Stock motor life expectancy?

cczx14r · Oct 18, 2013

Now I'm getting worried. My glass is always half empty, not half full. Anyway, a guy on the RCGroups Phantom thread said 3 out of 4 stock motors gave up the ghost after only 30 flights. I'm HOPING this is not the norm!!??
I'm also hoping some of you guys will get on here and tell of 100s (well, not that many more than likely) of trouble free stock motor longevity.
(I did a search and found nothing on the topic, maybe a good sign).

Jim

brad90631 · Oct 18, 2013

i have over 200 flights on my phantom on my first phantom. all 4 motors are stock and no problems. anytime i fly in dusty or sandy conditions i use compressed air and blow the motors clean.

Gizmo3000 · Oct 18, 2013

The only things that can wear out on the motors are the bearings, which can be replaced rather easily.
otherwise, the motors can theoretically last indefinitely.

miskatonic · Oct 18, 2013

The Phantom is just like any other aircraft. For every hour of flying it requires at least two hours of maintenance. This includes checking the connections, checking the prop screws, making sure that the motors are lubricated and clear of things like twigs and sand etc.

Whatever you do, don't screw the long prop guard screws into the motor mounts and the stocks will last a long time. (I did this and replaced all four of my motors within a month of ownership.)

Imabiggles · Oct 22, 2013

miskatonic said:
The Phantom is just like any other aircraft. For every hour of flying it requires at least two hours of maintenance. This includes checking the connections, checking the prop screws, making sure that the motors are lubricated and clear of things like twigs and sand etc.

Whatever you do, don't screw the long prop guard screws into the motor mounts and the stocks will last a long time. (I did this and replaced all four of my motors within a month of ownership.)

??? no it doesnt. Brushless motors have zero maintainable parts. Lubricating a sealed bearing (used in these motors) will damage them as you will remove the packed grease/oil and not be able to replace it with whatever machine oil or *GASP" WD40 (really bad to use btw). Oil can loosen the CA used on the rotor magnets as well. If you have a crash or less than gentle landing, not a bad idea to give it a once over. If you run the battery down too far, not a bad idea to quarantine it and cycle it a couple of time to see if you killed its ability to deliver at spec. Al long as you're not pinching wires or crashing into stuff, there is no maintenance.

rilot · Oct 22, 2013

miskatonic said:
The Phantom is just like any other aircraft. For every hour of flying it requires at least two hours of maintenance.

****! That means I must have at least 48hrs of maintenance I need to do.

grahng · Jun 3, 2014

What the life expectancy of the circuitry?

ElGuano · Jun 3, 2014

For the latest revision of the motors, DJI claims 300 hours flight time at 300g/axis (max weight 1200g). More weight = more wear = shorter lifetime.

I'm a little over 100 hours flight on my Phantom 1, and am still on the original motors (which are not as good as the latest revision).

David Cooke · Apr 26, 2016

Just had a "chat" with dji support . . apparently not tech support . . there seems to be no such thing. I asked what the maintenance schedule was for the new P4 . . what to look for . . motor lubrication, etc. I basically pointed me to the "Warranty page". . . I then asked so what is the life expectancy 1 yr 5 year? 50hrs flight time or 500hrs? . . he said quote "6months" . . and now that I've flow the bird for a few flights and been over 48hr since I first turned switched the battery ON, I'm not eligible for djicare. He said I can take it up with DJI - After-sales Service Policies or email [email protected] . . we'll see what they say.

Any others have interactions like that? Pretty poor customer service policy . . Can't believe that's the way dji want's to be positioned in the market. "Here's your shiny new drone . . GOOD LUCK"