Motor dust caps: Are they worth it?

[akdroner]

I recall a time back when I was lurking that there were a lot of different opinions on whether dust caps were worth it or not. In Alaska even when I use a launch pad etc, there is a lot of silt and fine dust that comes up and when I first bought my Anafi the caps were something I was going to check out at the very least.

They are cheap, look sort of neat and something that if they didn't work, easily disposable sort of modification. So I purchased some, installed them and hovered in my house for approx 5 mins and stopped the Anafi and took the temps. For sure one is going to see approx 1 to 3 degrees increase from running the aluminum caps versus not.

The room temp was 69 degrees and after 5mins of hovering the Anafi motors that were in stock form were approx 1 to 3 degrees cooler consistently. Is it something that if out getting wind will get worse or better......not sure? When I get some time I will run through a battery or two under real world circumstances and report back. But for the sake of getting quick information, they for sure increase the temp slightly and they also 5 to 10 mins later keep the temp approx 1degree warmer during long cool downs.

Enough to hurt the motors, I don't think so. Enough protection to be worth it with the added (very little though) weight increase along with the risk of them NOT being perfectly balanced? Time will tell

I tried the Sunnylife Motor Caps off of Amazon.com and overall I am happy with them......though they could be slightly improved as you can see in the picture. If anyone here has done C&C work........you'll see what i mean if you look at the picture of the caps closely.

All the best.

 

[Kilrah]

Motor caps

I don't understand why you'd even want these in the first place. Makes no sense at all, every drone has open motors for obvious cooling reasons and that's never been a problem.

Really seems like a case of "it's pointless but if we make it people will buy it".

 

[akdroner]

Motor caps

I don't understand why you'd even want these in the first place. Makes no sense at all, every drone has open motors for obvious cooling reasons and that's never been a problem.

Really seems like a case of "it's pointless but if we make it people will buy it".

True.....and I very well may find that to be just the case with this purchase.

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

akdroner, in your picture "Dust cover" I see an edge of the propeller touching the upper rim of the dust cover.
Are the propellers able to move freely?

 

[PatR]

The majority of dust ingested by a motor comes through the bottom during launch and recovery due to the prop blast hitting the ground, stirring up dust. It’s the reason people use landing pads to prevent gimbal motors from becoming clogged with dust and grit. Installing covers on the top of the motors does but two things; makes the motors run hotter, reducing their life span, and puts money in a manufacturer’s pocket.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Dirk_ANAFI]

The majority if dust ingested by a motor comes through the bottom during launch and recovery die to the prop blast hitting the ground,
...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think the airflow in the motor will be from top to bottom because the propeller blades above the motor force a downstream in and outside of the motor.
So the motor caps could make sense to avoid dust in the motor.

 

[jeremiah23]

I bought some of these for my Anafi. Not sure if they do any good, but they certainly don't seem to be doing any harm. In the end, they might not actually be helpful or harmful.

 

[akdroner]

akdroner, in your picture "Dust cover" I see an edge of the propeller touching the upper rim of the dust cover.
Are the propellers able to move freely?

The props still move freely, but the caps don't fit completely snug........there is some minor movement by them as they sort of float on top of the motor prop frame........and can touch the prop if you lift up.

So that is why I was not really all that impressed with the fit and finish and I guess I probably got what I paid for for them being under $8

 

[akdroner]

The majority of dust ingested by a motor comes through the bottom during launch and recovery due to the prop blast hitting the ground, stirring up dust. It’s the reason people use landing pads to prevent gimbal motors from becoming clogged with dust and grit. Installing covers on the top of the motors does but two things; makes the motors run hotter, reducing their life span, and puts money in a manufacturer’s pocket.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Can't say I disagree thus far.

 

[akdroner]

I bought some of these for my Anafi. Not sure if they do any good, but they certainly don't seem to be doing any harm. In the end, they might not actually be helpful or harmful.

Well where I am going next is I am going to run them on an actual flight and then quickly take one off..............I am wondering if the temp I am getting that is between 1 to 3 degrees hotter than the OEM motors is because the aluminum cap is acting as a "heat-sink".

So I would like to see what is happening temp wise to the ACTUAL motor and not just the cap.

If I pull the cap after a flight and see that the actual motor temp is considerably higher, at that point I won't run them at all.