Want to know how to clean your RC Car? Then you are in the right place. In this article I will explain how and why you need to keep you RC Car clean as a whistle.
How do you clean an RC car? This must be done in stages. First Get your tools and detach the car parts. Then clean the outer casing, gear box, wheels, bearings and the motor, and any other parts which need of cleaning or tuning. After completion re-assemble your car again.
While cleaning an RC car, you need to be very careful about your car parts as they are smaller in size as compared to the regular car. You need to follow a step by step cleaning process so as to not damage any delicate component by mistake. Let’s find out the detailed solutions to clean an RC car.
Solutions to Clean your RC Car
The following are the steps to follow while cleaning your RC car:
- Discover your RC Car: It is very essential to discover all the elements of your car whenever you buy it or are already a user. Without having a proper understanding of all the specifications of your car’s model, the cleanup process will become a hassle for you.
- Gather Cleaning Utensils: The cleaning utensils vary with the type of cleanup you want to perform like cleaning from just outside or a full cleanup of every nook and corner of the car. You need to gather all the utensils needed for cleaning and keep it in the tool box because this process needs to be done frequently.
- Detach the Car Parts: Since we are in the middle of learning a complete cleanup process, detaching the RC car parts is a vital step to follow. Firstly, separating the top portion of your car i.e. the casing, so that you can reach into the inner parts of the RC car. Then you can go on to separating the small electronic parts.
- Wheels Cleanup: For cleaning the wheels of your car, you will need some water and soap. Soak the wheel in the water then apply the soap or you can make a soapy water and put the wheels in it. So that all the dirt can come off and then put it in the warm water for a thorough wash.
- Cleaning the Outside Parts: This includes the plastic casing of the car and the chassis. For the upper plastic casing, you can follow the same method as you did for the wheels. As far as the chassis is concerned, it becomes dirtier during the car run. Make sure to clean it carefully so as to remove the dirt completely.
- Cleaning the RC Car Motor, Bearing and Gearbox: This is the most critical part of the cleanup process because these are the components which allows your RC car to function. Use the spray solution to clean up the motor, bearing and the gearbox. For the bearing, remove the grease if any and then re-oil it for the better performance of your car.
- Reassemble your Car: After this cleaning, place all the components back to their original location.
Which Cleaning Product to Use
There are various RC car cleaning products out there, of different brands. When you buy an RC car, some manufacturers also provide the cleaning products with your car and other times you need to buy them separately. The basic cleaning solution for an RC car is WD40, which is commonly available everywhere.
You can also create an inexpensive solution at home if you want. All you need is a squelch of WD40, Denatured Alcohol and regular bleach free cleaner. Take a spray bottle and mix these liquids. Your homemade cleaning solution is ready.
Cleaning Tool Kit for your RC car
For the cleaning tool kit for your RC car, you have two options available. Either you buy an RC car tool separately or you can gather cleaning tools from your storeroom. This depends on your budget and the current circumstances for example, if you are new to this hobby then purchasing a new tool will be better for you. But you know what? The tools you need for cleaning are used in our daily lives so they must be easily available at your house.
Here’s what you will need:
- Cotton buds are quite common in everyone’s households. You can use cotton buds to clean all the nooks and corners of your car.
- Most of you save your toothbrushes that you stop using for various other uses. The good thing is these old toothbrushes will be beneficial for scrubbing the chinks of dirt which gets stuck in on the wheels, the shell of your RC car and other internal parts.
- Next you will need few shredded dust cloths for overall cleaning as well as washing off your RC car’s chassis.
- Papers napkins can also be used for cleaning your RC car’s shell.
Cleaning Tips to Follow
We want you to be aware of several tips which are quite useful if you follow them while the cleanup process.
- Plan a cleaning schedule as per your car racing schedule. It’s up to you if you want to follow a regular cleaning schedule or an occasional one. It all depends upon how many times you take your RC car for a race.
- Decide and allocate an area for the cleanup process. If a place is fixed, it will be convenient for you. Make sure to keep that area hygienic and free from any mess.
- Maintain a cleaning tool kit for your RC car and keep it separate from other cleaning utensils in your house.
- After run maintenance of your RC car is also an essential step. If you follow this practice, your car RC will stay as good as new.
Following these tips is advantageous for you and you will save yourself from extra stress. Now, it is up to you if you follow these cleaning tips with different variations in it or not follow these at all.
Benefits of Cleaning your RC Car
Cleaning your RC car frequently does have its own benefits. Following are the benefits:
- By following a constant cleanup process, you will observe that you car’s speed stays as good as new. Preserve your RC car for the long run and enjoy benefit of high speed.
- Cleaning and maintaining you RC car means that you check for any kind of internal or external damage regularly. So if any of the car’s parts are broken, you will learn about it sooner rather than later. So you can get it fixed immediately.
- The performance of your RC car will remain consistent and effective as long as you follow a regular cleanup process. Your car’s engine will never heat excessively and it will work smoothly.
- The maintenance process saves you from many additional expenses of your RC car like terrible damage or broken parts.
To avail these long term benefits, do a thorough maintenance of your car. Even I followed my own cleaning schedule strictly. I still have the same RC car that I bought for myself, two years ago. Trust me, it still runs as smoothly as before.
