Contaminated motors

[yawyaw33]

When taking off from coastal areas, near a beach for instance is there any way of preventing/removing grains of sand from the motor housing also would it be possible for a few grains of sand or soil to damage the motor? Thank you very much.

 

[fGene]

When taking off from coastal areas, near a beach for instance is there any way of preventing/removing grains of sand from the motor housing

When near sand, I always take off from hand and catch the drone instead of landing. This is pretty easy to do with little training, just remember never to grab the drone from top. As for removing the grains, it depends. Some grains can be removed by compressed air, others remain inside (especially magnetic particles) and to remove them you'll need to disassemble the motor and use some plastic goo or sticky tape.

Some people put plastic caps on their motors to cover the openings, but I advise against using them -- they block air circulation which cools the motor, and they can't actually prevent sand from entering because there's still a gap between the bell and the motor base.

would it be possible for a few grains of sand or soil to damage the motor?

Yes it would. Worse, sand can cause total motor failure in flight if some particle lodges in between the stator and rotating bell. You don't want this to happen, especially over water.

 

[old man mavic]

if your not up to hand catching get yourself a landing pad

 

[fGene]

if your not up to hand catching get yourself a landing pad

In my experience a landing pad unfortunately doesn't prevent sand from entering motors, unless it is super large and there's no wind (a rare occurrence on a beach).

Maybe an armored glove would help to develop hand-catching skills?

 

[Lurch003]

Maybe an armored glove would help to develop hand-catching skills?

?????!!!!!!

Flat palm, like feeding a horse!

 

[yawyaw33]

When near sand, I always take off from hand and catch the drone instead of landing. This is pretty easy to do, just remember never to grab the drone from top. As for removing the grains, it depends. Some grains can be removed by compressed air, others remain inside and to remove them you'll need to disassemble the motor and use some plastic goo or sticky tape.



Yes it would. Worse, it can cause total motor failure while in flight.

When near sand, I always take off from hand and catch the drone instead of landing. This is pretty easy to do with little training, just remember never to grab the drone from top. As for removing the grains, it depends. Some grains can be removed by compressed air, others remain inside (especially magnetic particles) and to remove them you'll need to disassemble the motor and use some plastic goo or sticky tape.

Some people put plastic caps on their motors to cover the openings, but I advise against using them -- they prevent air circulation which cools the motor, and they can't actually prevent sand from entering because there's still a gap between the bell and the motor base.



Thanks for the reply, The thought of dissassembling a motor is daunting for me at least, in the previous post I said I have only flown indoors (Quad arrived in March right on time with the lockdown) so for now at least it's still indoors flying only. About landing using hands only the quad being a M2P makes that a little bit trickier, as far as the sand in the motor goes I will just invert the quad & give a little tap X4 on the underside of the motor housings and hope that gets rid of any grains of whatever.

 

[fGene]

?????!!!!!!

I was just theorizing how to train people who are not yet familiar with the technique and are afraid of cutting their hands (rightfully so.) Never used it myself.

 

[WithTheBirds]

When near sand, I always take off from hand and catch the drone instead of landing. This is pretty easy to do with little training, just remember never to grab the drone from top. As for removing the grains, it depends. Some grains can be removed by compressed air, others remain inside (especially magnetic particles) and to remove them you'll need to disassemble the motor and use some plastic goo or sticky tape.

Some people put plastic caps on their motors to cover the openings, but I advise against using them -- they block air circulation which cools the motor, and they can't actually prevent sand from entering because there's still a gap between the bell and the motor base.



Yes it would. Worse, sand can cause total motor failure in flight if some particle lodges in between the stator and rotating bell. You don't want this to happen, especially over water.

You can’t grab the Mavic from the top, the propellers get in the way.....

Seriously I can’t imagine anyone being stupid enough to try.

 

[yawyaw33]

?????!!!!!!

Flat palm, like feeding a horse!

Thanks for that Gene.

 

[fGene]

You can’t grab the Mavic from the top, the propellers get in the way.....

I believe this is exactly what I meant:

remember never to grab the drone from top

Seriously I can’t imagine anyone being stupid enough to try.

