Jeff Neese
Well-Known Member
I'm new here and I introduced myself in the "Introductions" section and got a warm welcome. Thanks to all.
When I bought my first toy quadcopter I was not aware that the motors have a limited lifespan. Fortunately I'm fairly technical, know how to solder and have the right equipment (including a magnified solder station) so I was able to replace the motor no problem. Now of course I know that I need to keep a generous supply of cheap motors and just be prepared to swap them out on a regular basis. It just goes with the territory in the "toy drone" hobby arena.
I'd have to believe that most people aren't aware of this characteristic when they buy their first drone, or get one for Christmas, and wouldn't be able to swap a motor anyway. Then they get 50 to 80 flights before the motor quits, and they probably chalk it up to "cheap Chinese crap" and set it aside never to be flown again. Therein lies my question.
What happens to the millions and millions of these drones? There are some very popular models that are common Christmas or birthday presents (Aunt Millie gets her nephew a drone and sees the U818A gets good reviews so she buys it). Fast forward one month later and that drone is sitting somewhere with a bad motor.
Has anyone ever tried to harvest those? I'm thinking Craigslist, offering say $10 for drones that no longer fly. Who knows what kind of calls you might get. You might score some pretty sweet quadcopters that just need the motor replaced. To them it's junk but to someone that can fix it, it's simply a quadcopter that needs a motor replaced and will probably be good as new.
Thoughts?
When I bought my first toy quadcopter I was not aware that the motors have a limited lifespan. Fortunately I'm fairly technical, know how to solder and have the right equipment (including a magnified solder station) so I was able to replace the motor no problem. Now of course I know that I need to keep a generous supply of cheap motors and just be prepared to swap them out on a regular basis. It just goes with the territory in the "toy drone" hobby arena.
I'd have to believe that most people aren't aware of this characteristic when they buy their first drone, or get one for Christmas, and wouldn't be able to swap a motor anyway. Then they get 50 to 80 flights before the motor quits, and they probably chalk it up to "cheap Chinese crap" and set it aside never to be flown again. Therein lies my question.
What happens to the millions and millions of these drones? There are some very popular models that are common Christmas or birthday presents (Aunt Millie gets her nephew a drone and sees the U818A gets good reviews so she buys it). Fast forward one month later and that drone is sitting somewhere with a bad motor.
Has anyone ever tried to harvest those? I'm thinking Craigslist, offering say $10 for drones that no longer fly. Who knows what kind of calls you might get. You might score some pretty sweet quadcopters that just need the motor replaced. To them it's junk but to someone that can fix it, it's simply a quadcopter that needs a motor replaced and will probably be good as new.
Thoughts?