How much play in the motors is considered acceptable?

gruvpix · Oct 19, 2015

So I've got quite a few flights on our new Inspire and she's been rock solid. I'm getting an X5 kit together which hopefully will be shipped this week, so I wanted to do a once-over on everything to make sure the bird is in good condition before lifting our fancy new $3,000 camera.
Each of the motors has a very small, but noticeable amount of vertical play. I would say less than 1 mm, but it still goes up and down a noticeable amount. Is this normal or should they be tightened?
I'm still a bit nervous about my QR props (not the newest revision) as well... They should be fine, right?

Hercules_One · Oct 19, 2015

Hi, what do you mean by vertical play in the motor?

gruvpix · Oct 19, 2015

Hercules_One said:
Hi, what do you mean by vertical play in the motor?

Like when I grip the motors I can move them vertically up and down a small amount. They are not completely tight to the arms.

Hercules_One · Oct 19, 2015

oohh ok, my bird has zero play whatsoever in the motors, I couldn't say tho how much is acceptable.

Mike Ellgood · Oct 19, 2015

all my motors have vertical lift in the motors when gripped by the sides.. never been an issue and motors all quiet when running... I think your looking too hard for faults/issues

huppe · Oct 19, 2015

As with any mechanical object there will be always a little movement.As for your QR just replace them if you don't trust them.It's not that big investment

huppe · Oct 19, 2015

gruvpix said:
Like when I grip the motors I can move them vertically up and down a small amount. They are not completely tight to the arms.

Not the best thing to do, lifting your Inspire by grabbing the motors anyway.Hope it was just a test to see how much play there was.

gruvpix · Oct 19, 2015

Not looking too hard for anything, I just know this was an issue over time for the Phantom 1 and 2 so before I mounted the X5 wanted to see if this was known to cause any problems at all.
And no, I am not lifting the Inspire by the motors.

huppe · Oct 19, 2015

gruvpix said:
Not looking too hard for anything, I just know this was an issue over time for the Phantom 1 and 2 so before I mounted the X5 wanted to see if this was known to cause any problems at all.
And no, I am not lifting the Inspire by the motors.

Allready thought so.Have fun with your X5

Mike Ellgood · Oct 19, 2015

gruvpix said:
Not looking too hard for anything, I just know this was an issue over time for the Phantom 1 and 2 so before I mounted the X5 wanted to see if this was known to cause any problems at all.
And no, I am not lifting the Inspire by the motors.

My inspire has 100 hours flight time on her and still going strong... sure there is play.. but its been there since it was virtually new

Good luck with X5.. Im quite happy with the x3 performance still

The Editor · Oct 19, 2015

gruvpix said:
So I've got quite a few flights on our new Inspire and she's been rock solid. I'm getting an X5 kit together which hopefully will be shipped this week, so I wanted to do a once-over on everything to make sure the bird is in good condition before lifting our fancy new $3,000 camera.
Each of the motors has a very small, but noticeable amount of vertical play. I would say less than 1 mm, but it still goes up and down a noticeable amount. Is this normal or should they be tightened?
I'm still a bit nervous about my QR props (not the newest revision) as well... They should be fine, right?

A very small amount of vertical play is normal - all my Inspire motors have it as well as a small amount of play at the T-Joints on the arms. The motors are held together with an e-clip with a thrust washer underneath with the shaft that runs through the bearings. What you are feeling is the play taken up where the thrust washer sits against the lower bearing. As long as there is no lateral play in the motors.... then you should start worrying

gruvpix · Oct 19, 2015

The Editor said:
A very small amount of vertical play is normal - all my Inspire motors have it as well as a small amount of play at the T-Joints on the arms. The motors are held together with an e-clip with a thrust washer underneath with the shaft that runs through the bearings. What you are feeling is the play taken up where the thrust washer sits against the lower bearing. As long as there is no lateral play in the motors.... then you should start worrying

Thank you for the mechanical description. I won't worry about it then!

The Editor · Oct 19, 2015

gruvpix said:
Thank you for the mechanical description. I won't worry about it then!

No, nothing to worry about and as regards to picking you Inspire up by the motors...... if you think about it, that's exactly what the props do in flight so wouldn't be a problem

gruvpix · Oct 19, 2015

The Editor said:
No, nothing to worry about and as regards to picking you Inspire up by the motors...... if you think about it, that's exactly what the props do in flight so wouldn't be a problem

#science