How many hours would you say bearings would be due for changing after replacing the stock ones?
You mentioned you take time to maintain your motors- could you tell us what you do?
Run hours on tiny bearings? I think T-motor say 40 hours, but I give them a spin and feel and listen to them every flight day. If there is any noise or looseness its time to consider a change.
At some point I will
- open the motor and check the bell and magnets for foreign magnetic matter,
- clean out any rubbish (dirt/bugs) in the stator windings and check for damage to wires
- change the bearings,
- lube the new bearings (with Tri-Flow)
- check the shaft grub screws are still tight.
- re-assemble and check bell is running true and thrust washer is snug.
- rebalance the motor, and run it up and check smoothness.
Maybe regular motor balancing would show up a suspect motor long before it fails?
I can definitely say that as a motor ages the bearings get more vibes, its measurable if you have the equipment..
I have several T-motor 3110 motors of different ages, and their vibe readings directly reflect their age.
This can be reset by doing the above.
The motors in the Solo are unbadged T-motors made specifically for the Solo, T-Motor make decent motors (they're the only brand I'd buy). 3DR wouldn't cut corners with motors as it's not in their interest to do so given they're replacing gear broken as a result.
I dont dispute that Ian, but at the same time there are just so many differences between the Solo "T-motors" and externally bought T-motors.
The T-motor 2216 V1 motors had thinner imperial (1/8") shafts and imperial sized bearings as the Solo motors currently do. In the 2216 V2 motors T-motor went metric with 4mm shafts and bigger bearings, and it makes a difference. The V2s are a sweet motor with tight smooth bearings.
Solo motor frames look very similar to Sunnysky motors, but i have also read that the T-Motor and SunnySky motors come out of the same factory, so there may be some crossover on supply as well.