Got dust in motors on landing. Fell from sky on next flight??

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Got dust in motors on landing. Fell from sky on next flight??

Hi guys, today while flying an Inspire 1 actually; it flew perfectly. After draining the battery; on landing; some dust must have gotten in the motors (landing area was dusty).

At the next flight there was strange sound coming off from the quad once it got airborn.

Took it down safely; flew once again and it started acting weird; tilted to one side and aiming in random directions. Had to crash-land in for so not to loose it completely (the sea was near).

What the heck?

(Craft is new; 10 hours of flight time and no crashes until today). Please, advise.
 
Got dust in motors on landing. Fell from sky on next flight??

Hi guys, today while flying an Inspire 1 actually; it flew perfectly. After draining the battery; on landing; some dust must have gotten in the motors (landing area was dusty).

At the next flight there was strange sound coming off from the quad once it got airborn.

Took it down safely; flew once again and it started acting weird; tilted to one side and aiming in random directions. Had to crash-land in for so not to loose it completely (the sea was near).

What the heck?

(Craft is new; 10 hours of flight time and no crashes until today). Please, advise.


Lots of discussions can be found on NOT Landing or taking off in Dirt Sand Dust Grass... Most of us use landing pads or other platforms to prevent debris from getting in Prop Wash and destroying our motors. Do you take care not to take off from dusty granule type locations that Will cause damage to your motors?

If not you just found out the hard way. Hand Catching and releasing is an other option BTW.

Compressed air to blow out dirt from the motors, make sure no small stones are preventing the motor from turning, turn the bird upside down and tap lightly.

Those pads you stand on from harbor freight tools are great for launch pads and so are Welcome mats the heavy rubber type. Then again Hand launch and catch.
 
Hmmm... Yep. It was super dusty. But still... Why would landing in a cloud of dust do enough damage for a motor to likely behave weaker than the rest and render the craft uncontrollable for the next flight (technically)?
 
Hmmm... Yep. It was super dusty. But still... Why would landing in a cloud of dust do enough damage for a motor to likely behave weaker than the rest and render the craft uncontrollable for the next flight (technically)?


Really only you would know the answer to that, was it powder dust or did it contain small gravel bits too? It will get in the winding's of the motors. That will trow off just enough to mess with the other motors corrections.

Turn the props by hand and see if one does not turn right a mild interference could be all it takes.

Good luck Sir that's all I have...
 
Might some dirt contamination get in the bearings or stick to the magnets in the motors? What about the gimbal and camera?

These are questions I would ask if flying an expensive flying camera.

As for repair, you may need to take the motors apart to get the debris out if compressed air won't do it. Good luck, let us know how it works out!
 
I have a phantom 3 pro, not sure if they're the same motors but I had an issue with course granular sand as well.

I was using my case as a takeoff pad, when the motors started and did that double check thing I guess the wind was too strong (my case wasn't level either) and it flipped onto beach sand. One motor was frozen stuck and wouldn't spin. It was very hard to spin by hand as well. When I took it home I put the vacuum on it which fit perfectly over the motor and spun the propeller. It worked really well, the motor was good as new after a few minutes. I flew it many times after that with no issues.
 
This should be posted on inspirepilots.com and not here. But suffice to say, unless you poured sand or dust into the motors, it shouldn't be a problem. Could be dust got into the bearing. Could be many things. Without looking at the motors, it's just blind speculation.
 
I've flown in dusty conditions before and I just made sure to blow out my motors and everything with my air blower thingy... I use it for my PC all the time. Works great. I won't be landing or taking off from dusty fields anymore though just in case. Hand catching it is.
 
Blowing into the motors is the last step.
The first thing you should do is flip upside down and use gravity to get debris out. Keep holding upside down and do a few rotations with your hand.
Then take home and use an air gun to get the dust out.
 
I'm constantly seeing posts about phantoms behaving erratically and or flying away, what happens if someone tries a hand catch moments before this moment?

Granted there are some situations where a hand catch/launch would be necessary but I wouldn't be doing it if I have a perfectly good surface to take off from.
 
It's an Inspire 1 , that's supposed to happen :)
 
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