Trinity D5 flatliner modified & monster horsepower stock

Radio Control Car Action, Feb 2003 by Pond, Steve

DYNO TEST

Trinity can be fairly credited with introducing most of the RC motor-related innovations we've seen during the past decade. It's a leading player in the technology that has brought us nearly 70 percent more power since the early days of RC.

The newest motors from the Trinity camp include many fairly recent innovations plus a host of brandnew ones; Trinity never stops. Its relentless drive to improve and innovate keeps Trinity-powered cars at the front of the pack and makes them the sport's most popular motors in modified and in stock.

TRINITY D5 FLATLINER MODIFIED

Trinity's latest modified motor-the D5-is the fifth in a series of "D" motors that started with Brian Kinwald's nickname of "Dirtinator." The hand-wound D-Series modifieds are now Trinity's premier motors and are raced at the highest levels of competition. Like the first four, the D5 has a few innovations that raise performance yet another notch. Its most prominent feature is that instead of the usual round wire, flat wire is wrapped around the armature (hence its designation as "Flatliner").

INSIDE THE MOTOR

MOTOR CAN. Using the knowledge gained in previous designs, Trinity has produced a full can with a minimum number of vent holes in its outer diameter; this is best for a modified motor because it keeps the magnetic field as strong as it can be. The D5 can has a pair of directional vents on both sides, which is in keeping with the aforementioned; they also align the magnets when the motor is assembled at the factory. The magnets are pushed against the blunt edges of the vents to help ensure the magnet positioning is exactly the same in every motor.

ENDBELL The D5 endbell is from the P94, and it still has brush hoods for oversize P94-type brushes. New with the D5 endbell is the method of installing the capacitors: they're on a circuit board on the top of the endbell. The previous "D" motors also had three capacitors, but the one that's soldered across the positive and negative terminals was held in place with a spring in those motors. Under the right conditions, it would "chatter" and even cause glitching. The new system is designed to remedy this.

ARMATURE. Two armatures are available for the D5; each suits a particular range of wind configurations. The high-torque P94 armature is specified for motors in the 6- to 8-turn range, and the highrevving D1 armature is used for 9- to 14-turn configurations. Double winds are also available.

BRUSHES. Trinity specs a 438o-epnt double-shunt P-94 brushes for the D5. They have the same dimensions as the P94 brushes, which are supposed to provide the ideal "wrap" around the comm face. The full-face serrated brush is good for high-performance motors, and the compound it's made of strikes balance between power and maintenance. Trinity offers a racing brush with more silver for better performance, but you'll have to cut the comm more often.

BRUSH SPRINGS. Purple

springs are installed on both brushes. These are considered heavy springs in the Trinity line, but there is one heavier spring, and many lighter springs can be installed to tune the motor to suit your application.

FEATURES

Armature wire is flat

Magnets indexed perfectly in each can for consistency

Three capacitors installed on the endbell

Two armature designs

TRINITY D5 FLATLINER

TEST SETUP SPECS

WIND: 10-turn flat-wire single

BRUSHES: Trinity no. 4380 double-shunt

P-94 brush (standard)

SPRINGS: purple (standard)

COMM DIAMETER: 0.295 in. (7.5mm)

TIMING: 20 de (factory setting)

DYNO DATA TEST RESULTS

PEAK RPM: 47,564

PEAK POWER (WATTS): 255.4

PEAK TORQUE (NMM): 104.3

PEAK EFFICIENCY: 79.9%

DYNO TESTING

We tested a 10-turn single-wind motor that's in the middle of a range that starts at 6 turns and goes up to 14 turns. The D5 motor is wound on the higher-revving D1 armature and not the high-torque P94 armature used in the 6- to 8-turn motors. The 10-turn D5 shows excellent power with a peak of 255.4 watts. Compared with dyno results from similar winds in the D4 and P94 motors, it's slightly softer from a dead-start bottom end, but in all parts of the practical rpm range, it develops more power; it even out-powers a 9-turn D4 and P941 The D4 and P94 show a snappy initial response that carries a vehicle for a couple of feet, but then the DS pulls past them and holds a significant power advantage throughout the rest of the rpm range. At 104.3 Nmm, peak torque is slightly lower than those of previous motors. The torque numbers are, however, higher in the parts of the rpm range where it counts.

THE VERDICT

The D5 brings enhancements such as a wider power band than previous D motors, and it feels smoother and more linear under braking than they do.

TEST SETUP SPECS

WIND: 27 turns of 22-guage wire

BRUSHES: Trinity no. 4499 laydown serrated

SPRINGS: polarized; red-positive; green-negative

COMM DIAMETER: 0.295 in. (7.5mm)

TIMING: 24 deg. (fixed)

DYNO DATA TEST RESULTS

PEAK RPM: 33,299

PEAK POWER (WATTS): 129.2

PEAK TORQUE (NMM): 81.7

PEAK EFFICIENCY: 69.7%

DYNO TESTING

The original Trinity 132k developed more power than any stocker, and that includes current stock motors; it pulled 141.9 watts, which still hasn't been equaled. The Monster Horsepower Stock's peak power output is 129.2 watts, and it has 81.7 Nmm of torque. Most impressive is that It pulled an incredible 6,500rpm more than the P2k. Although not nearly as torquey as it, though, the Monster Stock quickly matched the best ever P2k test result and runs away from there. It takes the Monster only about lb second to get a measure of the P2k, then it quickly lumps to about a 30W power advantage (almost 25 percent more power), and it holds that margin all the way up to max rpm, The P2k Is no pooch by any stretch of the imagination, but these two motors are at opposite ends of the power spectrum and have vastly different performa 'nce characteristics. The P2k Is the king of the holeshot and low-speed corner exits, but the Monster stock rules the rest of the track. It's clear that the Monster Stock will do better with more aggressive gearing (smaller pinion or larger spur) to get it out of the corners more quickly, but it doesn't leave much on the table when it comes to the faster sections of the track. Trinity's goal when designing the Monster Horsepower Stock was to make it the highs revving motor in its stock lineup. Its new features are geared toward the goal of higher revs, a that regard, the Monster is king. Increasing will require a slightly smaller pinion gear, bi the extra available revs should make up for speed lost In the gear change.