Replacing Phantom Motor Bearings

[npalen]

I have one motor with a noisy loose bearing needing replacement. What is involved to make the motor accessible other than the obvious of removing the four mounting screws? Is there enough slack in the wires to disassemble the motor without removing the body shell?
Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

 

[RenoReno]

Here's a pretty good video of bearing replacement for the phantom. Mine's on the way in the mail and I'm planning on doing the same thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo8jPhSJFbk

 

[GMANNZ]

if you trust rebuilding a small chinese made electric motor thats faulting I suppose go right ahead ... but if they are failing why not just replace it with a brand new one ??, ... as they are ony bout $25 buck each ??

 

[npalen]

I had already ordered a set of bearings for it but have no objection to buying some replacement motors. Would you info on where to get them?
Thanks for the rebuild link also.
Thanks

 

[ianwood]

As long as the motor is otherwise in good shape, it makes perfect sense to replace the bearings. It's also a good time to consider upgrading the bearings as that is really the only part that has any wear on it.

 

[ElGuano]

As long as the motor is otherwise in good shape, it makes perfect sense to replace the bearings. It's also a good time to consider upgrading the bearings as that is really the only part that has any wear on it.

Agreed, bearing replacement on outrunners is not extraordinary in any way, and can be considered general maintenance. Of course, if you prefer and the cost is low enough for you, you could just use the opportunity to replace or upgrade the motors; nothing stops you from doing so.

 

[Thor 555]

For what it's worth, I had a prop strike a cement curb during an emergency landing due to an attack by a dog with an unhealthy interest in my Phantom 1. That motor made an unusual noise, so I ordered a set of bearings from a dealer in Hong Kong for $15 and received them in Turkey in 2 weeks. Fast!

But, as hard as I tried, I couldn't remove the damaged bearings from the motor core so I took it to my local shop. To remove the bearings, the guy at the shop heated the motor core with a hot air gun and was able to remove the damaged bearings. Although the thrust washers from Hong Kong were plastic, I reused the original brass ones.

Happy ending. However, heat from the motors eventually reduces the strength of the magnets on the barrel and the motors in time will lose their power.

 

[MrFlats]

Hello Phantom friends,

I started to get a wee bit of free play in one of my rear motors. It was enought to "feel" by hand but I couldn't see it with my eyes. I ordered some replacment bearings from www.gotrcheli.com in Arizona. A pair of bearings are 2 bucks, they are stainless steel. The vender said they were better than the OEM's, so I went for it. I purchased 4 pair. I let you know how they work, and.... according to a video I saw, just remove the four motor mount screws and their is enough wire to drop the motor and manipulate it with out cracking the shell.

55 Logged flights. Just got an Flytrex. Thats a sweet hunk of hardware! Purchased from Dronefly. An A+ company to do business with.

Jeff

 

[htownphantom]

I replaced the bearings in mine with some kit I bought off ebay,supposed to be an upgrade but who knows? I can tell you one thing,my old bearings did not just pop out like in that video.I had the motors setting on a wooden block with a hole in so I could hammer the bearings out into the hole.Most of them hammered out pretty easy,but there were a few that were stubborn and there was one that wouldnt come out hammering the **** out of it.Ended up tearing the bearing completely up,had to take the motor out of the phantom to get the bearing out.I still have 1 motor with 1 stock bearing in it because I couldnt get it out.

 

[RenoReno]

I replaced the bearings in mine with some kit I bought off ebay,supposed to be an upgrade but who knows? I can tell you one thing,my old bearings did not just pop out like in that video.I had the motors setting on a wooden block with a hole in so I could hammer the bearings out into the hole.Most of them hammered out pretty easy,but there were a few that were stubborn and there was one that wouldnt come out hammering the **** out of it.Ended up tearing the bearing completely up,had to take the motor out of the phantom to get the bearing out.I still have 1 motor with 1 stock bearing in it because I couldnt get it out.

