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Well, I have proven one thing, the stock motors are NOISEY!!
Changed the motors to T-Motor 2216 800kV and spun them up and they are smoooooth as. Night and day difference to the stock motors. Vibes are GONE.
Actually, the vibes were competely gone without the self tightening prop adapters, once the prop adapters were fitted a tiny amount of vibes can be felt, but it is very minor, and I cant feel anything at all in the gimball with all 4 motors running, even flat out..
I'll post a few picks of the change over, but for now these are just teaser pics.
Due to weather and work / travel commitments I probably wont get to fly this setup for another 3 weeks, so I wont be giving the full assesment for a while yet. Someone else may even jump in and do their own motor change and write up a review before I can.
There is a minor mod that needs to be done to the plastic motor carrier for the T-motors to fit, but otherwise they go straight in.
A word of caution, this is not a super simple modification, it does require some technical and soldering skill, other than that its not too complicated. This isnt a blow by blow tutorial on how to do the change, its just a few pics on what I did, and found, whilst changing the motors..

I chose to go with the 800kV version of this motor as I am going to be using the APC 10x4.5MR(ST) props that will generate more thrust than the stock props (and are still the conveninet self tightening type) so I thought Id use the slower motors to limit any current increase from those props. I also have a set of these motors in 900kV, 2 sets actually, so if 800kV still proves to be too slow or lacking control authority, I will change to the 900kV version.

I measured the stock motors on a kV meter and they read a little higher than the stated 880kV, at 890kV and the T-motor read a little lower than stated at around 790kV. Thats a fair difference, time will tell how it all goes.
I also noticed when I pulled the stock motors out and spun them, they 'cog' differently. Not sure why, but the magnetic resistance was different between the motors. Maybe a QC issue there. The TMs are a smoother cogging, like a higher resolution, and all the same.

So here we go...stock pods removed
20151106_214044.jpg

I used a portasol gas soldering iron, with no tip installed, as a sort of miniature heat gun, to melt the plastic rivets to release the motor carrier from the ESC circuit board.
Note the size of the hole in the center, its just big enough to clear the circlip.
20151106_214638.jpg
Remove that one silver screw and desolder the wires and the motor is out.
20151106_215314.jpg

The stock motors have 1/8" (3.2mm) shafts and 9mm bearings, T-motors have a 4mm shaft and 11mm bearings and a bigger circlip on the end of the shaft (and heavier gauge wires) , so the hole in the plastic motor carrier needs to be reamed out to provide clearence for that circlip. Below, Tmotor on the left, stock motor on the right. Exactly the same external dimensions.20151106_215709.jpg

Reaming out the hole for clearence, using a prop reamer, about 2mm more was needed.20151106_222620.jpg

T-motor in motor carrier, hole widened for circlip clearence.
20151106_220021.jpg

Below - the T-motor wires soldered onto the ESCs.
Because the T-motors have prop adapters you can fit a LH or RH adapter to any motor. What does matter here is the direction of rotation. I tried something at this point, I copied the wires phase rotation from the stock motors, making notes of what I pulled apart and soldering the new motors in the same way. I get every one right the first time and didnt have to resolder any wires to change direction of rotation.
If you do this, be careful with the size of your soldering, those motor pads have tight clearances from the surrounding ground on the PCB. Keep it neat.
20151106_220952.jpg

Thats one done, 3 more to go...
I didnt bother melting the motor carrier posts back onto the ESC PCB, I just used a little glue that will be removable if needed in future. Once the pods are back in place the mountinfscrews hold everything tightly in place anyway.
20151106_233655.jpg


With the self tightening prop adapter fitted, as this was one for the silver hub prop I have put a silver marker dot on the top as well. I was disappointed to feel a little vibration coming from the prop adapters once they were installed,when there was absolutely no vibes from the naked motor, but it is very minor and Im just being pedantic.
20151107_011038.jpg

All 4 done...
Very tidy, very quiet and very smooth. Cant wait to get this into the air. It sounds completely different now, like it should in the first place.
The prop adapters are slightly higher than the stock prop threads, but they still fit in the backpack and GP case with no problems.
The adapters are specifically for P1&2 props and the threads will hit the top of the hubs inside the stock Solo props. Its not a big deal and they will work ok like this, or, the threads could be trimmed down 2 turns and they would fit perfectly.
I am leaving them unaltered as the APC props (still coming in the mail) will suit these adapters perfectly. I'll keep the stock props as spares. They may even be better for filming as they are softer and will damp out turbulance.

20151107_011156.jpg
 
T motors is the brand the stock motors are correct?
do they sell the solo exact replacements I have two pods with suspect motors I would like to rebuild
 
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Well, I have proven one thing, the stock motors are NOISEY!! Changed the motors to T-Motor 2216 800kV and spun them up and they are smoooooth

Wow, Roland!!! Super cool! I just looked at those motors yesterday! They looked perfect but after looking over my pod and motor assembly and doing further research I came to the conclusion that I'm not qualified to do the mod. I sure wish I was! I think those things are going to be sweet!

I hope someone will start doing that mod and selling the motors and pods. Great opportunity for someone qualified to do it. I'd sure pay someone to do the mod for me.

