stuck bearings

[GearLoose]

I tried and failed to replace the bearings in one of the Phantom motors. After removing the clip, I ran a narrow screwdriver through the center of the motor and pushed -- very hard -- on the inside of the bearing, assuming it would pop free. I tried this on both bearings and both refused to budge. No luck again after oiling them.

Any suggestions?

 

[Racklefratz]

I tried and failed to replace the bearings in one of the Phantom motors. After removing the clip, I ran a narrow screwdriver through the center of the motor and pushed -- very hard -- on the inside of the bearing, assuming it would pop free. I tried this on both bearings and both refused to budge. No luck again after oiling them.

Any suggestions?

With Phantom replacement motors so cheap, for $24, I'd just replace any that failed.

 

[BruceTS]

A little heat usually works wonders in removing tight bearings.

found this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZYD0mumBCg

 

[GearLoose]

BruceTS: that is a very good tip. I think I'll try heating the motor with a soldering iron -- slide the tip of the iron inside the bearing so that it focuses the heat more.

As it happens, I gave up on removing the bearings from the motor I thought might be damaged. Instead, I washed it thoroughly with alcohol, then lubricated the bearings with TriFlo and reassembled the motor. Now, after three flights, it appears to be working normally.

thanks!

 

[BruceTS]

Actually you want to heat the housing and not the bearing. When you heat up the metal it expands.....

I'll be tearing down one of my motors soon, since it's tighter than the other 3, probably end up taking them all apart and do some performance upgrades.

 

[BruceTS]

Had some time today and got around to taking apart one of my motors, it wasn't as free spinning as the other 3. I purchased a better set of bearings off ebay to keep around as spares. My motor came apart quite easy and didn't take much force to get them out of the housing. Added a tiny dab of Super Lube brand grease to the new ceramic bushing, then finished assembly. Took out my IPhone with the seismometer app and proceeded to balance the motor. Got it close, since I really need to build a platform to bolt it to and keep the rest of the phantom suspended so the other motors don't skew the readings.

What I plan to do is let the rebuild motor bearing seat in with a few more flights, then see if the numbers changed much. Did a few flights, it no longer gets warm and spins as freely as the others. Now I'll see how this motor holds up compared to the other 3.

This Phantom is only several weeks old and already had 1 motor giving problems, I can imagine others that have no clue how to maintain them properly will have one fail during flight. I do a feel test after each flight seeing if any got hot and spin the props to check for any binding. If I had not, I'd imagine in a few weeks if not sooner, there'd be another crash video on youtube.

Eventually I plan to relocate the ESC's so they conform to Aircraft Navigation lights-Left side is red, right side is green and get a set of stock 450 motors as spares, install bullet connectors to make changing them out easier.