So back in December I got an email from a guy with an Amazon store elect&small2 saying he was a new store with a new line of RC products from a place called YKS and wondering if I'd like to review anything.
He offered me a frame to review, but I already have more frames than I need. The 2204 motors caught my eye though, they looked a lot like the old sunnysky's to me at first glance and the price was <$20 per motor so they seemed like they may be a nice budget motor. The seller then offered me a big discount on them so I'd be able to review them. After a bit of miscommunication on both sides we got that sorted out and I went ahead and ordered the set of motors. Unfortunately I was only given coupon codes for a set of CW and a set of CCW so I had to settle for the reverse threads on two which I'd prefer to not deal with. But for the price I was given I can't complain.
Unfortunately the timing on this was horrible. Christmas caused delays in me having funds to buy anything, once I finally lined that up my bank canceled my card the next day because someone in Spain was apparently trying to use. So I had to wait another week for my bank to sort that out before I could finally order the motors. Once ordered Elect&Small2 shipped quickly from within the US so the motors arrived just 2 days later.
Unfortunately my 3D printer arrived in that same window and distracted me. Plus I debated a few times as to which frame to put them on and I was really waiting for dRonin to go public so I could combine some testing. But I eventually made time to give the motors a once over and get them installed:
They sounded a little rougher than I expected, but were still a BIG step up from the beat up old 1806 emax motors I've been bashing around on this Nighthawk 250! Unfortunately when I went to create that video I found that the price on the motors had gone up and they were now over $20 and didn't seem like such a great budget choice anymore. The seller still offered me coupon codes to share (included in the video description) so with that in mind they still seemed like a fairly good deal.
But I had to get them in the air!
And then things really got crazy for me
Anything and everything that could go wrong did. RX problems, TX battery died, video camera didn't record, major crashes, a week of rain (I live in the desert! I usually only raise 3-4 days a year!), busy schedule and family issues keeping me from even finding time to fly in the front yard with daylight!
But it had been long enough, elect&small2 was very generous with the deal they gave me on these motors and I really wanted to get something up showing that they do actually fly even if I've pretty much forgotten how it's been so long since I was able to fly a couple packs back to back :black_eyed:
So I settled for the "best" front yard flight test I was able to catch on camera and tossed in a few of the failures that I captured as well:
So what do I think of them? For <$20 I'm not disappointed at all, but if the price goes back to $20 or above I'd probably only consider them on sale or discount. They're not bad motors, all 4 were clean and straight with nice smooth bearings and are still remarkably straight and smooth after more hard hits into the pavement than they deserve. But they're not packaged like a premium motor and I'm not sure they make quite as much power as some of the other popular 2204/5 options. They're probably a real 2204 unlike Cobra's and they do swing my 6" props just fine without overheating or otherwise complaining. For <$20 a motor I'd probably buy them again if they continue to hold up like they have. But once you cross that $20 mark a number of other tempting options open up as well. I don't know if the coupon codes I was given to share are still active or not, they've been up a few weeks already and may be used up - but if they are any discount on the $18 list price would IMHO make for a great budget motor for someone just getting started or looking to build a reliable basher quad they don't want to put top dollar parts on.
He offered me a frame to review, but I already have more frames than I need. The 2204 motors caught my eye though, they looked a lot like the old sunnysky's to me at first glance and the price was <$20 per motor so they seemed like they may be a nice budget motor. The seller then offered me a big discount on them so I'd be able to review them. After a bit of miscommunication on both sides we got that sorted out and I went ahead and ordered the set of motors. Unfortunately I was only given coupon codes for a set of CW and a set of CCW so I had to settle for the reverse threads on two which I'd prefer to not deal with. But for the price I was given I can't complain.
Unfortunately the timing on this was horrible. Christmas caused delays in me having funds to buy anything, once I finally lined that up my bank canceled my card the next day because someone in Spain was apparently trying to use. So I had to wait another week for my bank to sort that out before I could finally order the motors. Once ordered Elect&Small2 shipped quickly from within the US so the motors arrived just 2 days later.
Unfortunately my 3D printer arrived in that same window and distracted me. Plus I debated a few times as to which frame to put them on and I was really waiting for dRonin to go public so I could combine some testing. But I eventually made time to give the motors a once over and get them installed:
They sounded a little rougher than I expected, but were still a BIG step up from the beat up old 1806 emax motors I've been bashing around on this Nighthawk 250! Unfortunately when I went to create that video I found that the price on the motors had gone up and they were now over $20 and didn't seem like such a great budget choice anymore. The seller still offered me coupon codes to share (included in the video description) so with that in mind they still seemed like a fairly good deal.
But I had to get them in the air!
And then things really got crazy for me
Anything and everything that could go wrong did. RX problems, TX battery died, video camera didn't record, major crashes, a week of rain (I live in the desert! I usually only raise 3-4 days a year!), busy schedule and family issues keeping me from even finding time to fly in the front yard with daylight! But it had been long enough, elect&small2 was very generous with the deal they gave me on these motors and I really wanted to get something up showing that they do actually fly even if I've pretty much forgotten how it's been so long since I was able to fly a couple packs back to back :black_eyed:
So I settled for the "best" front yard flight test I was able to catch on camera and tossed in a few of the failures that I captured as well:
So what do I think of them? For <$20 I'm not disappointed at all, but if the price goes back to $20 or above I'd probably only consider them on sale or discount. They're not bad motors, all 4 were clean and straight with nice smooth bearings and are still remarkably straight and smooth after more hard hits into the pavement than they deserve. But they're not packaged like a premium motor and I'm not sure they make quite as much power as some of the other popular 2204/5 options. They're probably a real 2204 unlike Cobra's and they do swing my 6" props just fine without overheating or otherwise complaining. For <$20 a motor I'd probably buy them again if they continue to hold up like they have. But once you cross that $20 mark a number of other tempting options open up as well. I don't know if the coupon codes I was given to share are still active or not, they've been up a few weeks already and may be used up - but if they are any discount on the $18 list price would IMHO make for a great budget motor for someone just getting started or looking to build a reliable basher quad they don't want to put top dollar parts on.