Related Questions
What are some of the best techniques to clean your RC car’s Chassis?
- The air compressor technique – Did you know that compressed air helps cleaning excessive dirt? Well it’s true. Using the compressed air technique for cleaning your car’s chassis can be a bit expensive but it’s worth it because it removes all the muck instantly.
- Using denatured alcohol also works its magic in eradicating the mud.
- As mentioned above, water and soap is another technique for cleaning the car’s Chassis. But you need to ensure that all the electric component of your car are either covered or waterproof so as to avoid any type of damage. You will need a brush or paper napkins to dip it into the soapy water and wipe off the filth. Never dip the whole chassis into the soapy water or you will face the consequences.
- Another cleaning technique that you can apply is cleaning your car’s chassis through damp wipes. These wipes are also called baby wipes and yes these baby wipes will effectively clean all the grease and dirt. They are also easy to carry around so, keep a pack with you whenever you take your car for a race.
- There also special cleaners available in the market which are made specifically for cleaning the RC cars. Be careful while using one of these, as they can harm the electric and sensitive components of your car.
Is it Important to clean an RC engine? Since your RC engine is an essential component of your RC car which is programmed to run your car, maintaining and cleaning it is very necessary.
Dismantling the whole motor or not, depends on your engine’s model, as some engines can be dismantled easily and some are not meant to be. While buying your RC car or maybe sometime later, do get details about the RC engine and its maintenance from the manufacturer or retailer.
After getting a complete knowhow about your RC engine, you can follow these general cleaning instructions. Disengage the motor, if it’s a brushed motor then detach them and if brushless, follow the instructions in the car manual for its detachment.
Undo the screws and take them out as well as its armature so you can start cleaning the engine. Be careful while detaching these components as they are very delicate and might get scraped.
Inspect these components as well as the motor, wherever you see grease or dust, use the solution spray and wipe it all off with the cotton bud. As the commutator of your RC car needs to be all shiny, follow the same procedure for cleaning as it may contain black stains.
After this, don’t forget to clean the other segments of you RC motor. Wherever you notice the grime, clean it off with a brush or waft with an air spray. Spray WD40 after this and let it all dry.
Cleaning an RC engine might sound a bit more complicated to you as it’s more of an internal cleaning but trust us it will feel more like a routine cleanup once you get the hang of it.
The pro performance of your RC car depends upon your thorough cleaning and maintenance practice which also includes tending to your RC car’s engine.
Where are the bearings located in RC car and how to clean them? Ball bearings of numerous sizes are located in different areas of your RC car and they are sealed. Because of these bearings, your steering, engine, differentials and similar components are able to move, rotate or spin freely. In other words, bearings support the movements of your RC car’s inner components.
By now, you have the overall idea that even the smallest components like bearings matter a great deal. Our expert recommendation is that you make a habit of cleaning these bearings as well. The two types of bearings are, metal shielded bearings and rubber sealed bearings.
To clean these bearings, firstly you need to break out their wrenches. Use a tool with a kind of pencil tip, so that the bearing can pop out with ease.
Putting too much force will damage it. Now the next step is to inspect the bearings for a possible dent and if a dent exists then you might need to replace that bearing.
Remember, if you use a water base solution to clean the bearings, they will catch rust sooner rather than later. For the rubber sealed bearings, you can use the same motor spray to clean them.
But for the metal shielded bearings, put them in a small plastic container and mix the acetone solvent or other solvent. Give it thorough shake and you will notice the solvent becoming dirty. This means your bearings are now clean.
After this cleanup, lubricate these bearings with some oil. This is an important step to remember as the bearings catch grease easily. So, to degrease them, oiling is necessary.
You only need to put in a few drops of oil. When you reattach all the bearings into different components, you will notice that they are now spinning or rotating freely.
Should you also clean your RC car’s Transmitter? It is not necessary to clean the transmitters of your RC car in your regular cleanup schedule. But make sure you clean and maintain them every now and then.
For cleaning the transmitters, you will need micro fiber cloth. Dampen the cloth to clear the muck. There one small detail that you need to ensure.
Don’t leave the batteries in the transmitter for a long time period because the batteries will end up leaking and the electrical contacts will become tarnished real quickly which will cause a damage.
If this ever happens, clean the tarnished contacts with acid, depending on the type of batteries you have. If you have alkaline batteries then simply use lemon juice. Take the cotton buds and dip them in the lemon juice. Now dab them on the terminals to neutralize the substance.
There is another easy tip to clean the batteries. Use the ink eraser to clean them as it will eradicate the leakages quickly.
Should you clean your RC car before and after the long term storage? If at some point you decide to give a break to you RC car hobby for any reason, we advise you to reserve your car in a safe storage place. Your storeroom might be a good option.
Since you will be preserving the car for long term, maybe for 6 months or a year, it recommended that you follow this cleanup process before and after the long term storage. In addition to this, we advise you to follow some extra precautions for the safe side.
Take out all the batteries from the transmitter and keep it somewhere safe. Remove the fuel from the tank and store it in a safe container. If you don’t remove the fuel, it will become all clogged after sometime and may cause damage.
Make sure to clean all the fuel lines as well. Do not forget to spray WD40 when you are putting the car into storage. We also advise you to remove the tires and keep them in a separate box.
