My phantom motor's all seem to have a different ratcheting type feel while manually spinning them. I've read you can change out the bearings to fix this. Where can I get the best bearings for the motors and is there anything else I can do to the motors to perform their best? Thanks!
Phantom Motor bearings
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Phantom556 said:
Do a search on ebay. thats the only place I have seen them. Also keep them lubed as part of periodic maintenance.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-mot ... 1226470208
James
They are just standard 3x8x4mm closed face bearings - commonly known as 693zz bearings.
Be careful with some of the FleaBay sellers as some of them make out they have to be special super Phantom compatible bearings and ramp the price up - they don't!. They are just common bearings available all over the place.
Any good RC model shop should sell them - they are commonly used in RC cars etc for wheel bearings. There are different grades and quality of bearings and you should try and get a ceramic hybrid if possible.
Remember you need 8 (two for each motor) but I would get 10 to have a couple spare.
Be careful with some of the FleaBay sellers as some of them make out they have to be special super Phantom compatible bearings and ramp the price up - they don't!. They are just common bearings available all over the place.
Any good RC model shop should sell them - they are commonly used in RC cars etc for wheel bearings. There are different grades and quality of bearings and you should try and get a ceramic hybrid if possible.
Remember you need 8 (two for each motor) but I would get 10 to have a couple spare.
I ordered mine from http://www.gothelirc.com/shopdisplaypro ... t=Bearings
ABEC5 3x8x4 . they seem to work just fine.
the ebay ones do indeed seem iffy
and the ceramic ones seem insanely overpriced
ABEC5 3x8x4 . they seem to work just fine.
the ebay ones do indeed seem iffy
and the ceramic ones seem insanely overpriced
JustJames said:
James, could you explain me about "keep them lubed" with sealed bearings. If you do this, you'll damage the bearing.
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Showing how to lube or make easier to lube.
http://youtu.be/DJixomwlVUs
It seems to be debateable whether or not to lube these bearings. A little controversial. Some say yes some say no. Try it both ways overtime (or not) and see for yourself. Here is a good article on keeping bearings lubed.
http://www.nmbtc.com/bearings/white-pap ... ation.html
James.
http://youtu.be/DJixomwlVUs
It seems to be debateable whether or not to lube these bearings. A little controversial. Some say yes some say no. Try it both ways overtime (or not) and see for yourself. Here is a good article on keeping bearings lubed.
http://www.nmbtc.com/bearings/white-pap ... ation.html
James.
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Here is an excerpt from a manufacture.
"Typically, there are two options of maintenance concerning electric motor bearings. One is to relubricate them and the other is to change them. Monitoring electric motor bearing condition is paramount to insure reliability."
And
"There has always been much discussion and debate regarding the questions of how much, how often and what kinds of lubricants should be used in rolling element bearings; and to many, it still remains a mystery. The following chart (Figure 1) indicates the many parameters related to the lubrication film thickness and film quality in a rolling element bearing. Even “sealed for life” bearings will lose their lubrication film thickness. "
"Typically, there are two options of maintenance concerning electric motor bearings. One is to relubricate them and the other is to change them. Monitoring electric motor bearing condition is paramount to insure reliability."
And
"There has always been much discussion and debate regarding the questions of how much, how often and what kinds of lubricants should be used in rolling element bearings; and to many, it still remains a mystery. The following chart (Figure 1) indicates the many parameters related to the lubrication film thickness and film quality in a rolling element bearing. Even “sealed for life” bearings will lose their lubrication film thickness. "
JustJames said:
Sealed bearings wont last forever, nothing lasts forever! But As mentioned in DJI's website the bearings are maintenance free. Which part of FREE some people dont get? It's not maintenance free because YOU CAN keep on flying without maintenance/lubrication, it's maintenance FREE because for an example the grease within the bearings is'nt ment to be replaced or "re-lubricated". None of the oils you try to add in can maintain the same attributes as the grease/oil that was put there as part of the manufacturing process. Other bearings are not maintenance free and you can and have a need to lubricate them, but the guy on this video telling that his bearing work fine, but still for the sake of it adds lubrication... is'nt doing a smart thing. Because all you do by adding lubricant, is that you add something into the bearing that wasnt designed to work with the original grease/oil. And there's a reason why the "original" grease/oil wont come out of the sealed bearings, but the lubricant you add can go in. One of those reasons is the different viscosity of oils.
When you do a engine-test with Naza-Assistant you can hear clearly what kind of sound your bearings will make. And in the end of the lifecycle the smartest thing to do is to replace the whole bearing. Adding lubricant that has very low viscosity will go in, but will it do any good? According to manufacturers and designers of the engines it wont do any good, but according to people who say bearing is a bearing no matter what, say it's a good idea to add lubrication.
Let me add another good reason NOT to drip oil all over the shop- oily surfaces attract dirt.
Just what you don't need in a motor with fine tolerances.
Just what you don't need in a motor with fine tolerances.
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I see that a few are very passionate about this subject.. I am less so. If the super experienced bearing gurus say don't oil them then don't. The way I interprete the subject is use the stock bearings. Don't oil them right off the bat beachside they will be fine for quite some time. However as that article stated the grease inside will not last forever and if you are getting noisy or rough bearings you have 2 choices... Lube them which will extend the life a bit longer or buy a new set and replace. Pretty simple and I'd THINK not to controversial. Ultimately you can never go wrong with the manufactures recommendation. So far though I haven't seen that in writing from DJI or the maker of the bearings. If anyone has please enlighten us.
Thanks
James.
Thanks
James.
JustJames said:
If you go through Phantom materials, theres a mentioned that the brushless engines are maintenance free. Google out sealed bearings & lubrication and you will find out why lubricating sealed bearing is bad idea and why you should not do it.
Why I'm "passionate" about this topic is that many newcomers (like me) find most of their info from a discussion forums such as this. I dont think it's OK to tell people to lubricate their bearings, without telling that it's not advised and should be a last resort if even that. I can see myself lubricating Phantoms bearings and finding out later on, that I shouldnt done it and if your going to do something like that, makes sure that its the last resort before changing bearings. In the video posted on this discussion the guy tells that his bearings work fine, but he wants to lubricate them...
If you add any oil to your bearings and after that fly anywhere where there is dust or dirt... it will get stuck to the oil.
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