Motors running hot

Petiebear · Jul 27, 2017

I just installed the new firmware and took my P4for a test flight and every thing worked perfect. I flew about 10 mins and when I picked up the bird I noticed that all 4 motors were hot. It was 106 outside and it was a little windy. Was it the conditions or did the firmware have anything to do with it. I never noticed the motors being that warm before

ThomaStoopendaal · Jul 27, 2017

As motor rotate current is flowing trew them. Because the motor has resisstance it generates heats. As it was a little windy outside the motors needed to work a bit harder so they got hotter. Could you still touch the motors or where they too hot to be touched? I fly race quads sometimes and after a good flight you don't want to touch those motors.

Petiebear · Jul 27, 2017

I was able to touch and hold them, but they were very warm.

Racer888 · Jul 27, 2017

Petiebear said:
I was able to touch and hold them, but they were very warm.

That is normal.

Brockrock · Jul 27, 2017

The real issue would be if any one motor was significantly warmer than the others. That is the thing to check after each flight.

Petiebear · Jul 27, 2017

All motors were the same temp

Brockrock · Jul 27, 2017

Petiebear said:
All motors were the same temp

That should be fine. I always check mine after landing for temperature and feeling of movement. If bearings were to begin wearing out, that motor would also feel differently than the others.

Keep in mind that the upper temperature specification for the P4 is 104 degrees F, so 106 F is just outside the envelope. This is really a battery limitation as far as I can tell, but other electronics can begin to act unstable as well if it gets too warm. It sounds like you were smart though, and only did a 10 minute flight.

If you have no choice but to fly the P4 in these high temperatures, consider keeping your batteries in a cooler in order to keep there initial temps in the 60-80 degree range. I would be careful about keeping them much cooler than 60 degrees or so, since the rapid temperature increase during flight in those high air temperatures may cause other issues.

Petiebear · Jul 28, 2017

Brockrock said:
That should be fine. I always check mine after landing for temperature and feeling of movement. If bearings were to begin wearing out, that motor would also feel differently than the others.

Keep in mind that the upper temperature specification for the P4 is 104 degrees F, so 106 F is just outside the envelope. This is really a battery limitation as far as I can tell, but other electronics can begin to act unstable as well if it gets too warm. It sounds like you were smart though, and only did a 10 minute flight.

If you have no choice but to fly the P4 in these high temperatures, consider keeping your batteries in a cooler in order to keep there initial temps in the 60-80 degree range. I would be careful about keeping them much cooler than 60 degrees or so, since the rapid temperature increase during flight in those high air temperatures may cause other issues.

Thanks Brockrock. I have something to add that I forgot. When I was bringing the bird down to land, I noticed that I heard a high pitched noise coming from the motors. This only happened when I was pulling down on the stick. When I stopped and hovered the noise stopped. Any thoughts??
Thanks

Racer888 · Jul 28, 2017

Petiebear said:
Thanks Brockrock. I have something to add that I forgot. When I was bringing the bird down to land, I noticed that I heard a high pitched noise coming from the motors. This only happened when I was pulling down on the stick. When I stopped and hovered the noise stopped. Any thoughts??
Thanks

This is typical of all the P4P, mine does it whenever there is a load on the props. I think the noise is coming from the props though, not the motors. At first I thought I had a motor seizing up but after reading numerous threads on other sites about the noise I came to the conclusion it was nothing to be concerned with.

Brockrock · Jul 28, 2017

Racer888 said:
This is typical of all the P4P, mine does it whenever there is a load on the props. I think the noise is coming from the props though, not the motors. At first I thought I had a motor seizing up but after reading numerous threads on other sites about the noise I came to the conclusion it was nothing to be concerned with.

I tend to agree. It sounds like Petiebear's copter is performing pretty nicely and normally. Just heed the heat precautions and fly and enjoy. It's a wonderful hobby once you settle into the overall reliability of these systems.