Do you oil and if you do how????

[kingmeow]

I just searched the Forum for "oiling" and read through all the posts. It seems like the topic of oiling (Scorpion motor) is a mixed bag. Now that my Protos is flying well I'm starting to think about maintenance of the motor.

I have the carbon version with stock Scorpion motor. Recently I picked up their oiling kit with the two needles. With the varied posts now I'm wondering whether to oil or not. I know there's a YouTube video out there by Scorpion that tells you how to do it so I'm guessing that you should oil. (I know about not oiling the OWB.)

So my main question is that if you do oil, how the heck do you do it? The bottom bearing seems to be hard to access as the cooling slots are in the same plane as the bottom of the frame. I see that approaching it from the rear of the heli holding it upside down, seems to give the most access. I don't quite see the bearing. Do I just put a few drop right where that green epoxy(?) ends?

And for the top bearing, near the pinion, I don't think I can even spot the bearing. Do I just put a few drops on the shaft right in the opening of the aluminum motor mount and let it seep down? Kind of hard to describe without a picture but I think I can get the needle on the shaft and push it as down as I can until the motor mount prevents the needle from going further.

I sure hate to think that I need to remove the motor to oil the bearings!

[flyingw]

Kingmeow,

I'm at the same point having about 30 flights on the motor and thinking about oiling.

I cannot even see the bottom bearing on mine. I suspect that if you are able to drip a very small amount of oil in there so that it would seep to the bottom bearing that would be fine.

I think the top bearing takes most of the punishment so if you can get a drop of oil to seep down into it that would be good.

I have the same Scorpion oiling kit with the two thin pipettes but have only used a dab of oil on the point of a long needle to get it to the right spot - on other motors.

The key thing is to take precautions so that you do not get any oil into the one way bearing.

I wonder if it is possible to detect if the motor bearings need oil - I suppose you'd hear a grinding sound or feel grittiness or binding if one of them were worn.

Good luck with the Protos.

Paul

[byHISgrace]

Easy answer, don't oil

I've never oiled my motor bearings, they're sealed and the oil only attracts dirt

Matt

[alexf1852]

Same here. I don't oil my bearings because they are hard to get to. And the oil breaks down the grease that is already in them. So I would rather replace them after a few hundred flights than to remove my pinion and oil them every 20 to 30 flights.

[kingmeow]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. I'm kind of with you but then why did Scorpion put out that video on how to oil? Isn't that encouraging/suggesting that you do need to oil and this is from the manufacturer? Just playing Devil's advocate here.

Paul, I hear you about the stress on the top bearing being a lot more than the bottom one. I think if you keep the heli upright and let it stay there for a day or two I don't think any oil will migrate up to the OWB as long as you don't drown things in oil. Of course you could be one of those constantly flying inverted.

Alex, I wouldn't be removing the pinion each time I oil, if I decide to oil. The needle would be jammed in there.

[BHChieftain]

Hi,
For nearly all of my motors I don't bother oiling the bearings... but I DO for the scorpion motors. The scorpion motors run really really hot which is why I think even scorpion insists that you oil the bearings frequently.

I have a needle applicator and just use triflow. For the top, a drop at the base of the motor shaft. For the bottom, if you just slide the needle up thru the air slot until you hit the inside shaft you are right at the top of the bearing (if you ever take the motor apart and look at where the bearing is installed you'll see).

I've had high quality sealed ceramic bearings which are never supposed to be oiled get destroyed in the scorpion motor in about 80 flights... I'm back to using standard bearings and just oiling them every 5-10 flights.

Chief

[kingmeow]

Coming around full circle, after days of checking things out on the internet and coming across a very detailed post from Lucien, CEO of Innovative, on RCGroups, I decided to take the plunge and oil the top and bottom bearings.

Just a small drop on each and it wasn't too bad to get to with the Scorpion kit. We can sit and argue all day long about the pluses and minuses of oiling but this is what I can report back on from my experience.

WOW! Not that there was anything suspect or noisy before I oiled it but after oiling I can really feel the extra power (I was hovering only with the entire pack). I noticed that my throttle stick is a touch lower in maintain a hover. But more importantly it reduced the overall noise of the heli even more as if the Protos wasn't quiet enough already. The heli sounded like the sound made by a finely put together machine. The "singing" was just so nice sounding!

Just on these two noticeable things I think I'm going to maintain an oiling regiment as recommended by Scorpion. I know some of you may say that I will regret it down the line and maybe I will, but right now the evidence is telling me otherwise.

As a mechanical engineer who did very well in tribology, I should have relied on my past knowledge but that was many, many, many years ago.