How to Clean Your RC Car

Cleaning & Maintenance of RC Cars

Regular maintenance and care are particularly important to keep the vehicle lifespan and performance of RC cars to a maximum. After each run the car should be checked for damage, because most defects can be repaired or even prevented by proper maintenance and care. If you know how to clean your RC Car properly and have proper tools, you have all chance to enjoy your favourite RC car as long as possible.

Proper tools for this purpose consist of several pieces that everyone should have:

For after-run care: a brush (or toothbrush), a microfiber cloth, a sponge, compressed air, all-pupose cleaner, glass polish.

For more profound care: a glow plug wrench, which is often included with RC cars, screwdrivers in various sizes, oils, such as oil for air filters, post-run oil or maintenance oil, all-purpose grease to lubricate joints or ball bearings, screw locking varnish.

Basic Cleaning

Some people use their RC cars even on off-road surfaces, which can get a lot of dirt on your car. Such cars are often not very cheap and require a lot of care in order not only to keep them looking good, but to keep them working well.

Cleaning Steps

• Start by removing the tires and the body of the RC car, if any. This will give you more convenience to thoroughly clean the vehicle.
• Make sure to remove batteries first. Use compressed air to blow dirt and collected dust off the car. This will not only make the cleaning process easier for you, but using compressed air is really great for blowing away any dirt that you might have missed or couldn't get to. But be careful when using compressed air around your car engine if you don't want to damage its parts.

         For just running on grass, dirt, or pavement, no further cleaning may be needed.

• After running in harsh areas like snow, mud or water, additional  cleaning is needed if you want to avoid rust. If your vehicle is waterproof, spray it with a general all-purpose cleaner after removing the loose debris.
• You can use a toothbrush to clean any spot on the RC car, even the most inaccessible ones. Dip the toothbrush into a prepared mixture of water and a small amount of cleaner. You can also use a dry toothbrush to clean this truck.
• Use a micro fiber cloth and a gentle wash for the tires and body of the car. You can, of course, plunge the car in water if you want, but we suggest not to.  Just wipe it down with a damp cloth without worrying about causing damage to any electrical parts of the car.
• Check that all parts of the car are completely dry before you reattach them in their place.
• Use a damp towel to wipe the inside. Be sure the towel is not too wet.
• Polish the body with glass cleaner.

Intense Cleaning & Maintenance of RC Cars

The Chassis Maintenance

After every drive, the RC car must be cleaned. Brushes or a toothbrush are perfect to reach all elements. It is important to thoroughly inspect the car for cracks or breaks and to check the basic functions of the moving parts. Then it is advisable to take a closer look at the screws and tighten or replace them if necessary. One should always have a few matching screws on hand. To prevent screws from loosening, it is advisable to use screw safety varnish in addition to spring washers. You can find exact recommendations for the use of the safety varnish at most manufacturers. Minor damage to the chassis should always be repaired before the next trip, otherwise there is a risk of more serious damage occurring. Some of the parts that require special attention are engine parts, suspension rods, differentials and shock absorbers.

Air Filter Maintenance

The air filter is an important element to protect the engine from dirt particles such as dust or sand grains. Therefore, regular cleaning and maintenance is indispensable. It is recommended to clean the air filter after every ride to extend the lifetime of the engine as much as possible. In order to clean the air filter, you must first disassemble it into its individual parts. Clean the two foam layers inside the filter in different ways. Simply wash the outer one in flushing water and let it dry completely, for example on the heater. Rinse the inner one with some oil and dry it until it is dry again. Then put it in a plastic bag together with some air filter oil and apply the oil evenly. Never put the air filter oil on the outer foam layer, as the oil has a very sticky consistency and will trap fine particles in particular. The outer filter, on the other hand, is responsible for keeping gross debris out.

Engine Proper Care

The engine can be treated with post-run oil after each race, which protects the engine from the aggressive nitromethane. First, the tank and fuel pipes are completely emptied. Then the engine glow plug is removed from the engine and the engine is pulled dry. Now the air filter is removed and only one drop of post-run oil is added to the fuel carburetor. Under no circumstances should there be more than one drop, otherwise it may cause damage. Then the engine is dry run again to distribute the oil well. The glow plug is then screwed back in and the air filter reattached.

Batteries, Gear & More

A few other details that should be taken care of are batteries and accumulators. They need to be checked before every ride. The gears on the RC vehicle should also be checked regularly for adjustment and functionality. If the gears are broken or missing, it is essential to stop the ride and repair or replace the gears.

Here you can see how Traxxas experts do it on electric RC cars.

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