I have probably 100 flights or so on the stock motors. I am worried about the motors going bad. What are some typical symptoms of it going bad? Will it arm? Will I get some sort of notification such as hardware failure? Also quick bonus question: I have stock antenna's and I am running the live view kit. Are there any way's to upgrade the stock antenna's for telemetry and controller and liveview that might give me some better range? Thx for any help you all can provide...
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Jeff-
I have several old motors on my r/c aircraft, and the bearings will start to loosen-up over time. But I reckon you'll have a crashed Iris long before your motors give out.
Check for any slop in the thrust direction first, since the thrust bearing will take the load. If you've been running out of balance props, the bearings will potentially loosen and then your motors would need replacement, unless you can find replacement bearings of the right size. Fine dust and grit play a role, but usually if transported into the bearing via moisture.
The motors 3DR is using for the Iris look to be decent quality. I've had to dismantle two arms after a crash, so these are my observations.
There are now brushes in these motors to go bad. Only Windings and Bearings. Unless something happens they should last forever. If the windings get to hot the wire may break and it will not spin at full speed and you should notice something odd. Bearings will be noisy when you spin the prop.
There is no feed back from the motors so if they go bad you will have to determine that.
Have over 500 flights with my current motors. I replaced one because of a bad crash where I could see a dent in the bearing and the motor was noisy.
How long motors last is a function of how they have been treated, dust and grit getting into them, water all that sort of thing. You can upgrade antennas, they are all over the web, make sure you get the right connectors and frequency.
any recommendations on antennas?