Man that sucks. I hope I don't have the same problem removing old bearings. I ordered a bearing upgrade kit off of ebay too. It's got boca bearings, some sort of putty to remove magnetic sand and a needle point oil with revolutions oil in it. Might be the same kit you got.

 

[htownphantom]

I replaced the bearings in mine with some kit I bought off ebay,supposed to be an upgrade but who knows? I can tell you one thing,my old bearings did not just pop out like in that video.I had the motors setting on a wooden block with a hole in so I could hammer the bearings out into the hole.Most of them hammered out pretty easy,but there were a few that were stubborn and there was one that wouldnt come out hammering the **** out of it.Ended up tearing the bearing completely up,had to take the motor out of the phantom to get the bearing out.I still have 1 motor with 1 stock bearing in it because I couldnt get it out.

Man that sucks. I hope I don't have the same problem removing old bearings. I ordered a bearing upgrade kit off of ebay too. It's got boca bearings, some sort of putty to remove magnetic sand and a needle point oil with revolutions oil in it. Might be the same kit you got.

Thats not the kit I got,yours sounds better.Heres the link to mine,give me the link to yours so I can check it out
thanks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261358490079?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

 

[RenoReno]

Thats not the kit I got,yours sounds better.Heres the link to mine,give me the link to yours so I can check it out
thanks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261358490079?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Here's one the guy has for $29.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261386030720?ss ... 1423.l2649

Here's the one I got for $39.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251408055768?ss ... 1497.l2649

Not sure the difference between the two. Maybe bearing quality. Both mention SKF bearings in the description. One mentions Japanese bearings in the title. A little contradictory since SKF is a Swedish manufacturer to my knowledge. I sent seller a message asking the difference between the $30 kit and the $40 kit. We'll see what he's got to say. I'm cool with the $40 spent either way. Just noticed, it's the same seller you got yours from, that I did.

 

[htownphantom]

Thats not the kit I got,yours sounds better.Heres the link to mine,give me the link to yours so I can check it out
thanks
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261358490079?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

Here's one the guy has for $29.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261386030720?ss ... 1423.l2649

Here's the one I got for $39.99
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251408055768?ss ... 1497.l2649

Not sure the difference between the two. Maybe bearing quality. Both mention SKF bearings in the description. One mentions Japanese bearings in the title. A little contradictory since SKF is a Swedish manufacturer to my knowledge. I sent seller a message asking the difference between the $30 kit and the $40 kit. We'll see what he's got to say. I'm cool with the $40 spent either way.

Ok thanks,I saw that kit after I posted and wondered if that was the one you bought.I wonder about those claims made about the bearing oil also,I just used some 3in1 oil.

 

[RenoReno]

Ok thanks,I saw that kit after I posted and wondered if that was the one you bought.I wonder about those claims made about the bearing oil also,I just used some 3in1 oil.

You're welcome. I googled the oil and didn't find anything on it. Probably just machine oil with PTFE in it.

 

[MrFlats]

Those of you that are super geeky, I replaced my bearings with new HP Power Supply fan bearings. Easy, free, works as good as new if not better. I had some extra fans, I took them a part and scavenged the bearings, threw the fan away.

 

[Idbird]

http://youtu.be/YtILcbJoYGQ
This is a great way to get out those old bearings. I did mine without removing the motors leads by using a block of wood the same height as the bird. Those bearings are tight!

 

[ADI8421]

I realize this is an old thread but might be of interest.
I can't even get the rotating bell off my noisy Phantom 3 Pro motor. It's like the shaft is glued to the inner rotating bearing part. Cir-clip and spacer has been removed of course. I mounted the motor on a piece of 1/2 inch plywood with a hole drilled in the plywood through the middle of the 4 mounting screws for a metal rod to fit through. Hammering the metal rod would still not remove the bell and motor shaft. I had to replace the complete motor instead.