When to replace motors?

[JonW]

Just curious, in light of all the motor failures, has anyone implemented a motor replacement protocol based on flight hours or motor characteristics? I don't have much confidence in the longevity of these motors and one of mine has a different sound and feel when rotated by hand. The Solo also seems to have a different sound while Flying but I don't notice any difference in flight performance. I'm wondering if I should pre-emptively replace that one motor, or all motors, or let it go. I hate to keep sinking money into it but I also don't want a total loss if I can prevent it with a motor swap. I wish 3DR would just acknowledge the problem and do a recall/motor upgrade. Opinions?

Thanks

 

[Maddog]

I strongly recommend you replace them just prior to total failure.

Lol...couldn't resist. I don't know really- it's a heavily debated topic.
If you really want to be safe, you could do a T-motor replacement like @RolandS888 did.

 

[JonW]

I strongly recommend you replace them just prior to total failure.

Lol...couldn't resist. I don't know really- it's a heavily debated topic.
If you really want to be safe, you could do a T-motor replacement like @RolandS888 did.

It's like tax strategies. They all work until you're audited

 

[JonW]

I strongly recommend you replace them just prior to total failure.

Lol...couldn't resist. I don't know really- it's a heavily debated topic.
If you really want to be safe, you could do a T-motor replacement like @RolandS888 did.

I saw that T-motor thread. While the idea of just swapping out for better motors is appealing, the process looks a little beyond my time and patience level. Not to mention a couple hundred more $$$ sunk into the bird. Little details like un-soldering a motor with blue/red/black wires and soldering in one with black/black/black wires makes me second guess my ability to do this. Plus all the melting, reaming, gluing. It's a little more than I ever expected for a "ready to fly" drone. I might replace the one motor with a new Solo motor and maybe order an extra each of CW and CCW to have as spares. Beyond that I'm thinking I may have reached my limit on how much more I want to invest in Solo. I haven't flown yet on the 2.0 FW. Maybe I'll be so blown away by the new features that I will change my mind. We shall see.

 

[Maddog]

I saw that T-motor thread. While the idea of just swapping out for better motors is appealing, the process looks a little beyond my time and patience level. Not to mention a couple hundred more $$$ sunk into the bird. Little details like un-soldering a motor with blue/red/black wires and soldering in one with black/black/black wires makes me second guess my ability to do this. Plus all the melting, reaming, gluing. It's a little more than I ever expected for a "ready to fly" drone. I might replace the one motor with a new Solo motor and maybe order an extra each of CW and CCW to have as spares. Beyond that I'm thinking I may have reached my limit on how much more I want to invest in Solo. I haven't flown yet on the 2.0 FW. Maybe I'll be so blown away by the new features that I will change my mind. We shall see.

I agree the T-motor swap is challenging & expensive. Having spare 3DR motors on hand is not a bad idea, but how do you know when one "might" be going bad? Listening to them doesn't strike me as reliable. (My Syma X8C has had a noisy motor since it was new but it is working fine- no hint of any problem).

How about vibration testing? Will a motor start throwing out bad vibrations before it dies? Who knows..

All I know is having unreliable motors in a flying machine that depends on ALL of them is unacceptable. But how many Solo's have been sold and how many motors have actually failed? Without that data we have no idea how reliable the motors actually are.

End of rant- we now return to our regular programming.

 

[SurfnSkate81]

Yet another problem we all face that 3DR won't tell us the full story.

If they want to keep on replacing lots of Solo, Gimbal and GoPro, every time a motor fails then cool leave it as it is, but in the long run this can't be good for the bottom line or more importantly customer satisfaction.

Yet we all keep frothing over our Solos and supporting them, I'm wondering who will be the first to break? Us or them?

Would be good if there was more comprehensive data relating to a maintenance schedule. If they want to keep marketing this as a professional smart drone then they need to start thinking more along the lines of a manned aircraft manufacturer and have a maintenance schedule.

My car requires servicing at regular scheduled intervals why not my Solo?


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[Diving Santa]

It seems I read in the manual somewhere near the back, that motor replacement is recommended after 150 hours of flight time.

Im guessing that's considering no crashes, no dust in the air, no moisture of humidity, etc.

I vote for 100 hours, except I haven't a way to track the time.

 

[JonW]

Is there anywhere in the Solo app that total flight hours are tracked?

 

[corlo]

That would be a nice feature, to have the solo app tell you when to do maintenance.

 

[PdxSteve]

If you have access to Mission Planner, you can load logs in there and it will tell flight times, etc. There are also services like http://www.droneshare.com/mission (run by 3dr) and DroneLogbook where you can upload logs and it will show flight times, show your flight on a map, log events, etc.

 

[SurfnSkate81]

I second what Steve said. Start using DroneLogBook. The app is good but logging to the website via your browser works a lot better. It will take you a few flights until you get into the swing of things.

