Motor threads slightly damaged?

[Metro]

My Phantom 3 Standard has never been crashed, dropped, or hit against anything (to my knowledge), and it's only been flown maybe 8 times.

However, the threads on the motors are all slightly damaged somehow, with damage ranging from "barely noticeable" to "I had to take a knife and bend the threads back up to get the propeller on." I think the best word to describe the threads are "mangled"

The drone has never been in a situation where this could have happened, so I have no clue how it could have. It still flies and I'm not too worried about the rotors coming off, but I am worried that it will strip the thread hole on the props. I have also noticed the drone veering off to the left when moving forward.

Any ideas on what could have caused this or the best way to fix it?

Worst one:

 

[With The Birds]

Someone dropped it and it landed on the thread.

 

[tevek]

That's clearly not fair wear and tear, that has copped a beating. I would be changing out the affected motors before you strip the thread on your props and lose the drone completely. You mentioned that it is starting to move around a bit but that could be the breeze, a calibration issue etc.

 

[Metro]

That's clearly not fair wear and tear, that has copped a beating. I would be changing out the affected motors before you strip the thread on your props and lose the drone completely. You mentioned that it is starting to move around a bit but that could be the breeze, a calibration issue etc.

I figure as long as the props are secured and tight I should be good to go. The bottom threads should really the only ones that matter. I'll definitely be ordering a new motor or two though here soon.

 

[tevek]

I figure as long as the props are secured and tight I should be good to go. The bottom threads should really the only ones that matter. I'll definitely be ordering a new motor or two though here soon.

The problem may be as you are starting the prop on the top of the thread, it will slowly destroy the thread without you even noticing it. New motors are the go, need to order the right ones as two are CW and the other two are CCW.

 

[royster]

I can't see plastic prop threads doing that kinda damage to motor threads, You could run a die over that motor thread to straighten them out, But as stated, bottom threads do the holding,
If when tightened there is no movement, meaning the props feel tight, should be okay
Looks like that motor was dropped on a hard surface to bend threads like that.

 

[jwmcgrath]

It definitely takes tooling and/or impact to do that. The plastic props can't do that damage to metal threads...

I think it would be best to change them because they will eventually damage the props.

But I'm more curious as to the "how"... is your drone ever unattended? Curious kids at home? How do you transport it? Could it be something inside a case, making contact during travel?

If you don't find out, there's no way to prevent it again.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[Metro]

It definitely takes tooling and/or impact to do that. The plastic props can't do that damage to metal threads...

I think it would be best to change them because they will eventually damage the props.

But I'm more curious as to the "how"... is your drone ever unattended? Curious kids at home? How do you transport it? Could it be something inside a case, making contact during travel?

If you don't find out, there's no way to prevent it again.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

The drone is never unattended, and if it's not being flown its sitting in a safe spot. Haven't quite invested in a case yet, so that of course makes the list of possible hazards fairly long. I transport it generally just sitting in the back seat of the car with a sweatshirt or some other form of rudimentary padding around it just to make sure it won't move. Nothing as far as I'm aware other than the propellers ever should have come into contact with the motors.

I find it strange as well.

 

[With The Birds]

The only threads I have seen butchered like that the cause was an impact. Belt a steel thread with an engineers hammer and that's exactly the way it will look.

 

[mdowney58]

You bought this P3S brand new?
If it were mine, I'd try what @royster suggested and clean them up with a die.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Metro]

Yep, brand new. A new motor will be here tomorrow to replace the one with the most damage. I'll probably use a die on the other 3.

Thanks for all your help to everyone who has replied to this.

 

[With The Birds]

Make sure you use cutting oil when tapping the thread, even WD40 if you have nothing else. Probably best to disassemble the motor so you don't get stuff inside it (remove the circlip from the bottom). If you don't want to have to solder the new motor in you could just take the rotor off the new motor and install it in the old one.