PaulHarrow

I took my new E-Flite Apprentice for it's maiden today. As it was rolling to a stop ater a smooth grass landing, the front wheel caught in the grass and it nosed over at about 5mph. There was not a scratch on the plane or propellor, but now the motor shaft and outer casing (it is an outrunner brushless) have some slight lateral movement with respect to the inner part of the motor, so that there is now a noise coming from motor as the outer and inner are scraping when the motor runs, and I expect it should be replaced.

I was very surprised that this could happen with such a minor impact. Is this normal, or a manufacturing defect? Are motors really that prone to damage?

Should I be trying to get the motor replaced under warranty?

Thanks in advance,
Paul.

whitecrest

I would be surprised if you damaged anything after such a mild noseover. A bit of sand was probably attracted into the motor while the nose was near the ground. Just a grain or two is all it takes to cause the scraping you described. The gap between the rotor magnets and stator is very small. This happened to me after landing in the dusty infield of a baseball diamond.

The rotor is easily removed for cleaning which should restore normal operation. I have found the outrunners I have been using to be quite robust mechanically. So far, I haven't bent any shafts or damaged any magnets despite a few fairly hard nose-in's.