Mavic age of retirement

[raymo]

What kind of preventive maintenance one can do for the Mavic?

Two points: 1. Contact cleanliness on the batteries/Mavic. Q-tip or even toothpick/paper towel those contacts to remove even the slightest of residue. 2. Regularly check smoothness of bearings on the motors and the post-flight temperature of the motors. Any roughness here is an indication of dust/dirt bearing contamination and/or shaft damage. Over the years, I've only replaced one motor due to roughness and it became really apparent by sounding different as well as feeling rough as well as slightly greater heating than the other motors.

 

[Gray_seagull]

Two points: 1. Contact cleanliness on the batteries/Mavic. Q-tip or even toothpick/paper towel those contacts to remove even the slightest of residue. 2. Regularly check smoothness of bearings on the motors and the post-flight temperature of the motors. Any roughness here is an indication of dust/dirt bearing contamination and/or shaft damage. Over the years, I've only replaced one motor due to roughness and it became really apparent by sounding different as well as feeling rough as well as slightly greater heating than the other motors.

Many Thanks for the advice

 

[cderoche]

How much TV do you watch a day? An hour? Priorities.

lol good one. Weather is normally the factor stopping me from flying. I fly when I can.

 

[Larryjet]

The Mavic 2 I would like to have sencers on the top of the bird so it would not hit a tree if it was under it and it wanted to go home at a hundred feet or any other object above it.

 

[Rotorman]

Indeed I am one of those people, I replace my iPhone and Samsung mobiles as soon as new ones are released in addition to many other gadgets. but drones are my newest thing. I remember before looking at dji old phantom drones in shopping centers and thinking how complicated they must be till I saw the Mavic and that was love at first sight. Now I became a Mavic addict. I can't see myself having fun in the outdoors without it. I am even planning to buy small hand carry generator to charge my four batteries.

The car chargers are good

 

[Gray_seagull]

The car chargers are good

I already bought the generator and it works perfectly. I usually take my SUV and family/friends and we spend the whole day in the outdoors. I usually charge 4 batteries 2 or 3 times in one trip. I can’t rely on the car charger to do that. I use the hand held generator and the one hour 3-battery charger to juice the Mavic.

 

[Claybond]

I’ve had my Mavic pro for about six months now and I have flown 32 hours. Recently I have noticed some minor errors here and there and I assumed that it was because of the firmware updates but I have been thinking especially after the last error which was about if I remember Correctly motor speed error. I am starting to wonder if we will ever reach and exceed 100 flight hours or Send the Mavic to retirement earlier than that. I am worried that the Mavic will reach a certain point where it cannot handle the stresses and wear n tear then the catastrophic fall from the sky will be inevitable. How can I safely determine that my Mavis had enough and send it retirement?

Buddy you haven’t even warmed that baby up, I’ve only got 80 hours on mine and it’s just starting to stretch. Don’t be a worry wart but always be vigilant with your pre and post flight inspections. The props are the key, at 20 bucks for a re/re
Dump em every 50 hours if you want. I’m just putting on my 2nd set at 80 only because that’s a # I’m comfortable with and for 20 buck! You will never be able to know 100% what when or if anything is gonna happen so don’t live in fear of what “might” happen. Your only take it away from your own enjoyment
Cheers

 

[Gray_seagull]

Buddy you haven’t even warmed that baby up, I’ve only got 80 hours on mine and it’s just starting to stretch. Don’t be a worry wart but always be vigilant with your pre and post flight inspections. The props are the key, at 20 bucks for a re/re
Dump em every 50 hours if you want. I’m just putting on my 2nd set at 80 only because that’s a # I’m comfortable with and for 20 buck! You will never be able to know 100% what when or if anything is gonna happen so don’t live in fear of what “might” happen. Your only take it away from your own enjoyment
Cheers

Thanks, it's good to know that
I really feel a lot more confident when I fly it now. The only thing I should worry about is the weather and my own mistakes.

 

[Oingo Boingo]

A 154 hours woooow.
And I thought my MP is getting motor arthritis by now.
This AirdataUAV site will monitor the drone current condition but can it detect motor fatigue signs?

It doesn't log motor issues. Motors are rated to fly 7000 hours no issues. Keep in mind it's a brushless motor. Brushless motors in general are rated 10 000 hours operation. The mavics are a bit smaller though hence 7000 hours run time. I would look at swapping out at 5000 to be safe

 

[Gray_seagull]

I would look at swapping out at 5000 to be safe

This is good news. I flew 34 hours in six months and now I am averaging 6 hours every weekend. It seems that I will not need to do any swapping for the rest of the Mavic's life

 

[cderoche]

It doesn't log motor issues. Motors are rated to fly 7000 hours no issues. Keep in mind it's a brushless motor. Brushless motors in general are rated 10 000 hours operation. The mavics are a bit smaller though hence 7000 hours run time. I would look at swapping out at 5000 to be safe

7000hrs is a helluva long time. If I were this lucky, and can fly even 10 hours a month (~30 battery packs a month) (I'm not that lucky with flying time, wife, kids, weather, sports, school, cubs scouts, etc.) my motors would in theory last 58 years. I'm 40 years old now lol. More than likely most of us will have long upgraded to a Mavic 2 or something by that time. And lets say you're a super avid flier retired, and all sorts of good weather and free time to fly, and you fly one hour every day or maybe 30 hours a month, which is a lot, you still should last over 19 years.

 

[Marco Cantieni]

Over the years, I've only replaced one motor due to roughness and it became really apparent by sounding different as well as feeling rough as well as slightly greater heating than the other motors.

Did you replace just the motor or the whole arm?

 

[raymo]

Did you replace just the motor or the whole arm?

This replacement was on a P2. Have never had to replace any motors on MP.

 

[Oconnb910]

I've got over 1800 miles on mine. Flown in light rain, snowfall, high desert heat, you name it. Same battery through it all all and still going good.

1800 miles???

 

[Oconnb910]

I know, but the mavic is about video, not just flying. You can only take so many videos of empty space.. I can fly my race drone around here without ever getting bored but the mavic is limited to what it does which makes it constraining once you produce so many videos of the same area..

Grass is always greener, so keep climbing those fences and find more Grass! Use this as an inspiration to do more!!!

 

[Oconnb910]

Mine has 38 hours on it, the problem isn't the age of retirement the problem is finding new places to fly and trying to stay relevant, I can only take so many videos of the same spots.. Luckily i'm moving out of state at the end of this month so i'll have some new spots.

I take mine with me everywhere I go and pull it out and use it wherever I can and I believe that is really half the adventure!

 

[Robert Granata]

I am at the point now where I wouldn't be surprised or upset if it fell out of the sky. It has been and continues to be a real trooper. Slight, slight (really have to look) bulge in the top of the original battery with approx. 200 flights is about the only visible sign of any wear.

 

[Gray_seagull]

I am at the point now where I wouldn't be surprised or upset if it fell out of the sky. It has been and continues to be a real trooper. Slight, slight (really have to look) bulge in the top of the original battery with approx. 200 flights is about the only visible sign of any wear.
View attachment 23408

Wow that's really impressive

Keep flying

I wonder who has the highest number of flight hours in this forum!!!

 

[TerryJ]

I still see the original phantom 1 being flown occasionally. They last and last!!