There are a couple ways you can clean out a motor. You can take it apart or leave it together, it is up to you. The bearings in the motor are full of grease, so even if you get the motor wet, little, if any, water will get inside the bearings. You can run the motor under warm to hot water in your kitchen sink and use the spray hose to spray water inside the motor to loosen everything up and knock out any remaining dirt. When you are done, shake as much water as you can from the inside of the motor, and then take a hair dryer and warm up the motor up to evaporate any remaining water that may be inside. If you have a bearing lubrication kit or other motor bearing oil that you like to use, you can add a couple drops of oil to each of the motor bearings to make sure that they are well lubricated.
If you do want to take the motor apart, you need to pop off the little C-Clip on the back side of the motor and then pull the motor apart. Take great care when removing the C-Clip, as they have a tendency to fly off to parts unknown, never to be seen again! You can put the motor inside a large gallon size zip-lock bag and work inside that when removing the C-Clip. That way the bag will capture it when it pops off and keep it from getting lost. Once the motor is apart, you can thoroughly clean the stator with warm water and a soft tooth brush to remove any embedded dirt and then dry off the motor as described above. If you do take the motor apart, you can pot a couple drops of oil on a paper towel and rub it into the stator to prevent any rusting from occurring later on. Our Scorpion Motor Lubrication Kit is a great product for this type of situation. This product not only contains a bearing oil, it also includes a moisture displacer and a corrosion inhibitor to ensure that the motor and bearings stay in top shape.
If you have any other questions, please email me.
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