Motor upgrade opinions

[maxis]

Good evening chaps.
Has anyone upgraded the motors in their P3s?
Suggestions, do's /donts ?


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[alokbhargava]

It's not that easy to upgrade motors as ESCs should also be changed. As ESCs are part of the main board, choices are limited.

 

[alokbhargava]

New motors have new main boards.

 

[Meta4]

Has anyone upgraded the motors in their P3s?
Suggestions, do's /donts ?

Upgrade? .. as in to make an improvement?
You won't make your Phantom go faster (that's all in the tilt angle and programming)
You probably won't improve anything else
You will have to make sure the new motors match the ESCs.
Why would you bother?

 

[maxis]

Upgrade? .. as in to make an improvement?
You won't make your Phantom go faster (that's all in the tilt angle and programming)
You probably won't improve anything else
You will have to make sure the new motors match the ESCs.
Why would you bother?

Thanks!
Won't bother now, you cleared that right up!
Thanks cheers


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[Zzyzx]

KDE advertises Phantom 3 motor "upgrade" kits (see Upgrade DJI Phantom You Got for Christmas with KDE Brushless Motors ).

Curious if anyone's done one of these swaps? There is a YouTube video of a guy installing KDE motors, but it doesn't look like he used one of the above kits. He says they performed worse than stock.

The KDEs spin faster per volt (885 rpm/V, 965 rpm/V) than the stock 2312A (800 rpm/V). They also may draw more current (24A, 26A) than stock (which I think is a 20A ESC?). The advertised benefit is they are more efficient (might be true if they can spin faster with less battery drain), and smoother in flight.

Like some of the other replies, I'm skeptical since the ESCs, controller, etc. of the Phantom are probably all optimized for the motors DJI uses. Is it even possible to tune the PID of the DJI controller for different motors?

If I had a spare P3 around, I might test the KDEs, but I'm reluctant to disassemble the shell (hard to do without tweaking it) and solder in new motors on my only P3 just to play around with them.

 

[Meta4]

KDE advertises Phantom 3 motor "upgrade" kits.

They sound like good motors but they aren't very cost effective - $61 each vs $24 for DJI motors
The stated benefits are vague with no actual numbers so there won't be many users that go the effort and expense to find out how much extra flight time they might give.

 

[Scepterr]

Hey guys got my p3a about a month ago, been loving it every day. I got the KDE motors about a week ago and so far very impressed. Definitely more agile, much quicker 0-35mph(is there a mod that unlocks top speed?). Going to do battery tests soon, haven't had the opportunity yet. Installation was more or less straightforward, they do not require any change in electronics or settings, unsolder 3 wires for each motor and solder matching wires for new motor. The only issue I ran into was when it came to mounting them, it seems dji modified the structure of the motor mount to add support but it is in the way of the new motor. Long story short I used my soldering iron to poke a hole through the center of the mount and an exacto to clean it up a bit(I was at home and eager otherwise I would've dremeled it at my shop). Considering the loss in support I opted to get a set of aluminum motor reinforcements. I flew it for a few days before the reinforcements came with no issues and same since they came. Haven't taken pics with them on yet will post those later. Also they sound great IMO.

 

[mikesmiley]

You're a new pilot and your very first post here is to promote motors that you bought from kde and installed on your month old Phantom 3? And you thought people would believe it?

 

[Javiejav]

You're a new pilot and your very first post here is to promote motors that you bought from kde and installed on your month old Phantom 3? And you thought people would believe it?

Hahahaaaaaa I love this comment!!!


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[mikesmiley]

Lol wanna see my amazon receipt?

Good call. Yes.

 

[Scepterr]

Good call. Yes.

 

[mikesmiley]

I might be wrong, and if I am please forgive me. You gotta admit you looked like a shill.

 

[Scepterr]

I might be wrong, and if I am please forgive me. You gotta admit you looked like a shill.

You could've googled me.

With reinforcements,

 

[GB71]

Where did you get the reinforcements? Thanks.


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[DPD]

Where did you get the reinforcements? Thanks.


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I have the same ones on my P3P, I got them on Amazon, they only had the silver ones and not the gold ones. I really like them and I would recommend them to anyone else with a phantom 3, IMO they work, I have no cracks and they work as a heat sink for the motors..


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[GB71]

Thanks.


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[Digdat0]

Hey guys got my p3a about a month ago, been loving it every day. I got the KDE motors about a week ago and so far very impressed. Definitely more agile, much quicker 0-35mph(is there a mod that unlocks top speed?). Going to do battery tests soon, haven't had the opportunity yet. Installation was more or less straightforward, they do not require any change in electronics or settings, unsolder 3 wires for each motor and solder matching wires for new motor. The only issue I ran into was when it came to mounting them, it seems dji modified the structure of the motor mount to add support but it is in the way of the new motor. Long story short I used my soldering iron to poke a hole through the center of the mount and an exacto to clean it up a bit(I was at home and eager otherwise I would've dremeled it at my shop). Considering the loss in support I opted to get a set of aluminum motor reinforcements. I flew it for a few days before the reinforcements came with no issues and same since they came. Haven't taken pics with them on yet will post those later. Also they sound great IMO.
View attachment 61574 View attachment 61575

Awesome. Any chance you can do a quick video of what they sound like from a takeoff to a few second of hovering?

Also, weight numbers you could share on these vs stock? Appreciate ya sharing, haven't seen anyone else with motor swap on the phantom 3.

Cheers

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[Scepterr]

Where did you get the reinforcements? Thanks.


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Got mine on eBay $25 [WIKI]http://m.ebay.com/itm/CNC-DJI-Phantom-3-Reinforcement-Plates-for-Motor-Mount-Base-Protecting-Silver-/131812334344?txnId=1251539041003[/WIKI]

 

[Scepterr]

Awesome. Any chance you can do a quick video of what they sound like from a takeoff to a few second of hovering?

Also, weight numbers you could share on these vs stock? Appreciate ya sharing, haven't seen anyone else with motor swap on the phantom 3.

Cheers

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I'll try to remember to do that next flight. I think the weight is on the KDE site, I can weigh the stock ones if that info isn't available.