Hit a wall, killed a motor. How to replace!

nahuel · Mar 15, 2019

There's a bunch of tutorials out there, just wanted to share my experience!

I followed this video which is the one I liked the most (it's funny and clear):

He accidentally cuts off the wifi antenna haha but that's good for us because now we know which wires to stay away from.

This is the replacement set I bought, which fit perfectly:
US $19.6 20% OFF|4Pcs/Set for DJI Tello Clockwise Motor and Counterclockwise Motor for DJI TELLO CW CCW RC Motor Repair Part Accessories-in Motor from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
warning: I bought this set and after they shipped it, they asked me to pay $0.5 for "extra shipping costs" by buying a special product which was totally odd because they had already shipped it. It's a scam. I asked for more information and they never replied, so.

The procedure was simple enough:

Took off the bottom lid by unscrewing 4 Phillip head screws
Identified the motor that was damaged (the motors are 2 clock-wise and 2 counter-clockwise, with color coded wires that should match the ones you bought)
Cut the wires as close to the motor as possible because you'll need some wiggle room to tidy up the wires inside the body of the drone. Be careful not to cut the antenna!!!
Pull the busted motor out (just use your hands, it comes off fairly easy. No glue or screws.)
Put in the new motor by making the wires go through the little hole and then pull very softly so that the wires don't get all tangled up inside the motor holder and then push the motor softly.
Solder the wires and use some heat shrinking tube to make it more neat, or just use some tape.
Put back the wire in the little drone leg and tidy up the wires inside the drone body. Make sure you don't put the wires close to the heat sink (that black big peace of metal in the bottom) so you don't burn them.
Put the lids back on
Profit.

Here's some photos of my procedure. Hope someone finds this interesting or useful in any way

Thanks!

Ansia · Mar 16, 2019

Is the wall ok?

nahuel · Mar 16, 2019

Ansia said:
Is the wall ok?

I'm shocked by the lameness of the accident. The Tello wouldn't respond... It hit the wall going 0.0000000 m/s. That was enough to kill a motor...

Ansia · Mar 16, 2019

nahuel said:
I'm shocked by the lameness of the accident. The Tello wouldn't respond... It hit the wall going 0.0000000 m/s. That was enough to kill a motor...

It happens to the best of us. I've replaced them twice using that video as guide.

Guorium · Mar 16, 2019

nahuel said:
There's a bunch of tutorials out there, just wanted to share my experience!

I followed this video which is the one I liked the most (it's funny and clear):

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

He accidentally cuts off the wifi antenna haha but that's good for us because now we know which wires to stay away from.

This is the replacement set I bought, which fit perfectly:
US $19.6 20% OFF|4Pcs/Set for DJI Tello Clockwise Motor and Counterclockwise Motor for DJI TELLO CW CCW RC Motor Repair Part Accessories-in Motor from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group
warning: I bought this set and after they shipped it, they asked me to pay $0.5 for "extra shipping costs" by buying a special product which was totally odd because they had already shipped it. It's a scam. I asked for more information and they never replied, so.

The procedure was simple enough:

Took off the bottom lid by unscrewing 4 Phillip head screws

Identified the motor that was damaged (the motors are 2 clock-wise and 2 counter-clockwise, with color coded wires that should match the ones you bought)

Cut the wires as close to the motor as possible because you'll need some wiggle room to tidy up the wires inside the body of the drone. Be careful not to cut the antenna!!!

Pull the busted motor out (just use your hands, it comes off fairly easy. No glue or screws.)

Put in the new motor by making the wires go through the little hole and then pull very softly so that the wires don't get all tangled up inside the motor holder and then push the motor softly.

Solder the wires and use some heat shrinking tube to make it more neat, or just use some tape.

Put back the wire in the little drone leg and tidy up the wires inside the drone body. Make sure you don't put the wires close to the heat sink (that black big peace of metal in the bottom) so you don't burn them.

Put the lids back on

Profit.

Here's some photos of my procedure. Hope someone finds this interesting or useful in any way Thanks!