I'm currently charging up some batteries and entering in the charge data as I write this.

Don't make a heap of flights then start using it and have to update your backlog of flights this is painful but was a good way for me to really learn how, what & when I should be using DroneLogBook.

Now I log every battery charge, every flight, every time I can't get a GPS lock quickly, every time I lose GPS lock mid flight and I could keep going on.....All this data will really help you start to paint a picture of exactly how your are using Solo.

If you do pursue this hobby and get your commercial licence you will have to do this anyway as part of your reporting for FAA, CAA, CASA etc. So it's good practice to do it anyway.

In regards to the motor replacement the 150hrs stated in the manual seems far to long for these motors. Do some digging around here and you find that motors have been failing as early as 10hrs flight time. The jury is still out as to when they really should be replaced or do they just require the bearings to be replaced. Or as @RolandS888 and others have now done swap out the stock motors for T-Motors for added reliability.

One day we might actually get the real data out of 3DR as to what average lifespan has been with the stock motors but don't hold your breath.


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[Maddog]

I second what Steve said. Start using DroneLogBook. The app is good but logging to the website via your browser works a lot better. It will take you a few flights until you get into the swing of things.

I'm currently charging up some batteries and entering in the charge data as I write this.

Don't make a heap of flights then start using it and have to update your backlog of flights this is painful but was a good way for me to really learn how, what & when I should be using DroneLogBook.

Now I log every battery charge, every flight, every time I can't get a GPS lock quickly, every time I lose GPS lock mid flight and I could keep going on.....All this data will really help you start to paint a picture of exactly how your are using Solo.

If you do pursue this hobby and get your commercial licence you will have to do this anyway as part of your reporting for FAA, CAA, CASA etc. So it's good practice to do it anyway.

In regards to the motor replacement the 150hrs stated in the manual seems far to long for these motors. Do some digging around here and you find that motors have been failing as early as 10hrs flight time. The jury is still out as to when they really should be replaced or do they just require the bearings to be replaced. Or as @RolandS888 and others have now done swap out the stock motors for T-Motors for added reliability.

One day we might actually get the real data out of 3DR as to what average lifespan has been with the stock motors but don't hold your breath.


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Or are the ESC's failing? Would be good to know.

 

[RichWest]

Or are the ESC's failing? Would be good to know.

You're asking what came first, chicken or the egg. If a motor is going bad, bearings as an example, you potentially are overloading the ESC. The FETs can only handle so much current prior to failing. So you may end up on the ground with a motor that somewhat spins, but then you have a burnt ESC...we assume bad ESC in most cases.

 

[Maddog]

You're asking what came first, chicken or the egg. If a motor is going bad, bearings as an example, you potentially are overloading the ESC. The FETs can only handle so much current prior to failing. So you may end up on the ground with a motor that somewhat spins, but then you have a burnt ESC...we assume bad ESC in most cases.

Good point. By the way, the egg came first. Ask any biologist.

 

[RolandS888]

You're asking what came first, chicken or the egg. If a motor is going bad, bearings as an example, you potentially are overloading the ESC. The FETs can only handle so much current prior to failing. So you may end up on the ground with a motor that somewhat spins, but then you have a burnt ESC...we assume bad ESC in most cases.

Exactly, you'll never know.
Although, does the pixhawk monitor motor currents and react to a higher current on one motor?

 

[SurfnSkate81]

There is so many things we don't know about what is supposed to be an open platform.


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[RichWest]

I think for the most part we can stress test the ESCs and prove that they are rated to well beyond normal load requirements prior to assembly to a motor. The motors however are the variable we can't reliable predict how or when they decide to fail. Just too many variables that can cause a motor failure. Besides, true load testing of new motors would require stressing and that could potential place the motor on the brink of failure as new in the box. Motors, to a certain degree, work based on faith that the mfg applied checks through out the production. Just like bearings and other mechanical components.

I'm sure others have gone down this path before, motor or ESC. You could test an assumed bad motor with a new ESC, but then you'd have another failed ESC if proven to be the motor. Lesson learned, money wasted.

 

[Lance]

I use a syringe to apply small amounts of penatrating oil on bottom and top bearings every couple hours of flight. Have to remove the pod to reach the bottom bearing and takes about half hour to do all four. Then I run the motors propless for a few seconds to work the oil in. Not sure if it helps but I don't think it can hurt it either.

 

[RolandS888]

If more people did this i think we would see less bearing failures.
I lube all my motor bearings periodically.

 

[czrlaker]

All great info. My thoughts are, if motors are meant to be replaced every 150 hrs. Why the heck wouldn't you make it simple to see the time on the motors.

I understand you can pull a log but.... An odometer type of counter that can be reset on the lcd screen would be nice