I can't wait to see your follow-up reports! Thanks so much for sharing.

Jerry
 
Very nice write. These are the T-motors I intend to mount myself! Well... someday! Seems like nowadays all I've got time to do is fly - just grab the Solo and go. Gotta free up a weekend.
 
@RolandS888 , YOU ROCK!

This will be interesting, can't wait for further confirmation as to which KV rating works best. Nice to know you went with the MT's, I bet they purr....

That Cogging Torque is really interesting. Almost like there were four lines of motor production, with two lines facing one another. 1&2 and 3&4. Clockwise being the worst.
 
Wow, great work. Will be very interested to hear any change in flying characteristics, mostly any effect on battery life. I'm perfectly happy with Solo's current performance, and would gladly accept a little less performance for a little more flight time. I'd definitely look into swapping motors when my stock are getting long in the tooth.
 
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Wow, great work. Will be very interested to hear any change in flying characteristics, mostly any effect on battery life. I'm perfectly happy with Solo's current performance, and would gladly accept a little less performance for a little more flight time. I'd definitely look into swapping motors when my stock are getting long in the tooth.
Me too!
 
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Did you buy these from rctigermotor? How long to ship?
Maddog, these motors were bought from ReadyMadeRC in Ohio USA. Shipped FedEx to Western Australia in 4 days. These guys are awesome. I ordered on a Sunday with a note to please expedite them and they shipped them on that Sunday. Talk about service.

T motors is the brand the stock motors are correct?
do they sell the solo exact replacements I have two pods with suspect motors I would like to rebuild
Pyrate, T-motors are not the stock brand (wish they were), as far as I can tell the stock motors look alot like Sunnysky X2216 880kV.

Unfortunately I havent been able to fly these motors yet. Its approaching 25 knots outside, and was 30 kn all day yesterday as well, and a Kp of 6!. Im happy to fly in that (in manual), but not TEST fly. I want quieter conditions to feel the control (or lack of it) from the motor change. Will keep you updated
 
@RolandS888 , YOU ROCK!

This will be interesting, can't wait for further confirmation as to which KV rating works best. Nice to know you went with the MT's, I bet they purr....

That Cogging Torque is really interesting. Almost like there were four lines of motor production, with two lines facing one another. 1&2 and 3&4. Clockwise being the worst.

They do purr. I was surprised the balance was so good on these. I use a few larger T-motors and I have had balance issues with those at times as well, but these were spot on from out of the box.

My original right-rear motor was the worst, and I read others have the same one noisey. Whats with that?
 
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Just looking for an expression of interest.
Does anyone have any failed motor pods they want to sell (cheaply)?...very cheaply.
Im looking for 4 to repair them and Id like to prep a set of pods with the 2216 900kv T motors as drop in replacements. From there who knows I may sell them or do change overs, or even just delete this post and dismiss it as a bad idea. :)
Message me through my username, dont clog up the thread, Id like to keep it on topic.
 
Very awesome indeed! I just went through several motor pod changes. 1st one caused a minor crash. #3. Second one #4 discovered while doing the MP motor test. Bearing so loud it was screaming, cant believe it didn't let go in flight. Was going to do bearing replacement but now think the motor swap looks like the way to go. Also, I have FINALLY achieved what appears to be stable quality video after moding with ribbon HDMI, pealing of shrink tubing from data cable, balancing props, etc,,,EXCEPT for rapid ascent and descent and the micro vibration comes in. I am convinced it's the props, very interested in what you find. Oh, the motor for #4 I had a spare I recently bought. Installed and it hummms like a precision motor should with no vibration, other 3 minimal vibration but a background growling noise but flight characteristics are good. Will watch this thread closely and a Good Job and 3 attaboy's to you! PS 3DR stood behind both with no questions or push back.
 
Maddog, these motors were bought from ReadyMadeRC in Ohio USA. Shipped FedEx to Western Australia in 4 days. These guys are awesome. I ordered on a Sunday with a note to please expedite them and they shipped them on that Sunday. Talk about service.


Pyrate, T-motors are not the stock brand (wish they were), as far as I can tell the stock motors look alot like Sunnysky X2216 880kV.

Unfortunately I havent been able to fly these motors yet. Its approaching 25 knots outside, and was 30 kn all day yesterday as well, and a Kp of 6!. Im happy to fly in that (in manual), but not TEST fly. I want quieter conditions to feel the control (or lack of it) from the motor change. Will keep you updated

Despite the fact that many continue to identify the stock Solo motors as Sunnysky 2216's, the powers that be continue to insist that they are proprietary Tigers, OEM'd for 3DR.
 
Despite the fact that many continue to identify the stock Solo motors as Sunnysky 2216's, the powers that be continue to insist that they are proprietary Tigers, OEM'd for 3DR.
I believe that to be the case as well, what I cant understand is why, if they are indeed T-motors, are the shafts 1/8" and the bearings imperial as well. And the build quality is inconsistant even on the one set of 4 on a single Solo.
The T motors I have in this and other craft are metric shafts and bearings and look to be a better and more consistant build quality.
 
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