ORIGINAL: opjose

The motor itself uses sealed bearings, so you'll get the typical lifespan out of it, as you would any normal brushless motor.

Meaning, MANY years.

However that is provided that

- The motor is not permitted to run too hot, which will degrade or ruin the magnets and epoxy.
- The motor is adecuately cooled
- The motor is not otherwise restricted by ingested debris, or a broken blade.

Many of these EDF's come with heat sinks. I'd recommend obtaining heat sinks for any motor that does not come with them installed.

( I just got done building a heat sink for a 3000 watt EDF for the Nitroplanes Starfire 101 ).

I've also added a tiny toothpick sized drop of oil to the bearings of brushless motors, but you have to add very little, lest the oild cause dirt to adhere to it.

As you've discovered the fan blades and sometimes the motor mounts can be very weak links in this chain.


As far as the ESC...

The given ESC has enough overhead for the supplied battery or batteries of identical voltage but greater capacity.
You should be fine with it for a long time as well ( it WILL outlast the plane! ).

One person here reported that he disabled the on board BEC on one of the F-18C's and managed to push 22v through the ESC w/o burning it out.

I wouldn't risk this, though it shows that the ESC has adecuate tolerance of overvoltages and higher heat...

The ESC should also last you for years again provided it is not shorted or permitted to get too hot.

The recommended 15 minute cool down period between flights, and not running the motor to full power on static tests, for longer than a few seconds, are both advisable for longevity.


I took one of the 14L motors & AESAC and put it on a heli after I crashed an EDF... it's been working great.