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Replacing front arm or just motor?

marty78

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Aug 23, 2021
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Hi all,

Further to my last thread we're replacing the motor or arm at the front but hoping to maybe just replace the motor as the arm seems fine. I can see the motors for under £20 from China and arms seem to be around £50 for the front arms (cheaper for the back). I'm thinking I can't get away with buying a cheaper rear arm and taking the motor off of it? I did consider the corresponding rear arm that had the indented line on it that matches the one I have with the indented line?
 
I would be wary of trying to substitute a rear arm motor for a front arm motor due to the fact that there may be a difference in the wiring that may catch you short unless you are planning to use the existing wiring and make the attachment at the motor. @Yorkshire_Pud seems to have a bit of experience with these sorts of things as he's taken many drones apart in the past and has knowledge of the dos and don'ts.
 
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Thanks, I've been looking at both motors and replacement arms. Seems the front ones are much more than the rear ones.
Hope to hear from Yorkshire_Pud again on it. 😀
 
I believe the motors are the same but that is only a belief.
I have read that these motors are in effect 3-phase motors and that the direction of rotation can be reversed by swapping the connections of any two wires but I haven't tried that.
With regard to taking the motor off one arm and putting it on another especially when the motor being fixed is a front motor, I would suggest replacing the full arm and motor.
I haven't tried pulling the wiring out of a Mavic Mini arm nor replacing it but I have the suspicion it's going to be awkward to say the least. From memory the are clamped together inside the drone where they pass through a heat shrink sleeve.
The front arms house the antennae and I wouldn't be surprised to find that the wires for the motor and antennae are glued together somewhere in their run through the arm and perhaps to whatever forms the rear side of the arm (foam?).
I think it would also be difficult to unsolder and resolder the wire to motor joints at the motor whilst everything is more or less in situ and that the iron might touch/melt something else in the process.

Personally I'd probably look on ebay for a second hand arm and motor. After having to buy an arm & motor for a Mavic 2 I bought a wrecked Mavic Mini & a wrecked Mavic 2 as sources of spares just incase they are ever needed.
 
Excellent, thanks. I'll look on ebay for a complete arm. I did see quite a few parts on there available from Shenzhen in China and wondered if any of those were genuine DJI parts but prefer to source something in the UK. I've been checking out the sellers you mentioned before.
 
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