Most people collect something, but how many of us actually properly take care of what we own? Preserving the past and what we have worked so hard to find is important. This series of articles will give you a brief idea of how to store and care for your RC, or any collectible in general. In addition to preserving your RC vehicles it is important to remember to preserve the history (also called provenance) of your car or truck. For example, if the car was raced by a sponsored driver, one should take the time to record the name of the driver and events the car was raced at. If the vehicle has been upgraded, modified, or has unique parts, such as prototype parts, these facts should also be recorded. Take the time to record as much information as possible about the vehicle. It is recommended that you make copies of your vehicle history and keep one copy with the kit and another, with a photo, in a separate safeguarded location. This information will be of the utmost value if you ever go to sell the kit, or the kit is lost or stolen due to disaster and insurance information is needed for replacement. EIGHT HAZARDS TO RC VEHICLES1. LIGHT: Excessive light can result in the fading of paint, the yellowing of decals and the deterioration of rubber components such as tires and wiring. Kits should be protected from excessive light, especially sunlight and florescent lighting, which contain high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation which is the most damaging form of light. Never display RC kits in direct sunlight and excessive florescent lighting should be avoided. 2. TEMPERATURE: Excessive temperature or rapid temperature changes should be avoided as they can damage rubber, plastic and metal. Store or display your RC collection in areas that are climate controlled (heated and air conditioned). Do not store RC vehicles in sheds, attics, basements, or garages as these areas often are not climate controlled. 3. HUMIDITY: High humidity can encourage pests, mold growth on paper, and the oxidation (rust) of metal parts. Excessively low humidity can cause tires to become brittle, so these should be prepped for storage in a differing manor than the rest of your kit. In general, store RC memorabilia in an area that has a constant humidity (45%-55%) and away from heating and air conditioning vents. 4. PESTS: Care should be taken to protect your collection from pests. Roaches and silverfish are attracted to paper and kit boxes. Rodents can be extremely damaging to bodies, plastic, rubber, and boxes if allowed to inhabit storage areas. Storage should be intended to isolate the RC kit away from these threats with regular inspections to ensure that pests have not obtained a foothold. The professional fumigation or the setting of traps in a collection storage area is a good idea as a preventative measure. Exercise common sense and care if children or pets may have access to a storage area that has been recently treated with pesticides or has live traps. 5. HUMAN THREATS: Human threats to your RC collection result from two sources, handling, and thievery. Handling is one of the most serious threats to your collection. Human skin often transfers natural oils or acidic sweat to an object. It is not uncommon to see steel parts, such as hardware or CVD axles, with oxidized areas (clearly fingerprints), several years after handling. Cotton or nylon gloves should be used as often as is possible. This is of course, not always a practical consideration for a kit that is still in use, however, once a car or truck has been “retired” into your collection it should be cleaned, prepped for storage and only handled with gloves after this time. If an RC must be handled some thought should also go into the work environment with planning for dropping the RC. Showing off your prized RC to a friend, only to drop it on a concrete floor, will be more damaging than dropping it on a rubber mat or carpet. Human threats also can present as unauthorized access and thievery. Buy a lock to prevent children and pets from gaining access to your collection. Dogs like to chew, cats often spray to mark territory, and an RC car is a “kid magnet”, all can result in damage to your kits. Common house hold measures such as keeping blinds closed and not advertising your collection to people you do not know well is another good safeguard to protect against theft. Last, the placement of an alarm system, even if an inexpensive magnetic door alarm, can alert the owner to unauthorized access or a door left ajar. 6. CHEMICAL REACTION & AIR POLLUTANTS: Air pollution, both from smoking and air pollution particularly ozone (O3), can be very damaging to rubber and plastics. For white nylon parts, such as early Team Associated RC10 kits, it is often easy to spot a kit that has been stored in a smoking environment from its yellowed appearance and cracked parts. Pollution can turn a mint condition, high monetary value kit into a less desirable kit, and care should be taken to protect kits from pollutants. Placing a kit in a plastic bag will shield the vehicle from acidic dust and pollutants. 7. DISASTER: As with any collection natural disaster can erase or heavily damage your collection quickly. Display or storage areas should have a working fire alarm and a charged and rated fire extinguisher. Selection of a storage area should be away from water mains and not susceptible to flooding. Last, insure your collection. Often your collection will be protected under homeowners insurance; however you should refer to your insurance representative for further advice. Additional financial protection for your collection (normally under the furs, antiques, firearms, and art insurance categories) can be purchased with little additional cost to your existing insurance. As stated above, your collection should be well documented, both in writing and photos with documentation stored by your insurance agent, or off site from the actual storage area. 8. BATTERIES: Batteries should be removed from all radio equipment and vehicles. Leaking or expanding cells can corrode or physically damage radios and RC vehicles. For the display of vintage kits with period correct electronics, NiCad/NiMh batteries if no longer serviceable and intended for display only, should be discharged fully by connecting to a 12 volt light bulb via an appropriate plug. A cooling fan is recommended during this process for both the bulb and the battery pack, and this technique should NEVER be used on a fully charged pack as it can damage the shrink wrap. Common sense should be exercised as the bulb will present a thermal hazard and should not be left unattended during the discharge process. This method is NOT recommended for any other type of battery type other than NiCad/NiMh. The battery should be discharged well past allowing the bulb to dim; even if the filament is not glowing it is drawing current. This should be repeated until the bulb no longer glows when plugged in. This will effectively “kill” the battery and it should not pose a future electrical hazard (some natural recharge is always a possibility). The battery may still pose an acid hazard due to leakage but I have not seen a battery leak yet when initially treated in this manner. I have stored these display batteries in my kits for a while and have not had any issues; however, it is still advisable that they should be stored separately from the kit to prevent possible damage. Common fishing tackle boxes with plastic side walls and a common plastic bag are an excellent means of organized storage for vintage RC batteries. If batteries are not going to be kept for display purposes they should be properly disposed of by a licensed recycler. Most electrics shops, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc., will take your old batteries (including AA dry cell type) for disposal as a public service. RC can be expensive, and collecting vintage cars, even more so. Most of the points in this article are common sense, but taking care of your collection starts with knowing how to do it right.
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AuthorMichael Rogers Archives
July 2022
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