replacing 1 motor out of 4.. How to match them?

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vidman64

Active Member
I have a modestly priced drone and noticed that motors are relatively cheap. I did read postings on motor sizes. Is that all I have to do is match sizes and they will synch? Doing this would help me on my learning curve in building my own drone. Any advice, since I am new at this will be appreciated.
Regards,
Millard
 
davidhk129

davidhk129

Well-Known Member
vidman64 said:
I have a modestly priced drone and noticed that motors are relatively cheap. I did read postings on motor sizes. Is that all I have to do is match sizes and they will synch? Doing this would help me on my learning curve in building my own drone. Any advice, since I am new at this will be appreciated.
Regards,
Millard
Click to expand...
By reading your post, I surmise that your "modestly priced drone" is a Hobby drone.
I never own a hobby drone, never flew one. I know nothing about hobby drone.
I have, therefore nothing helpful to offer except one point to make in case you do not know that........
A drone has 4 motors (except the hexacopter). 2 of them turn clockwise (CW). The other 2 turn counterclockwise (CCW).
Make sure you know if the motor you want to replace is CW or CCW. You cannot replace a CW motor with a CCW motor, vise versa. Drone won't fly if you have the wrong motor installed.
That's the extent of my knowledge that might be helpful.
Good luck.
 
V

vidman64

Active Member
davidhk129 said:
By reading your post, I surmise that your "modestly priced drone" is a Hobby drone.
I never own a hobby drone, never flew one. I know nothing about hobby drone.
I have, therefore nothing helpful to offer except one point to make in case you do not know that........
A drone has 4 motors (except the hexacopter). 2 of them turn clockwise (CW). The other 2 turn counterclockwise (CCW).
Make sure you know if the motor you want to replace is CW or CCW. You cannot replace a CW motor with a CCW motor, vise versa. Drone won't fly if you have the wrong motor installed.
That's the extent of my knowledge that might be helpful.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will do that and AliExpress is selling just that. Each motor for this specific drone has a designation Front—back left-right. I know nothing about AliExpress, are they reliable?
LoneRCRanger said:
davidhk129 said:
By reading your post, I surmise that your "modestly priced drone" is a Hobby drone.
I never own a hobby drone, never flew one. I know nothing about hobby drone.
I have, therefore nothing helpful to offer except one point to make in case you do not know that........
A drone has 4 motors (except the hexacopter). 2 of them turn clockwise (CW). The other 2 turn counterclockwise (CCW).
Make sure you know if the motor you want to replace is CW or CCW. You cannot replace a CW motor with a CCW motor, vise versa. Drone won't fly if you have the wrong motor installed.
That's the extent of my knowledge that might be helpful.
Good luck.
Click to expand...

Another reason I have a one motor airplane.
Click to expand...
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
Hi it's not easy to match motors unless you can get the same one , what you are trying to match is the physical size and KV , even after doing this the one motor may be more powerful due to it being new , depending on the FCB you may be able to tune the one motor to match the others
 
davidhk129

davidhk129

Well-Known Member
vidman64 said:
I know nothing about AliExpress, are they reliable?
Click to expand...
I dealt with Aliexpress no more than twice. Mainly because it took too long for delivery from China. Also it is because if I had to return the item I might had to pay for the shipment. I don't want to take the chance.
The items I did buy from Aliexpress were fine. No issue at all.
I am not giving recommendation based on my limited experience with Aliexpress.
 
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V

vidman64

Active Member
holtneil said:
Hi it's not easy to match motors unless you can get the same one , what you are trying to match is the physical size and KV , even after doing this the one motor may be more powerful due to it being new , depending on the FCB you may be able to tune the one motor to match the others
Click to expand...
Thanks, I may just offer this drone for parts to folks that are making their own drones.
 
V

vidman64

Active Member
davidhk129 said:
I dealt with Aliexpress no more than twice. Mainly because it took too long for delivery from China. Also it is because if I had to return the item I might had to pay for the shipment. I don't want to take the chance.
The items I did buy from Aliexpress were fine. No issue at all.
I am not giving recommendation based on my limited experience with Aliexpress.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I may try buying only the motor that seems to be affected after I see how difficult it will be to repair.
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
 
V

vidman64

Active Member
Thank you. If I going to replace these motors, I might start with these choices as they id directly for my exact drone.
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
Well if you get the set of 4 and replace them all this will give you 3 old motors as spares
 
V

vidman64

Active Member
Thank you for all your input. I have started to take the drone apart to see how to connect the motors and the small Philips head screwdrivers
worked fine, yet the next screw got stripped, so I am bringing out my "essential tool kit" from Ifixit to see if good tools make a difference. It seems that the screws have a dollop of glue on them, making them a bit difficult. If I can get these connections to the motors in the main structure, I will purchase at least one motor that has been listed as a specific motor for this beast in Aliexpress, I will see if it is worth the effort, since only one motor seems to be acting up. However, as you have suggested, replace all, or dump the drone and get a reasonable substitute to learn on with a camera. I still want it to be in the $200 range, and even though the "obstacle avoidance is primitive" I need that, to begin with. Too much fun!
regards,
Millard
 
holtneil

holtneil

Well-Known Member
Moderator
Normally use blue lock tight , but Some use super glue , but blue lock tight is better , also some new motors come with screws
 
Bannerman

Bannerman

Active Member
Although 4 identical motors may have some slight differences, the (basic hobby drone) electronic control system automatically adjusts the motor speeds (and thus the thrust) to maintain it level, by sensing the drone's movement and compensating for inequalities. This system may possibly work adequately if some different motors are used, provided they are sufficiently similar.

(I am making educated guesses as a (general purpose) electronic technician. However, please would someone correct me if I am mistaken.)
 
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