I can! Many people new to the hobby underestimate the props, especially tiny ones like on the Mini. I was one of such people many years ago, bear scars to this day.

 

[Gleno0h]

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Maybe this is something for you?

 

[Lurch003]

Thanks for that Gene.

no no, that was me !!!! ? ? ?

 

[lannes]

You can’t grab the Mavic from the top, the propellers get in the way.....

Seriously I can’t imagine anyone being stupid enough to try.

Don't do what I did to "hand catch" your MA2!

Hi guys, Have only been flying for about 3 weeks now, and thoroughly enjoying my Mavic Air 2's capabilities. That said, after watching a few YouTube videos, I thought I would try hand catching my MA2 on return. I made the costly mistake of attempting to grab it from above, instead of below...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Deleted member 103366]

With regards to cleaning motors if they do get contaminated, put the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner over the motor and suck the sand etc out. Removing the props beforehand would probably be a good idea. Then use paper like a feeler gauge and slip it between the ends ot the stator coils and the bore of the rotor, the paper should probably just drag, turn the motor by hand for one or more revolutions and then vacuum again.
If any sand resists vacuuming use something like a wooden tooth pick or a whittled matchstick to dislodge it, do not use hard, metallic picks as you might scratch the varnish on the motor windings.

With regard to catching, whilst I have done this and continue to do it, it gets a little trickier at the beach where there tends to be a wind.
My mavic mini has yet to draw blood. I once made a reflex lunge and grab, to stop it hitting a wall when I was ham fisted with the controls, that was a full blown edge strike by at least 2 props, but the bigger Mavics with heavier blades would almost certainly draw blood. Hand catching a borrowed M2P at the beach was nerve wracking.
A 'sticky' rubber glove i.e. non slip, over a leather glove might not be a bad idea, I think a leather glove on its own might be a bit slippy.
That catcher thing looks scary to me, I assume the drone is meant to come down into a U and that the top of the clip is fitted once the motors have stopped, if that is correct I would be worried that the drone could slip as the motos slow down to idle and stop etc..

 

[lannes]

With regards to cleaning motors if they do get contaminated, put the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner over the motor and suck the sand etc out. Removing the props beforehand would probably be a good idea. Then use paper like a feeler gauge and slip it between the ends ot the stator coils and the bore of the rotor, the paper should probably just drag, turn the motor by hand for one or more revolutions and then vacuum again.
If any sand resists vacuuming use something like a wooden tooth pick or a whittled matchstick to dislodge it, do not use hard metallic picks as you might scratch the varnish on the motor windings.

With regard to catching, whilst I have done this and continue to do it, it gets a little trickier at the beach where there tends to be a wind.
My mavic mini has yet to draw blood. I once made a reflex lunge and grab, to stop it hitting a wall when I was ham fisted with the controls, that was a full blown edge strike by at least 2 props, but the bigger Mavics with heavier blades would almost certainly draw blood. Hand catching a borrowed M2P at the beach was nerve wracking.
A 'sticky' rubber glove i.e. non slip, over a leather glove might not be a bad idea, I think a leather glove on its own might be a bit slippy

You could throw a bunch of dried seaweed at it

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Why?

 

[WithTheBirds]

Don't do what I did to "hand catch" your MA2!

Hi guys, Have only been flying for about 3 weeks now, and thoroughly enjoying my Mavic Air 2's capabilities. That said, after watching a few YouTube videos, I thought I would try hand catching my MA2 on return. I made the costly mistake of attempting to grab it from above, instead of below...

mavicpilots.com

Incredible

 

[yawyaw33]

no no, that was me !!!! ? ? ?

Sorry!

 

[Gindra]

?????!!!!!!

Flat palm, like feeding a horse!

Perfect analogy. Funny that I never correlated the two techniques, as I frequently hand catch and have owned several horses. Both techniques require keeping the fingers out of harm's way!

 

[PimV]

...
That catcher thing looks scary to me, I assume the drone is meant to come down into a U and that the top of the clip is fitted once the motors have stopped, if that is correct I would be worried that the drone could slip as the motos slow down to idle and stop etc..

I think the idea is to keep that “catcher thing” on permanently and grab the handle when the AC is landing.