How to test motor temperature?

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One symptom of a problem with a motor, either bad bearings or grit inside, is the temperature after flying. If one motor is much hotter than the others it you'd want to fix it before it fails in flight.

How would you go about getting a read on the motors after a flight - aside from just burning your fingers and going - wow! That ones hot!....

Most times after a flight I don't even touch the motors before popping in a new battery & going up again.
Might be a nice idea to get a read on all motors (rotors?) when functions fine- to have a baseline for when they start having an issue.

Anyone know of a temperature gage with a sensor that can press against or around the rotor?


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One symptom of a problem with a motor, either bad bearings or grit inside, is the temperature after flying. If one motor is much hotter than the others it you'd want to fix it before it fails in flight.

How would you go about getting a read on the motors after a flight - aside from just burning your fingers and going - wow! That ones hot!....

Most times after a flight I don't even touch the motors before popping in a new battery & going up again.
Might be a nice idea to get a read on all motors (rotors?) when functions fine- to have a baseline for when they start having an issue.

Anyone know of a temperature gage with a sensor that can press against or around the rotor?


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
I just use one of these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B008...hermometer&dpPl=1&dpID=41VFOp2ssTL&ref=plSrch
 
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O

Anyone know of a temperature gage with a sensor that can press against or around the rotor?


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Great idea, and it is something you can write down for your required Maintenance record if you are a 107 pilot.

I have the little Nubee NUB8380H pistol grip from Amazon - dirt cheap at 12.50 USD - and has been 100% reliable, and 99% accurate based on my testing. It can be adjusted to different types of surfaces as well, if you wish. I have had it for over a year and have used it a zillion times for many things.
 
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You could get one of those FLIR dongles for a smart phone and take pictures over time. They aren't terribly quantitatively accurate (they're only $150 or so) but if you took pictures in a consistent place you might see a change over time.

Of course, that is WAY compulsive. But whatever floats your boat.

I typically don't do anything except touch the motors briefly after flying and make sure than nothing smells funny.
 
Great idea, and it is something you can write down for your required Maintenance record if you are a 107 pilot.

I have the little Nubee NUB8380H pistol grip from Amazon - dirt cheap at 12.50 USD - and has been 100% reliable, and 99% accurate based on my testing. It can be adjusted to different types of surfaces as well, if you wish. I have had it for over a year and have used it a zillion times for many things.

Great ideas guys. Thx. Ill check it out. Seems like a good idea for maintenance.


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You could get one of those FLIR dongles for a smart phone and take pictures over time. They aren't terribly quantitatively accurate (they're only $150 or so) but if you took pictures in a consistent place you might see a change over time.

Of course, that is WAY compulsive. But whatever floats your boat.

I typically don't do anything except touch the motors briefly after flying and make sure than nothing smells funny.
Bad form to reply to yourself, but I wanted to point out that in my, um, experience, when bad things happen to motors they do so quickly and dramatically. This tends to release magic smoke and other rather odiferous compounds and is pretty noticeable.
 

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