Cleaning Your RC Vehicle

One of the most troublesome, yet necessary, tasks of the hobby is cleaning. While many of us will put the vehicle away when it's dirty, there comes a time when you need to sit down and do some serious cleaning and general maintenance.

There are several ways to go about this, so I'll give you a quick rundown of the methods I use. Keep in mind that this information applies to both electric and nitro models, as they both are pretty similar when it comes to cleaning despite what you may think.

First, you'll want to gather together some necessary materials to handle the task at hand. There are two main paths I choose when it comes to cleaning my collection, quick cleaning and a full breakdown. For the moment, let's concentrate on the quick cleaning approach. You'll need the items shown below.

Most of these items should look familiar, as you probably already have them around the house. The rags, spray bottle, toothbrush, and scrub brush, are easily found around the house. Obviously make sure the toothbrush is not going to be used after you use it for cleaning, as the chemicals used during this process are not the sort of thing you want to share with your mouth

The denatured alcohol shown above may not be something that you have around the house. However it can easily be found at places like Wal-Mart or a hardware/paint store. If you go with the hardware/paint store route, you'll stand a better chance of finding it in larger sizes which is much cheaper in the long run. You'll go through this stuff rather quickly, so purchasing a larger quantity quickly starts to make sense. Alternatively, you local hobby store will probably carry some variation of nitro cleaner. However it's generally going to be fairly expensive route to take, and using some denatured alcohol in a spray bottle works just as good.

You may wonder why denatured alcohol is chosen to clean with. This is due to the fact it contains no water. This helps the solution to evaporate quicker, without worrying that some moisture may remain in the electronics. Some people may hose their truck down with Simple Green, or another type of cleaner, but this can be damaging to the electronics and various parts of the truck or car. These chemicals contain some water that can be left behind, and that water can be slow to evaporate causing you problems later on down the road.

The last item is an air compressor, and nozzle. Once you apply the denatured alcohol to an area of the vehicle, you'll need a good way to get it off. While you can try to wipe it down with a cloth, the compressed air gets in tight places much easier and does a much better job. I normally use the compressor I also use for painting. It's portable and cheap, but still does a good job. With a smaller compressor, it's better to clean the car in sections, so that the compressor can keep the tank pressurized. If you use a full-size compressor, this won't be as much of a concern.

The Quick Cleaning Process

The first thing I do when getting ready to clean is I knock all of the dry loose stuff of the vehicle. This normally only applies to the off-road trucks that tend to have dried dirt and mud all over them. Knocking dried dirt off is generally easer than dealing with a larger muddy mess when it comes time to use the compressor.

Before you spray any denatured alcohol you should either go outside, or position yourself in a well ventilated area. The fumes from this stuff are pretty rough, and are certainly not to be taken lightly. Once I have my cleaning spot ready, I spray an area down with some denatured alcohol poured into a spray bottle. In many cases, you'll see the alcohol strip the dirt off the part on it's on. However, there are times when you'll need to hose the area down good and follow up with either the scrub brush or the toothbrush, depending upon the size of the area you have to work with.

Once you have the dirt broken loose, hit it with some compressed air. On larger areas, such as the underside, using a cloth may prove useful as well. Once the area has been hit with the air, and wiped down if necessary, you may be surprised to remember the original colors after having seen it covered with dirt and grime for so long.

In regards to the electronics, you will be fine to spray denatured alcohol on items such as servos, ESC's and receivers. However, I only recommend doing this if you have compressed air to help blow the alcohol off of them. While the denatured alcohol will evaporate rather quickly, it's still best to rid yourself of as much as possible around the electronics. I also recommend leaving the truck out for a few hours, before it's used, so that all of the denatured alcohol has plenty of time to evaporate.

When it comes to plastic parts that are painted with chrome, such as wheels, the denatured alcohol will leave a milky film on them. This film can be wiped off with a cloth, and I've seen no other ill effects due to it. However, as a general rule I usually take the wheels and tires and clean them with soapy water and a scrub brush. This prevents me from even having to take the time to clean up the milky film to begin with.

From this point, simply address any of the routine maintenance needs you may need to. Check for loose wires, worn fuel tubing, and bearings needing oil. If you're still using that dirty air filter, now would be a good time to clean or replace it. Once you handle any maintenance concerns you'll be finished.

The Detailed Cleaning Process

A detailed cleaning process is similar to the quick cleaning process. However, with this method, I end up disassembling the vehicle completely. At this stage, it's safe to use items such as Simple Green to clean most of the parts, rinsing them off with water. Obviously, items such as the electronics are not ideal for this process. Again, denatured alcohol and an air compressor are the best course of action for these items.

This method takes much longer, but allows you to clean and inspect the various components of the truck on a much more detailed basis. I've managed to catch many parts that were cracked and damaged this way, and avoided a headache that may have occurred during my next opportunity to run the vehicle. I normally use this more detailed procedure once every five or six months on a vehicle, while using the quicker cleaning method for general day to day cleaning.