A drop of oil on drone motors

[AirPatrol1]

Is it safe to add a drop of high speed oil to mavic 3 pro after 6 months of flying?

 

[mavic3usa]

Perhaps something like this might work out better:

Dry Lube

 

[MA2 317]

Does DJI recommend it?

They are brushless motors and don't need it.

Maybe a can of air to blow dust away.

If you add oil, it's going to attract more dust.

I've been flying since 2017 and never had a need to add oil to my DJI drones.

.

 

[MS Coast]

Is it safe to add a drop of high speed oil to mavic 3 pro after 6 months of flying?

I don't think it's advisable to attempt to lubricate motors that aren't designed to be lubricated.

Any oil applied to the exterior of the motor will attract grit and dust. It may also find its way to electrical components and plastics that it might damage.

I just renewed my Part 107 certificate and was reminded that the FAA's advice for drone maintenance directs the pilot to follow the manufacturer's maintenance instructions. DJI makes no mention of motor lubrication.

 

[AeroJ]

I too would say no, don't do that ! For both reasons mentioned above. It won't make anything better, and stands a very good chance of making stuff worse !

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Another no here too, for the reasons mentioned above.

 

[mavic3usa]

For sure I wouldn't do this for maintenance because it is unnecessary but I once had a stuck motor on the Mini 3 that prevented lift off and the dry lube was recommended and actually fixed the issue.

Not me and not my video:

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[AeroJ]

dry lube was recommended

Yep, see; even when lube is needed we're not going for oil, lest our motors become grainy sandtraps.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

and actually fixed the issue.

Did it or could it have been the gas blast that blew the contaminent/grit away ?

 

[mavic3usa]

Did it or could it have been the gas blast that blew the contaminent/grit away ?

Yeah that didn't work for me, even with just the canned air; neither did turning the blade vigorously; ymmv. Having the issue off and on with just one motor didn't point to such an obstruction but one zap with the dry lube and issue was gone forever. Such a relief from not knowing from flight to flight if you could fly or if you were done for the day. But for the OP, I don't think maintenance spray is required.

 

[MS Coast]

For sure I wouldn't do this for maintenance because it is unnecessary but I once had a stuck motor on the Mini 3 that prevented lift off and the dry lube was recommended and actually fixed the issue.

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Hmm. "...felt it break loose" That may point to removing an external object that was interfering somewhere rather than lubricant somehow reaching the interior of the bearing. More likely a piece of grit beneath that metallic rotating collar.

Is there any reason to believe that the dry lubricant can reach the interior of the bearing?

 

[mavic3usa]

Hmm. "...felt it break loose" That may point to removing an external object that was interfering somewhere rather than lubricant somehow reaching the interior of the bearing. More likely a piece of grit beneath that metallic rotating collar.

Is there any reason to believe that the dry lubricant can reach the interior of the bearing?

Not sure, I couldn't tell you. Honestly it's not within my area of expertise so I can't speak to it but at the time, I was willing to try anything since the motor was frustrating me and I thought maybe one day I would get the engine error while in flight and maybe lose my drone. I know there are several discussions on this topic across the internet forums so perhaps there are answers there. I only used it once and on the one drone so I don't recommend anyone apply this as any form of preventive maintenance.

 

[Starz]

These are motor bearings from a Phantom 4 series aircraft. They are metric dimensional in nature. Unless you have the means to apply a very minute amount of thin viscosity oil to the small opening between the inner race and the seal plate shown by the red arrow, anything applied will spin off by centrifugal force to other areas that aren’t needed. At that point, you then have a dust collection problem that could be detrimental. Of all the DJI products I’ve had, I’ve never seen a bearing failure from a lubrication issue. The only bearing failure that I’ve seen was the result of an impact to the motor shell which transfers to the bearing via the motor shaft. The best solution I’ve found if you have a motor that feels(by spinning the prop with your finger)like it’s different than the other three, is a blast of compressed air from the bottom of the motor shell. Typically it’s some small piece of something that has attached itself to one of the many magnets that are glued inside the motor shell. If that process doesn’t solve the problem, more investigation is needed.

 

[GFields]

Simple answer, NO. Good information in the above posts.

 

[tstr14]

Besides, with my luck, I'd grab the Super glue by mistake...

 

[Oman]

Besides, with my luck, I'd grab the crazy glue

 

[Oman]

Simple answer if it ain't broke don't fix it. lol
Thanks Doug

 

[Melvoid]

Does DJI recommend it?

They are brushless motors and don't need it.

Maybe a can of air to blow dust away.

If you add oil, it's going to attract more dust.

I've been flying since 2017 and never had a need to add oil to my DJI drones.

.

Agreed. I'm no authority, but I've had three DJIs since 2013 and never used any type of lubricant.

 

[Cafguy]

NO way-- Spraying oil is the best way to collect MORE junk inside the motor.