[sanddrag]

Well, as long as we are still discussing it, didn't Dr. Joe post something a while back about opening and/or modifying the CIM motors? I seem to recall something about even just opening it and putting it back together can cause it to lose magnetic strength. And also wasn't there some sort of discussion about cooling, like how the color black has a higher thermal emissivity than a shiny metallic freshly turned surface? Of course I could be making this up (it's late and I'm tired) but I thought I recalled some past discussion of the sort.

For retiming, unless they were reset to factory timing, and adjustment I would deem illegal if I were an inspector (which I hope to be for 2006). Advancing the timing of a permanent magnet DC motor can significantly improve performance in the "forward" direction. Also, setting an advanced timed motor to neutral timing can significantly improve the "reverse" performance and balance things out. So, due to these modifications enhancing the performance of the motor, I would have to say it wouldn't be legal (unless set back to factory specs).

Also, I'm just curious: did you ever run any tests (real comparison data, not "I touched it and it wasn't warm") to see if the modifications you did helped or hurt performance and/or cooling? Also, was there a problem with CIM overheating to begin with, because I don't think that's an issue for too many teams. Was your application different than most?