New or old motors phantom 3

[Solar Deity]

Old motors used individual esc's and the new motors esc's are integrated in to the new mainboard. They are not interchangeable.

SD

Edit. ESC's are on the mainboard for both motor combinations.

 

[rulppa]

are you saying that the old motors are gonna burn up the ESC's

Nope, thought you was referring to this situation when ESC fails. You can buy ESC cheap with old mb, but when it happens midair, repair for both versions probably cost more than p3's these days.

 

[CCDD]

There's no sense making a huge deal" over this issue as no one knows if one motor is better or out performs the other. What we do know is that most of Phantoms with new motors have the reinforced frame which might be worth having due to some of the earlier cracking problems discussed.

 

[tcope]

It's easy to test, hover and test it

It appears it's not easy to test. As shown above, the same hover test varies by up to 5m on a 20m flight time.

This was discussed on dual battery mod thread. Has something to do with ground effect and motors being angled so they kinda are pulling each other to opposite directions to make it stable. Thats how i understood it.

The motors don't change direction during flight and hover so I fail to see how the battery drain would change. Also, the battery drain is _only_ controlled by the throttle, not the flight characteristics. The more you push on the throttle, the more the drain. The less you push, the less the drain. it does not matter if the drone is moving or not.

Distance can be optimize with varying degrees of throttle. Perhaps this is what was being discussed.

Setting all of that aside, even the same hover test varied by 5m. So I fail to see how accurate the test would have been. If the difference using the same motors was 5m and the difference between old and new motors was around 5m then how does the test show the new motors are more efficient?

 

[rulppa]

There's no sense making a huge deal" over this issue as no one knows if one motor is better or out performs the other. What we do know is that most of Phantoms with new motors have the reinforced frame which might be worth having due to some of the earlier cracking problems discussed.

Didn't notice any differences with speed or behavior in general, but i did notice better flight times. Guess, im no one then. If one has old version, i agree there is absolutely no point to swap mainboard and buy new motors. BUT when you have a choice - with same price tag, there is no point to go with old one.

 

[Zone 5]

Nope, thought you was referring to this situation when ESC fails. You can buy ESC cheap with old mb, but when it happens midair, repair for both versions probably cost more than p3's these days.

No, I was referencing the poster that said to change the old motors for new, and of course to do that you have to change the main board. IMO, thats a crazy expensive solution to a problem that doesn't exsist. and yes, I agree that if you are buying new, and have the ability to get the new motors that would be the choice to make. but if you have old motors go fly and enjoy the Phantom, because you may lose some flight time, but the bird isn't going to fall from the sky.

 

[Trackman1]

Is there a version of phantom 3 that has never had the so called "old motors"

 

[wooglin]

I have owned both and currently have one with the new motors/mainboard/shell. I exchanged mine to get the new shell and was pleasantly surprised by the motor improvement. My understanding is that the new motors are similar or the same as the motors that come on the standard and are more efficient but have slightly less thrust. There is speculation that recent firmware updates are optimized for the new style motors but that is just speculation.

My healthydrones logs indicate an average flight time of 23 minutes on the p3a with the old style motors, and on my p3p with the new style motors average flight time is 26 minutes. I have compared flight performance both perception and in logs and there does not seem to be any difference as far as top speed, etc.

 

[tcope]

Old motors used individual esc's and the new motors esc's are integrated in to the new mainboard. They are not interchangeable.

That was what I had stuck in my head for some reason... until a few weeks ago when someone pointed out I was incorrect. I was. The ESC's are different but they are all contained on the main board.

 

[rulppa]

Tcope, new info. Learned otherwise here, never opened the old one. Thanks for correcting.

 

[John Locke]

i have had old phantom motors and now I have the new ones! and I have to say swap now! if u really can! don't lose the chance for get a real better perform...

You have implied owners of P3P or P3A old motor birds can swap their motors to new motors using the same motherboard . That's not possible, you would also need a new motherboard with the new ESCs. The ESCs for the new motors are different on the motherboard. The old motherboard ESCs can handle 15A each, the new motherboard ESCs can handle 18A each.

Higher current ESC's on the new motherboard doesn't make sense to me, but that's what they've done. The new motors have been reported to provide a little better flight time, implying the new motors might use LESS power, so why would DJI need to increase the current from 15 to 18amps? Go figure. However, if the new motors use less power, or the same power, the new 18A ESCs would provide more support margin, potentially less stress on the ESC parts on hot days, less prone to failure..... maybe.

The new motors are quieter. I own two P3Ps, one old and one new motor types. I think the added noise from the old motors is created by the top of the motor, from those arched ribs that you put the wrench on. Those ribs spin fast and may create more wind noise, and potentially less efficient.... maybe. I'm going to compare both birds running without props this weekend just to try and pin point the source of the added noise from the old motors, but I theorize it's from those ribs.

