Brushless Motor not making full power

[rcpilot2]

rear bearing seems a little on the draggy side. put the bearings on the shaft coming from the bell and old on to the braring. then in spin the bell and listen. the front one spins like a fidget spinner(forever), but a little noisy. the rear stops much quicker. gonna try some gun oil.

 

[rcpilot2]

any tips for oiling? Would gun solvent work to clean the bearings?

 

[rcpilot2]

rear bearing seems a little better, but they both seem a bit gritty. is there any way to get rid of this?

 

[PsyBorg]

Gun oil is a nice lite oil to use. However... its not designed to stick around. Its meant to burn off with heat. Motors, specially ones with the sealed bearings can generate tons of heat. This will burn off the gun oil in short time requiring more frequent oiling. 3 in one oil is also a lite oil and less likely to cook off as the motor gets hot. Being lite oils they tend to attract and hold less dirt.

Compressed air is good to blow out any dirt between the windings and under the bell that may cause drag or grinding on the motor. Its not a bad idea to disassemble the motors and wash out between the windings once in a while. REMOVE the bearings first. Then you can dip the core into warm water and use a VERY soft nylon bristle brush like a tooth brush to gently push the dirt away as the water softens it up. Be very light with the brush so you dont end up scrubbing the coating away on the windings.

If the bearings are grinding and do not roll freely when holding the center race you can soak them in alcohol and keep rolling them to free them up. Once they spin free you will be able to better feel for flat spots or chips specially on the ceramic bearing types. if they check out then you can drop a few drips of 3 in one on them and let that work into the seals and onto the bearings inside. Before reinstalling set them on a paper towel and allow excess oil flow thru and out of them so you dont goop up your motor windings and thus attract and hold more dirt.

 

[rcpilot2]

ok so motor is all back together, prop balanced, bearings oiled, esc calibrated. gonna fly it tomorrow an see how it works. it seems quieter, and seems to spin up faster, so I think something i did helped.

 

[Bricks]

One thing to check does your battery charger show battery resistance after it is charged? Some times they will charge fine but have a bunch of resistance which can give you low power.

 

[rcpilot2]

no my charger does not display resistance, but i used a different battery which ruled out the battery as a problem. im using the prophet sport mini 2-4s charger, 1-4a. i recommend it for a budget pilot. i need to get a batt checker too.

 

[Wildthing]

any tips for oiling? Would gun solvent work to clean the bearings?

I soak them good and spin at the same time, truly I don't think there is a decent way to clean them out being sealed but half the time just getting some lube into them makes them smooth again. If you can't get them smooth and it is a motor you like while you have the bearing out take the measurements off of it and order some more, you will need the width, outer and inner diameter.

 

[Wildthing]

Gun oil is a nice lite oil to use. However... its not designed to stick around. Its meant to burn off with heat. Motors, specially ones with the sealed bearings can generate tons of heat. This will burn off the gun oil in short time requiring more frequent oiling. 3 in one oil is also a lite oil and less likely to cook off as the motor gets hot. Being lite oils they tend to attract and hold less dirt.

Compressed air is good to blow out any dirt between the windings and under the bell that may cause drag or grinding on the motor. Its not a bad idea to disassemble the motors and wash out between the windings once in a while. REMOVE the bearings first. Then you can dip the core into warm water and use a VERY soft nylon bristle brush like a tooth brush to gently push the dirt away as the water softens it up. Be very light with the brush so you dont end up scrubbing the coating away on the windings.

If the bearings are grinding and do not roll freely when holding the center race you can soak them in alcohol and keep rolling them to free them up. Once they spin free you will be able to better feel for flat spots or chips specially on the ceramic bearing types. if they check out then you can drop a few drips of 3 in one on them and let that work into the seals and onto the bearings inside. Before reinstalling set them on a paper towel and allow excess oil flow thru and out of them so you dont goop up your motor windings and thus attract and hold more dirt.

My personal experience is the gun oil and I don't know if it last longer then the 3 in 1 but it doesn't attract as much dirt.

 

[quorneng]

Any ball bearing engineer will tell you that a 'gritty' bearing is scrap, particularly in a high RPM application like a brushless motor.
Replacements are not that expensive.
In a brushless motor provided nothing else is damaged, the bearings are the only bits that wear out so the motor should be as good as new if they are replaced.

 

[rcpilot2]

Well guys, sorry for the delay but I seem to have full power! I think it was the ESC not calibrated. I did some flying with it today, as well as with my 1st flying wing design, and the cubs a rocket! Its still really loud, but I don't think there's a way around that besides new bearings, but I have an 88 F-250 project that is my main investment right now. Anyway, thanks for the help guys!

 

[The Hangar]

Well guys, sorry for the delay but I seem to have full power! I think it was the ESC not calibrated. I did some flying with it today, as well as with my 1st flying wing design, and the cubs a rocket! Its still really loud, but I don't think there's a way around that besides new bearings, but I have an 88 F-250 project that is my main investment right now. Anyway, thanks for the help guys!

Awesome!