One of the 920kv motors on my F450 has become a bit more notchy than the others.
I face-planted my quad yesterday and ended up breaking a prop. I noticed that the motor with the broken prop was very notchy. Instead of spinning freely, it felt like it was clicking or rotating in individual steps.
I took the opportunity to pull these two motors apart. I was surprised how little there was to getting in there. All that is required is to remove the e-clip on the bottom end of the motor. After the e-clip comes out, a small washer should slide off. The motor then simply pulls apart, exposing the stator (the winds), the 2 ball bearings, and the magnets attached to the inside of the housing.
Once apart, I found a small pebble wedged between two of the windings on the stator. The magnets looked clean, but had a small film of dirt on them, which I found as I wiped them down.
On the 2nd motor, the stator looked clean, however I found some tiny metal shavings stuck to and between the magnets.
I cleaned up and reassembled both motors. They both spin better than new!
Here are my thoughts and quetions:
1. The motors should be taken apart and cleaned every so often. I will be doing the other 2 motors soon.
2. Is it advisable to use some type of motor cleaning chemical, and if so, what? All I did was pick out the pebble & shavings, then used was a cotton swab and a can of compressed air for clean-up.
3. Is there a way a DIY kind of guy can easily & reliably balance the motors?
Cheers,
Will
I face-planted my quad yesterday and ended up breaking a prop. I noticed that the motor with the broken prop was very notchy. Instead of spinning freely, it felt like it was clicking or rotating in individual steps.
I took the opportunity to pull these two motors apart. I was surprised how little there was to getting in there. All that is required is to remove the e-clip on the bottom end of the motor. After the e-clip comes out, a small washer should slide off. The motor then simply pulls apart, exposing the stator (the winds), the 2 ball bearings, and the magnets attached to the inside of the housing.
Once apart, I found a small pebble wedged between two of the windings on the stator. The magnets looked clean, but had a small film of dirt on them, which I found as I wiped them down.
On the 2nd motor, the stator looked clean, however I found some tiny metal shavings stuck to and between the magnets.
I cleaned up and reassembled both motors. They both spin better than new!
Here are my thoughts and quetions:
1. The motors should be taken apart and cleaned every so often. I will be doing the other 2 motors soon.
2. Is it advisable to use some type of motor cleaning chemical, and if so, what? All I did was pick out the pebble & shavings, then used was a cotton swab and a can of compressed air for clean-up.
3. Is there a way a DIY kind of guy can easily & reliably balance the motors?
Cheers,
Will
