ELEV-8 Motor help
Need help determining next steps please:
1) Do I replace all the motors on my ELEV-8? ouch $$
2) if replace, do I buy which of the two motor types Parallax recommends vs more of the HK motor I just ordered (details below)?
3) What is the impact of the motors with detent vs without? My Heli motor has detent, so was surprised by the ELEV-8 motors that didn't.
DETAILS:
I bought the ELEV-8 in May 2012 (came with the Sport Hoverfly, not the Open Hoverfly). It came with 'RED Turnigy' brushless motors which I though was the "2217 20 Turn" listed on the ELEV-8 Excel document from
The RED Turnigy motors have no detent (cogging/sticking like a stepper motor), they spin smooth. Had a motor start to detent and it impacted the ability to fly at all. In troubleshooting I changed the shaft and found lose magnets. Attempting to replace single motor without having to replace all motors.
Parallax stocks two different motors (KDA 20-22L and 1000 Kv) neither are what came in my ELEV-8 (upgrades?) so I went back to hobbyking.com based on Ken's excel document to order the same motor that was already on the ELEV-8. The (HK 2217/20) motor I received today is black like the pictures on the website, not red however the surprise is that the black motor has detent alredy so it would not match the existing motors that do not detent. Figured the color was cosmetic, more changes than color. Could the motor on Ken's sheet be different than what was shipping with EVEL-8 back in May?
1) Do I replace all the motors on my ELEV-8? ouch $$
2) if replace, do I buy which of the two motor types Parallax recommends vs more of the HK motor I just ordered (details below)?
3) What is the impact of the motors with detent vs without? My Heli motor has detent, so was surprised by the ELEV-8 motors that didn't.
DETAILS:
I bought the ELEV-8 in May 2012 (came with the Sport Hoverfly, not the Open Hoverfly). It came with 'RED Turnigy' brushless motors which I though was the "2217 20 Turn" listed on the ELEV-8 Excel document from
The RED Turnigy motors have no detent (cogging/sticking like a stepper motor), they spin smooth. Had a motor start to detent and it impacted the ability to fly at all. In troubleshooting I changed the shaft and found lose magnets. Attempting to replace single motor without having to replace all motors.
Parallax stocks two different motors (KDA 20-22L and 1000 Kv) neither are what came in my ELEV-8 (upgrades?) so I went back to hobbyking.com based on Ken's excel document to order the same motor that was already on the ELEV-8. The (HK 2217/20) motor I received today is black like the pictures on the website, not red however the surprise is that the black motor has detent alredy so it would not match the existing motors that do not detent. Figured the color was cosmetic, more changes than color. Could the motor on Ken's sheet be different than what was shipping with EVEL-8 back in May?
488 x 640 - 120K
Comments
I contacted Parallax Technical support to ask about the history of the motors. I got a live person right away, which is always awesome! He was familiar with the RED motor and gave me more details on the maturity of the product. Parallax also made it not as ouchie $$ to swap out all 4. I ended up buying a couple extra motors should the motor become discontinued in the future and finally bought more props also.
A motor that has just been run may cog differently than one that has been sitting a while.
If a magnet comes loose it can rub on the stator - that's not cogging.
If the specs of the motors match I would not be too concerned about the difference in cogging. I would go easy on the first flight just to be sure.
Thanks for pointing that out, I can feel the cog when I turn the working motors slowly now that I am looking for it. Lot less grab than the motor with known lose magnets and the new HK 2217 I got. On the motor with lots of cog the props stop right away when power is cut while the others spin down. Looking at the stator of the lose magnet motor I do see scuffs suggesting rubbing.
Now that I have the non-hacker motors that are the current ELEV-8 standard, I understand a bit more the differences. The ELEV-8 has been a great platform for learning/understanding/tweaking ESC and motor controllers. I need to continue to grow my knowledge in that space and especially prop pitch vs size.
BTW - is there a tool that can be used to remove the shaft clip? When I have taken the motors apart or replaced shafts I have destroyed that clip on the bottom of the motor each time. Then getting a new one back on is really a challenge.
Matt, I'm glad we were able to get you back up and running again. Sorry I didn't see this thread before you called in or I would have helped you sooner.
Hey Chris - No worries, you are always very helpful. I was thinking I would just point to the post if I couldn't explain the situation well enough. You knew exactly what I was talking about right away, that was awesome!!