 

[Oso]

No, I was referencing the poster that said to change the old motors for new, and of course to do that you have to change the main board. IMO, thats a crazy expensive solution to a problem that doesn't exsist. and yes, I agree that if you are buying new, and have the ability to get the new motors that would be the choice to make. but if you have old motors go fly and enjoy the Phantom, because you may lose some flight time, but the bird isn't going to fall from the sky.

FYI - the OP said that he was trying decide if he wanted to return his P3 with old motors for a P3 with new motors. He never said he wanted to replace just the motors.

New or old motors phantom 3

 

[Solar Deity]

That was what I had stuck in my head for some reason... until a few weeks ago when someone pointed out I was incorrect. I was. The ESC's are different but they are all contained on the main board.

Understand. My bad.

SD

 

[Sinisalo]

Hi chaps hows everyone.just like to say love the site .love reading all about your drones but have a problem.purchased my phantom 3 advanced 2 weeks ago with old motors .been in touch with the shop i purchased from and they said i can swap it for one with new motors .my problem is what do i do swap for new motors or stay with old ones just dont no.

I have had issues with 5 out of 5 P3P that I got from bestbuy with new motors. I am currently sending my last exchange in to DJI because bestbuy won't let me exchange anymore. This last one has a gimbal that doesn't stay level and the lense appears defective because only some spots are not in focus.

Bottom line, if your photos are in focus keep the Phantom you have, consider yourself lucky.

 

[Zone 5]

FYI - the OP said that he was trying decide if he wanted to return his P3 with old motors for a P3 with new motors. He never said he wanted to replace just the motors.

New or old motors phantom 3

I never referenced the OP. I referenced a different poster, and I quoted that poster.
His post 22, and mine 37

 

[Oso]

I never referenced the OP. I referenced a different poster, and I quoted that poster.
His post 22, and mine 37

Yes but in response to @chupeta82 telling the OP that he had old motors before, but now has a Phantom with new motors.

No big deal of course. I was just momentarily confused why both you and @John Locke responded to @chupeta82 about how new motors aren't compatible with the old motherboard. He was just saying he now has a new Phantom with the new motors and he suggested that the OP make the swap with his dealer.

In any event, it's of course true that new motors are not compatible with the old motherboard. Perhaps it's good to get that word out again in case someone doesn't know.

Like I said, no big deal. Thanks for clarifying. Cheers and happy flying.

 

[phantom13flyer]

New motors run cooler and more efficient. They are getting 2-3 more minutes of flight time.

 

[phantom13flyer]

DJI Phantom 3 Professional battery comparison sheet - Google Sheets

 

[With The Birds]

It appears it's not easy to test. As shown above, the same hover test varies by up to 5m on a 20m flight time.




The motors don't change direction during flight and hover so I fail to see how the battery drain would change. Also, the battery drain is _only_ controlled by the throttle, not the flight characteristics. The more you push on the throttle, the more the drain. The less you push, the less the drain. it does not matter if the drone is moving or not.

Distance can be optimize with varying degrees of throttle. Perhaps this is what was being discussed.

Setting all of that aside, even the same hover test varied by 5m. So I fail to see how accurate the test would have been. If the difference using the same motors was 5m and the difference between old and new motors was around 5m then how does the test show the new motors are more efficient?

It appears it's not easy to test. As shown above, the same hover test varies by up to 5m on a 20m flight time.




The motors don't change direction during flight and hover so I fail to see how the battery drain would change. Also, the battery drain is _only_ controlled by the throttle, not the flight characteristics. The more you push on the throttle, the more the drain. The less you push, the less the drain. it does not matter if the drone is moving or not.

Distance can be optimize with varying degrees of throttle. Perhaps this is what was being discussed.

Setting all of that aside, even the same hover test varied by 5m. So I fail to see how accurate the test would have been. If the difference using the same motors was 5m and the difference between old and new motors was around 5m then how does the test show the new motors are more efficient?

Are you sure motor load and drain isnt dependant on flight characteristics?

I would have expected that flat out forward flight and hover (due to fuselage drag and lack of transitional lift respectively) would require more power than gentle lateral movement.

That is the case with heli's (RC and full size).

 

[Solar Deity]

Are you sure motor load and drain isnt dependant on flight characteristics?

I would have expected that flat out forward flight and hover (due to fuselage drag and lack of transitional lift respectively) would require more power than gentle lateral movement.

That is the case with heli's (RC and full size).

Translational lift

Translational lift - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sorry to be the spelling police, but it's the second time I've seen it referred to as transitional.

SD