Mustang7302
Senior Member
I got my hands on some EMAX MT1806 2280KV motors from MultiRotorMinis as a hopeful viable alternative to the famous Sunny Sky X2204 motors which are perpetually out of stock due to demand. I gave them a quick whirl on a Diatone FPV250 frame, spinning 6045 HQ Props, and running on a 1300mAh 3S 35C battery. Found that it hovered at 35% throttle, pulled 6.5 total amps at hover, and the all up flying weight was 405 grams. Since I wasn't going to be able to do solid thrust or current measurements while flying the motors in the air, I set off to build a static thrust measuring jig after looking at a couple of examples.
Here is how the static thrust jig turned out:
So after transplanting the electronics and motor off the FPV250 frame to the jig, I was about ready to start testing. Data is collected by the FrSKY Taranis Telemetry using the FrSKY 40A Current Sensor and the wife's digital kitchen scale set to grams.
First up is a GemFan 5030 Nylon prop. 375 Grams of static thrust, pulling 8 amps, at wide open throttle.
Second up is a HQ 6030 Carbon Filled prop. 485 Grams of static thrust, pulling 11 amps, at wide open throttle.
Last up is a HQ 6045 Carbon Filled prop. 510 Grams of static thrust, pulling 16 amps, at wide open throttle.
So some very impressive numbers all around. I found it most interesting how the 6045 prop didn't pick up much extra static thrust versus the 6030 prop, but had almost another 50% of current consumption. I think the more aggressive pitch is more efficient, more thrust, while on the move and that is where its performance benefit will be observed. Regardless, I am not sure it is good to run the 6045 prop on 12A ESCs if you plan on hot rodding around at near wide open throttle for more than a few seconds at a time (and with a cool down period). More food for thought: four of these would pull 64 amps of current; it is hard to find 1A - 1.3A batteries over 35C, so take that into consideration when you're picking the motor and prop combination to run.
Last bit of observational information is feeling the motor after a hard run. Using the 6030 HQ prop, I ran the motor for 30 seconds at 75% throttle and then 100% throttle for another 30 seconds. After that one minute run, I shut down the motor and felt the bell. The bell of the motor was very warm, almost hot, and wouldn't want to hold on to it for more than four to five seconds. This puts it at the limit for comfortably running the 6030 prop in any flying condition for any duration.
Perhaps the MT1806 isn't going to de-throne the SS X2204 in all out endurance of mini multirotor performance, but it is a very strong alternative. Great for applications where you can fit a 6" prop on your mini frame and have the extra power for toting around bulky frames, FPV hardware, and a Mobius or GoPro. Even if you're limited to 5" props on your mini frame, this is a solid option; however the smaller brother, the MT1804 2480KV, may be a slightly better option if you're looking to maximize power. Tests of the MT1804 are coming soon.
Here is how the static thrust jig turned out:
So after transplanting the electronics and motor off the FPV250 frame to the jig, I was about ready to start testing. Data is collected by the FrSKY Taranis Telemetry using the FrSKY 40A Current Sensor and the wife's digital kitchen scale set to grams.
First up is a GemFan 5030 Nylon prop. 375 Grams of static thrust, pulling 8 amps, at wide open throttle.
Second up is a HQ 6030 Carbon Filled prop. 485 Grams of static thrust, pulling 11 amps, at wide open throttle.
Last up is a HQ 6045 Carbon Filled prop. 510 Grams of static thrust, pulling 16 amps, at wide open throttle.
So some very impressive numbers all around. I found it most interesting how the 6045 prop didn't pick up much extra static thrust versus the 6030 prop, but had almost another 50% of current consumption. I think the more aggressive pitch is more efficient, more thrust, while on the move and that is where its performance benefit will be observed. Regardless, I am not sure it is good to run the 6045 prop on 12A ESCs if you plan on hot rodding around at near wide open throttle for more than a few seconds at a time (and with a cool down period). More food for thought: four of these would pull 64 amps of current; it is hard to find 1A - 1.3A batteries over 35C, so take that into consideration when you're picking the motor and prop combination to run.
Last bit of observational information is feeling the motor after a hard run. Using the 6030 HQ prop, I ran the motor for 30 seconds at 75% throttle and then 100% throttle for another 30 seconds. After that one minute run, I shut down the motor and felt the bell. The bell of the motor was very warm, almost hot, and wouldn't want to hold on to it for more than four to five seconds. This puts it at the limit for comfortably running the 6030 prop in any flying condition for any duration.
Perhaps the MT1806 isn't going to de-throne the SS X2204 in all out endurance of mini multirotor performance, but it is a very strong alternative. Great for applications where you can fit a 6" prop on your mini frame and have the extra power for toting around bulky frames, FPV hardware, and a Mobius or GoPro. Even if you're limited to 5" props on your mini frame, this is a solid option; however the smaller brother, the MT1804 2480KV, may be a slightly better option if you're looking to maximize power. Tests of the MT1804 are coming soon.