View attachment 3474 View attachment 3475 View attachment 3476 View attachment 3477 View attachment 3478 View attachment 3479 View attachment 3480 View attachment 3481

Some more details on the solder and shrink wrap part please? And to how size the wire correctly

nahuel · Mar 16, 2019

Guorium said:
Some more details on the solder and shrink wrap part please? And to how size the wire correctly

The solder is the cheapest I could find, honestly. 60/40 rosin core 0.8mm (this should work fine: Tin Lead Rosin Core Solder Soldering Welding Iron Wire 0.8mm Reel FLUX 2.0% | eBay ) if you look at the 4th image I posted you can see the results of the soldering.

The shrink wrap was some I had at home, not sure what diameter it was but it seemed to be 2:1 6mm 1 Metro Tubo Retráctil Negro, 1m Ø 6mm, de Aislamiento 2:1 Grado Contracción | eBay

Sizing the wires was tricky. The replacement motor didn't have a long enough wire to solder directly on the board so I had to cut the original motor's wires (like you'll see in every tutorial out there) as long as possible (this is, as close to the motor holder as possible) so then I would have the longest possible wire after I solder them together and I could tidy up better. The second photo shows what it looked like before I closed the bottom lid.

Guorium · Mar 16, 2019

nahuel said:
The solder is the cheapest I could find, honestly. 60/40 rosin core 0.8mm (this should work fine: Tin Lead Rosin Core Solder Soldering Welding Iron Wire 0.8mm Reel FLUX 2.0% | eBay ) if you look at the 4th image I posted you can see the results of the soldering.

The shrink wrap was some I had at home, not sure what diameter it was but it seemed to be 2:1 6mm 1 Metro Tubo Retráctil Negro, 1m Ø 6mm, de Aislamiento 2:1 Grado Contracción | eBay

Sizing the wires was tricky. The replacement motor didn't have a long enough wire to solder directly on the board so I had to cut the original motor's wires (like you'll see in every tutorial out there) as long as possible (this is, as close to the motor holder as possible) so then I would have the longest possible wire after I solder them together and I could tidy up better. The second photo shows what it looked like before I closed the bottom lid.

Thank you so much for the information! It is valuable to everyone who aims to replace motors eventually. I plan to do so should the motors start to wear out.

Much to my surprise the new motors come with too short wires to be soldered on the board. Are you absolutely sure the new wires can not reach the contacts on the board via the normal routing? I planned to peel the isolating white glue and desolder the the wires for a factory style clean repair. I can get these online and they have wire length advertised as 127mm for all motors. The ones in your link got 87mm for front and 71mm for back, sounds like that is why they are to short to be soldered directly?

How did you cut the sheath to expose the wires inside? Is the wire inside a single strand or twisted from multiple strands? I had idea to twist the exposed wires together and brush a light coating of liquid tape so the result is thin enough to fit back into he grooves of the arms. It does appear the shrunken tube is still too big for the groove, perhaps you could have selected even smaller and thinner heat shrink tube? How did you heat the tubes, I was thinking lighter flame.

Also last question, I can't quite see how your way works for the front motor as there aren't much space to tuck extra wire away like the back? Sorry for the many questions I have. The pics are clear enough, I did not realize I could enlarge photos while on my phone...

nahuel · Mar 16, 2019

Guorium said:
Are you absolutely sure the new wires can not reach the contacts on the board via the normal routing? I planned to peel the isolating white glue and desolder the the wires for a factory style clean repair.

They absolutely do not reach. I tried. Some replacement motors will specify cable length. Since this was a back motor, it needed a longer wire (see 2nd photo) but since all 4 replacement motors have the same cable length, maybe the front motors will reach fine to the board!

Guorium said:
How did you cut the sheath to expose the wires inside? Is the wire inside a single strand or twisted from multiple strands?

I peeled them carefully using a cable cutter. Not the best option, but what I had in hand. The cable doesn't cut easily so if you're careful you can peel them off very easily.
It's multiple strands:

Guorium said:
It does appear the shrunken tube is still too big for the groove, perhaps you could have selected even smaller and thinner heat shrink tube? How did you heat the tubes, I was thinking lighter flame.

The isolating tubes are HUGE for the groove. No matter how small they are, they won't fit, I promise you that. The cables fit way too snuggly in there. I heat the tubes using the soldering iron, carefully trying not to burn something else

I usually go with a lighter flame but I feared it might be too much.

