KDE Direct has added Multi-Rotor Heli motors to their lineup

R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
Ok, I better check then...

Well, checked all 4. Seem to be very well loctited, I couldn't loosen them without risking stripping the screwheads, so I didn't. Also nice and snug, no endplay. So that's all good.

I don't think I'll be able to comparatively test them, as I don't have comparable motor unfortunately. I have a bunch of 2217 iPowers, but 930kV, so pretty useless to compare. I have a 4114 320kV on the tail of the heli, but I'm not going to take that off to test it.
 
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Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
Oh man. Maybe it's just because they've been out a bit longer - but this is a total reversal of the early review/assessments.

Hoping you guys don't have any trouble, and myself as well (hex w/4012XF).

is there any simple testing that should be done? Anything while they are still mounted on the MR???
 

fltundra

Member
It's a pretty common design to use screws hold the shaft on. Helicopter tail rotors commonly have this. Maybe a divot instead of a flat would be better though... I guess we'll see. Either way, I'm just wondering if they're loctited in so they won't come ALL the way out. That is one issue I had with iPower. No loctite at all, almost lost a motor.
My 515's were loctited.
 


rotorvista

Member
I've managed to tighten them up by loosening the 2 screws that hold the bell on the shaft and and sliding the shaft up and retightening the screws. There is a lip on the bottom of the shaft to stop the bottom retainer from coming off if the screws come loose.

There is a vibration on all the motors at about 30% throttle KDE4012xf motors, KDE UAS55amp ESC's and Tmotor 17" carbon props.

This was the play I had

password = kde

 
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Fat Corgi

Member
This is pretty disappointing. I was about to pull the trigger on 8 of the 4012's but I think I may hold off now, and wait for more reviews. KDE have always had a bulletproof, reliable reputation. I have used their parts on numerous single rotors with great success in the past. I guess the cost of labour in the US is too high for a what some may consider decent profit margin.
 
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rotorvista

Member
jyzesy6a.jpg


ajyrede7.jpg
 



jfro

Aerial Fun
Qqc

I didn't keep up with the 41xx failures, whats breaking on them?

Long read. about 1/2 way down on this page is KDE's summation and fix on 2 shaft failures on the KDE4014XF-380s.

http://forum.freeflysystems.com/ind...o-x8-with-kde-4014-into-the-water.4598/page-5.

I have some KDE 3520's on a quad carry gopro, GH2 (and gh3 on occasion). 8- Avroto 3515's on an x8. Sort of felt I've been building reliable rigs until reading these threads. When does this end about thinking I'm buying quality components and then later reading about seemingly legitimate concerns on crashes that don't appear to be operator error. Nobody warnedme when I got into this hobby about the stress from worrying about FC, ESC, and Motor failures.
 

R_Lefebvre

Arducopter Developer
So the 2814 515's are working out fairly well so far. I mounted them up, and when running it with no props, they are very quiet and smooth. Hard to say if they are better or worse than iPower motors, it's been a while since I felt those. But way better than Turnigy NTM motors.

I'm using the DJI 15" folding props. The vibration was initially higher than I'd like. Z was good, but X and Y were about +/- 4m/s/s on Arducopter. This should be under 2. I suspected that the problem was the props were too tight, which wouldn't allow them to fling out straight totally. I had them not hard, but not loose. I loosened them. The vibes are now about +/-1.5 m/s/s. I heard these props do vibrate more than solid ones. I'm OK with that as long as I can get good video which is TBD. I'm a little concerned the prop screws are ridiculously loose now though. I have loctite on them, but it's not really even setting because there's no load.

So, with AUW of 2100g, it's drawing about 12.5A in a hover. Looks like I have a 30+ minutes with 4S 8000 Multistar batteries. The motors are outperforming the eCalc simulation. 3.12A each vs. 3.75A. So that's cool. After flying for 20 minutes, I landed, batteries are still at 3.85V. Motors are barely warm at all, hardly detectable. So seemingly no problem at all with the 15" props on 4S.
 

fltundra

Member
So the 2814 515's are working out fairly well so far. I mounted them up, and when running it with no props, they are very quiet and smooth. Hard to say if they are better or worse than iPower motors, it's been a while since I felt those. But way better than Turnigy NTM motors.

I'm using the DJI 15" folding props. The vibration was initially higher than I'd like. Z was good, but X and Y were about +/- 4m/s/s on Arducopter. This should be under 2. I suspected that the problem was the props were too tight, which wouldn't allow them to fling out straight totally. I had them not hard, but not loose. I loosened them. The vibes are now about +/-1.5 m/s/s. I heard these props do vibrate more than solid ones. I'm OK with that as long as I can get good video which is TBD. I'm a little concerned the prop screws are ridiculously loose now though. I have loctite on them, but it's not really even setting because there's no load.

So, with AUW of 2100g, it's drawing about 12.5A in a hover. Looks like I have a 30+ minutes with 4S 8000 Multistar batteries. The motors are outperforming the eCalc simulation. 3.12A each vs. 3.75A. So that's cool. After flying for 20 minutes, I landed, batteries are still at 3.85V. Motors are barely warm at all, hardly detectable. So seemingly no problem at all with the 15" props on 4S.
Please post some pics.:tennis:
 

fltundra

Member
So, with AUW of 2100g, it's drawing about 12.5A in a hover. Looks like I have a 30+ minutes with 4S 8000 Multistar batteries. The motors are outperforming the eCalc simulation. 3.12A each vs. 3.75A. So that's cool. After flying for 20 minutes, I landed, batteries are still at 3.85V. Motors are barely warm at all, hardly detectable. So seemingly no problem at all with the 15" props on 4S.

Good results so far with the 10AH4S Multistar 10C.

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min0nim

Member
This is pretty disappointing. I was about to pull the trigger on 8 of the 4012's but I think I may hold off now, and wait for more reviews. KDE have always had a bulletproof, reliable reputation. I have used their parts on numerous single rotors with great success in the past. I guess the cost of labour in the US is too high for a what some may consider decent profit margin.

I received mine last week, and there is no perceivable play in them.

Rotorvista's issue looks quite extreme.

The KDE guys are really helpful. You should try approaching the directly if you have any issues or hesitations.
 

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