Worried

Beastwood420 · Jan 6, 2020

Hey I'm new here I've flown my solo many times i just recently got solex and last night i noticed what sounds like a whining noise coming from the motor or motors not sure which any suggestions?

vsasolutions · Jan 6, 2020

Are you talking about your motor pods or the gimbal motors?

Pedals2Paddles · Jan 6, 2020

Neither Solex nor firmware updates will cause motors to whine. The motors are moving parts with bearings and they make noise. That noise can vary with temperature and age. If it is a pronounced whining noise, that could indicate a motor is failing.

Amsecure · Jan 6, 2020

Apologies, i was reading another forum question, the motors on the solo are brushless so the bearings are the component that will wear after time, an approx time given would be anywhere from 100-150 flight hours. But as always, inspection of your drone before each flight is a must. If it is your motors making the noise, it would be recommended to ground it till you repair the issue...

vsasolutions · Jan 6, 2020

Good thing I don't have to ground my gimbal until it stops making noise. /sarc

Amsecure · Jan 7, 2020

vsasolutions said:
Good thing I don't have to ground my gimbal until it stops making noise. /sarc

???I don't think any 3dr would ever leave the ground

Beastwood420 · Jan 8, 2020

I removed each pod and lightly lubricated both upper and lower bearing units hopefully that solves issues

RichWest · Jan 8, 2020

Beastwood420 said:
Hey I'm new here I've flown my solo many times i just recently got solex and last night i noticed what sounds like a whining noise coming from the motor or motors not sure which any suggestions?

Several good threads regarding bearings, search is your friend. I'd recommend swapping out the bearings regardless, oiling is a temporary solution.

In the thread below, there are a few videos examples "showing" the sound of various motors. RolandS888 provided a lot of valuable info about motors.

Motors Swapped to T-Motor 2216-12 800kV

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...

3drpilots.com

Amsecure · Jan 9, 2020

RichWest said:
Several good threads regarding bearings, search is your friend. I'd recommend swapping out the bearings regardless, oiling is a temporary solution.

In the thread below, there are a few videos examples "showing" the sound of various motors. RolandS888 provided a lot of valuable info about motors.

Motors Swapped to T-Motor 2216-12 800kV

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...

3drpilots.com

@Beastwood420
Usually with bearings, especially these ones which are rotating at such a high rpm, any noise is usually the beginning of the end. When they run rough they have already damaged the surface faces and metal being metal will just get worse. Oiling will litterly smooth it out for a very short term.
Prolong running will lead too bearing heat up and eventual seizures. And you won't hear that when it's a good distance away from you thus it will potentially drop from the sky.
I wouldn't take the chance, replace your motor's.... Best of luck

makatanav · Jan 9, 2020

i think the whining noise can also not be directly related to motors and bearing

Weird whistleing sound from Solo

Hello guys, My Solo make weird whistleing sound, and actually strugles to keep position even in in slow winds (I have mRo GPS u-Blox Neo-M8N ). weird_sound.m4a I think it's a bearing isue on one of the motors - if three motors, when spinning with arm feels ok, then one is moving heavier and...

3drpilots.com

I had this sound from begining, and have it till today (after bearing ehxchange)

Kelly Schrock · Jan 11, 2020

Is it a really high-pitched whine? I've noticed that my Solos (all of them) emit a slight high-pitched whine when I use Master Airscrew props on them at hover, and do not when I use the OEM props. The motors also run slightly slower with the MAS props on, and amp draw is about 1A lower. I think the noise may be ESCs, but I can't be sure. In any case, I'm not worried about it. In 5 years of flying Solos, I have not had a motor failure on any of them. My original Solo logged 450 miles before I retired it, and that's after I started logging miles from Solex. No idea how many miles I flew it before then, but it would have been at least that much.

I suggest putting the props on and spinning the motors on your (powered-off) Solo to see if any of the motors are making weird noises. Try to wiggle the props back and forth to check for end play in the motors. You may have one wearing out, or with a bad bearing.

Amsecure · Jan 11, 2020

I think i know what exactly your talking about, the sounds although hard to describe, sound more digital than mechanical. would this be correct. as the drone is flying it will sound out different pitched tones at various times during its flight and not continuous.

Kelly Schrock · Jan 11, 2020

Amsecure said:
I think i know what exactly your talking about, the sounds although hard to describe, sound more digital than mechanical. would this be correct. as the drone is flying it will sound out different pitched tones at various times during its flight and not continuous.

Yeah, that sounds mostly like an ESC. If you spin the motor mechanically (with it turned off, install a prop and then smack it with your finger to spin it) you'll hear kind of a little "whirring" sound if the motor is new, and the same sound accompanied by a bit of a growl if it's older. Unless it's sticking or has a lot of end play, I'd be inclined to run it. An ESC typically gives out well before a brushless motor in my experience.

Beastwood420 · Jan 11, 2020

Kelly Schrock said:
Yeah, that sounds mostly like an ESC. If you spin the motor mechanically (with it turned off, install a prop and then smack it with your finger to spin it) you'll hear kind of a little "whirring" sound if the motor is new, and the same sound accompanied by a bit of a growl if it's older. Unless it's sticking or has a lot of end play, I'd be inclined to run it. An ESC typically gives out well before a brushless motor in my experience.

That's basically exactly it, there's virtually zero play, the sound i can only describe as perhaps a inebriated turkey dreaming, [emoji1787] i don't know but I've decided I'm going to take her to the field and keep her relatively low and see what transpires, appreciate the input fellas, and apologize if I offended anyone in my posts.