Guorium said:
I plan to do so should the motors start to wear out.

I opened up the original motor accidentally when pulling it out (6th pic) and I could see the brushed system. It's definitely gonna wear out quickly. Attached are some good quality photos I took of the busted brushes and the coils they connect to.

Guorium said:
I can't quite see how your way works for the front motor as there aren't much space to tuck extra wire away like the back?

That's totally true, the front motors don't have enough space there to do it like this. But like I said earlier, they need shorter wires so maybe you can solder directly to the board which should be the ideal case. Maybe you can remove that isolating paste using some heat or just pulling?

Guorium · Mar 16, 2019

nahuel said:
They absolutely do not reach. I tried. Some replacement motors will specify cable length. Since this was a back motor, it needed a longer wire (see 2nd photo) but since all 4 replacement motors have the same cable length, maybe the front motors will reach fine to the board!

I peeled them carefully using a cable cutter. Not the best option, but what I had in hand. The cable doesn't cut easily so if you're careful you can peel them off very easily.
It's multiple strands:
View attachment 3489

The isolating tubes are HUGE for the groove. No matter how small they are, they won't fit, I promise you that. The cables fit way too snuggly in there. I heat the tubes using the soldering iron, carefully trying not to burn something else I usually go with a lighter flame but I feared it might be too much.

I opened up the original motor accidentally when pulling it out (6th pic) and I could see the brushed system. It's definitely gonna wear out quickly. Attached are some good quality photos I took of the busted brushes and the coils they connect to.

View attachment 3490 View attachment 3491

That's totally true, the front motors don't have enough space there to do it like this. But like I said earlier, they need shorter wires so maybe you can solder directly to the board which should be the ideal case. Maybe you can remove that isolating paste using some heat or just pulling?

Thank u heaps for the insight! @ph2t peeled the paste, apparently just picking them is enough.

thorgal · Oct 17, 2019

I found another video which makes the whole process much easier albeit a bit ugly.
It's in Japanese but the audio is actually unnecessary here.

Ski2much · Oct 18, 2019

thorgal said:
I found another video which makes the whole process much easier albeit a bit ugly.

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It's in Japanese but the audio is actually unnecessary here.

I like the method but I would solder those conections before sending my Tello 30m up! It may add too much weight (and thickness) but I like to finish my connections with some heat shrink tubing as well.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

alerose23i · Nov 6, 2019

Ansia said:
Is the wall ok?

If walls could talk?

Memor86 · Nov 9, 2019

I used the no soldering method but tucked the connections unde the cover and used heatshrink instead of tape

oguzkaancetin · Dec 10, 2019

I ordered a motor with 71mm cable length. Is it enough for this replacement?

Flydrone · Dec 11, 2019

oguzkaancetin said:
I ordered a motor with 71mm cable length. Is it enough for this replacement?

image error

71 mm front
87 mm Rear

MNNJR69 · Dec 13, 2019

nahuel said:
I'm shocked by the lameness of the accident. The Tello wouldn't respond... It hit the wall going 0.0000000 m/s. That was enough to kill a motor...

***NOTE TO SELF***
FLY IN OPEN SPACES?

umanbean · Dec 14, 2019

The image in post #15 shows longer leads are needed in front than in back. In my experience that's backwards - longer leads are needed in back than front.

I recently replaced a backside motor, and the 4-motor kit I ordered from Amazon had 130mm leads, more than enough.

Ski2much · Dec 14, 2019

umanbean said:
The image in post #15 shows longer leads are needed in front than in back. In my experience that's backwards - longer leads are needed in back than front.

I recently replaced a backside motor, and the 4-motor kit I ordered from Amazon had 130mm leads, more than enough.

I to used Amazon motors ( RC Geeks) and the leafs we're plenty long. It seems to fly well. These motors are not OEM.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

Flydrone · Dec 14, 2019

umanbean said:
The image in post #15 shows longer leads are needed in front than in back. In my experience that's backwards - longer leads are needed in back than front.

I recently replaced a backside motor, and the 4-motor kit I ordered from Amazon had 130mm leads, more than enough.

that image taken on the net is wrong!
I found this real image showing the length of the cables ...
71 mm front
87 mm Rear