Prevent motor pod failure during flight?

spartaHawk · Sep 22, 2017

What checks can be done to make sure you're not going to get a motor pod suddenly dying during a flight? What are the tell-tale signs of a risky motor pod? Is it going to just slowly get less powerful or go quickly? Are you going to start to hear it when it's about to fail?

I know there are methods to minimize wear, but eventually a motor pod is going to die.

Joe Horn · Sep 22, 2017

One of my motors started making a strange sound that was especially noticeable in video recordings. Instead of the usual relatively constant, loud, high-pitched whine, it starting making bursts of a VERY loud, nasty sound, like a small animal howling in agony. Really freaked me out. Oiling it returned it to its normal whine, and occasional light oiling with Tri-Flow has prevented that sound from returning. Was that sound a warning sign of impending doom? Don't know, but it FELT like it. If anybody else here experienced such a sound before motor death, please let us know!

Others' experiences are eagerly awaited here, since I have the same worry that a motor might die during flight because I didn't recognize the warning signs.

Maddog · Sep 23, 2017

In most, if not all, the incidents I've read here, the motor gave no advance warning when it failed.
Solo just became uncontrollable and crashed.
I haven't heard of any way to predict motor failure.