Life expectancy of solo stock motors

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I couldn't find out anywhere on the net, so I'm wondering if anyone with repair experience knows roughly how many hours of life you can expect to get out of the stock motors before they should be retired or start to present problems?

Would 100 hours flight time over a month be the death of my solo?
 
I couldn't find out anywhere on the net, so I'm wondering if anyone with repair experience knows roughly how many hours of life you can expect to get out of the stock motors before they should be retired or start to present problems?

Would 100 hours flight time over a month be the death of my solo?
I think the manual recommends replacement after 150 hours, but that's just a recommendation. I think there are owners here with far more than that.
Hopefully they will chime in.

In any event, it won't be the death of your Solo (unless it crashes into a military helicopter over New York) :D. Just put in a new motor.

And no, nobody has developed a method of predicting impending failure.
 
Oh yes the manual, that would have been a good place to look! I didn't even think of it. Just checked and your memory was right, says 150 hours. Thanks for that!
 
I agree with Maddog, a lot of folks have more than the 150 hours on their birds. I would think the failure on brushless motors is either temperature related or bearings (or the ESC that drives them). Not sure what evidence temp related failure would provide but bearings on the other hand usually make different noise when they start to fail. Bearings can be monitored/replaced with better ones, and even lubed.
Brushless motors were designed for reliability. Personally I think the ESC would fail since it has the electronic components and again this I suspect would be related to temperature induced failures. If you keep your props balanced, keep your bird/motors out of dusty/dirty/sandy conditions, and check sound of motor, spin the shaft in your fingers (compare one motor to the others) to feel any roughness or difference, it would go a long way to get the most out of them. I have flown brushless motors on my R/C planes for a quite a few years and I haven't had any failures there and none on my Solos yet.
 
There is a vibration effect on the life of the engines. Over time, the vibration on the system increases, unfortunately. We focus on gimbal, but this detail should not be forgotten. Maybe changing the bearing may be a solution, but esc's are always open to surprise.

Does anyone have tried the different brand for motor replacement?
 
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A little Tri-flow on the motor bearings (top and bottom) helps quiet the motors and should help them last longer. Dust and sand is probably the biggest culprit for reduced motor life.
I have a heavy rubber door mat that I fly off of whenever possible. Helps minimize the dust that gets kicked up and keeps the grass from interfering with the gimbal startup. Was like $12 at Lowe’s.
 
Haven't lost a motor yet with three Solos and many hours. I often launch/land at lumpy/grassy areas and in tight spaces, so I take an orange/tan mat by CGear for use on most jobs. Reduces the risk of dust/dirt in my gear and eyes. Helps tamp down tall grass, and provides a place to kneel while doing system setup and teardown (but not on very wet ground... your knees get soaked). The mat is in my peripheral vision when making last-seconds adjustments to nudge a Solo to the best landing point on the mat.
 

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