FVM motor, flywheel imbalance, and wax

[jagged ben]

So I have an FVM ES44 which makes a lot of noise, the grinding squeak kind of noise.  I removed everything except the motor (trucks roll nicely on their own, like some Katos) and it still happens so it's obviously the motor wobbling on its axis for some reason.

So then I notice there's these deposits of wax on the ends of the flywheels.  There's a concentric groove on the outer end of the flywheel that holds it in place.  There's more on the front flywheel and only a little on the rear.

This rings a really distant bell for me that maybe the wax is something the factory uses to balance the motor.  Is this correct?  If it is correct it is failing in this case.  Or, is it a byproduct of the manufacturing that shouldn't have been left there? In any case, what would you do? Remove the wax or not? 

[peteski]

Yes, IMO that stuff on FVM (and some other brands) motor armatures and flywheels is some sort of (epoxy?) putty used to balance the motor/flywheel unit.  In my experience that stuff is hard and blue in color. That is why I think it is epoxy putty.  Those balanced motors also have one pole marked with white paint, but I also have seen all the poles numbered 1-5 using white paint.

I would not remote that stuff in fear that the motor/flywheel unit will not be well balanced anymore.

[Missaberoad]

The noise sounds like it would be solved by oiling the bearings. 

[SirTainly]

I have an early run FVM Gevo and it makes that noise. You can oil it and it goes away for a bit, but comes back in relatively short order. It's better with the shell off, but still noisy as hell..would love to find out what it is, but removing parts didn't really help. I was starting to consider lapping paste on the worms to see if it's a tight fit. If it's an imbalance in the motor flywheels, that might explain a lot.

[peteski]

Like Ryan mentioned, squeaking noise would likely be from motor or worm shaft bearings, but grinding noise usually comes from the worm and the worm wheel not meshing properly.

[jagged ben]

Yes, IMO that stuff on FVM (and some other brands) motor armatures and flywheels is some sort of (epoxy?) putty used to balance the motor/flywheel unit.  In my experience that stuff is hard and blue in color. That is why I think it is epoxy putty.  Those balanced motors also have one pole marked with white paint, but I also have seen all the poles numbered 1-5 using white paint.

I would not remote that stuff in fear that the motor/flywheel unit will not be well balanced anymore.

But it's not well balanced right now!   

[peteski]

But it's not well balanced right now!   

Will it be even worse after you remove the balancing weights?
If replacement motors are still available (or another brand can be substituted), that could be a viable option.