor , or possibly cause a fire or an explosion?

[old & gray]

Rick,

 

Any fluid used for cleaning should be used with caution. Pure water will not conduct electricity, but add "salts" and stand back.

 

 Alcohol is not the fire hazard it is alcohol fumes combined with air and  alcohol with generate copious fumes at room temperature.

 

Submerging the motor in fluid will allow the fluid to penetrate to all the crevices and soften the debris, running the motor will provide mechanical agitation to remove the debris, the spinning armature will generate bubbles which are fluid vapor without air which is why the bubbles don't burst into flame. Lifting the motor out of the fluid while running risks mixing the fumes at the surface with the sparks on the brushes which can have spectacular results. 

[Rick42]

So do you dip the entire car into the liquid , and if so , how do you power it ? I’m not fixing to do this , I’m just curious , in case I need to someday.

[Rick42]

Well I found a YouTube video on the process. It showed to take the motor out of the car and submerse only the motor in distilled only , water and change when it starts getting dirty. Then finish with an alcohol dip to disperse any water. Wow. I’m still not too old to learn something.

[Phil Hackett]

I want to point out that the automobile (real one not slot car) you most likely own or ride in has an electric DC motor in the gas tank. It sparks too, when running. You don't die in a fireball when the tank is "empty".

 

No one ever considers why....

[old & gray]

I want to point out that the automobile (real one not slot car) you most likely own or ride in has an electric DC motor in the gas tank. It sparks too, when running. You don't die in a fireball when the tank is "empty".

 

No one ever considers why....

 

The full pump in your tank is designed as a "wet" motor. To prevent leaks from the failure/wear of shaft seals I have designed "seal less" motor and pump units with "wet" motors. I have not designed pumps for autos but I did design a pump for a diesel engine in a large armored vehicle. A motor and pump could very well use a diaphragm or piston ring interface to separate the motor from the fluid.

[Rick42]

I want to point out that the automobile (real one not slot car) you most likely own or ride in has an electric DC motor in the gas tank. It sparks too, when running. You don't die in a fireball when the tank is "empty".

 

No one ever considers why....

How do you know it sparks. Its an enclosed pump , not exsposing all the electric wiring to the fluid like you do when emersing a non enclosed slot car motor.

[gotboostedvr6]

Ive used Naphtha, CRC QD (Alcohol), and Tetrachloroethylene in the past to clean motors under power.

[Phil Hackett]

How do you know it sparks. Its an enclosed pump , not exsposing all the electric wiring to the fluid like you do when emersing a non enclosed slot car motor.

 

I have replaced and then autopsied fuel pump motors. I have run them and seen the sparks.

 

As for being "sealed"... how long do you think it will take gasoline to go through the bearings and get into the motor "proper"? They might be "enclosed" but they're not "sealed". These motors directly drive a gear pump so there's no barrier between the pump gears and the armatures like you'd have in a corrosive liquid environment.

 

Oh, another thing, does anyone know how your gas tank level gauge works? For most cars/trucks I have worked on, it's a rheostat that's exposed to the gasoline and fumes. 12v runs through it when it's either empty of full, depending on the electrical design of the circuit.

 

Again, why isn't the gas tank exploding? Hint: it's chemistry.