Repair cost of broken motor arm

Steverino · Dec 17, 2021

Has anyone here had Autel repair a broken motor arm? If so, what did it cost? I had a minor crash and broke the right rear motor arm. Autel won't give me a ballpark estimate without having the drone on hand to evaluate it. I'm considering doing the repair myself but wanted to find out Autel's approximate cost to see if it was worth it because it appears to be a daunting task.

gschulzuio · Dec 17, 2021

Steverino said:
Has anyone here had Autel repair a broken motor arm? If so, what did it cost? I had a minor crash and broke the right rear motor arm. Autel won't give me a ballpark estimate without having the drone on hand to evaluate it. I'm considering doing the repair myself but wanted to find out Autel's approximate cost to see if it was worth it because it appears to be a daunting task.

Yes, excluding shipping, was around $150 iirc. Including shipping took a couple of weeks, you could reduce that time if needed by going faster shipping.

lugin · Dec 17, 2021

You can get the arm off ebay, look up QC guy on youtube. He has a great tutorial

Steverino · Dec 17, 2021

Thanks for the replies. The motor arms cost about $50 on eBay or Aliexpress but if the actual repair is only $150, I'd much rather pay an extra $100 and the cost to ship it to them than do that repair myself. After watching the YouTube video on how to replace the arm, I'm surprised the repair cost is only $150. Has anyone else had Autel replace a broken motor arm on the EVO II?

lugin · Dec 17, 2021

Steverino said:
Thanks for the replies. The motor arms cost about $50 on eBay or Aliexpress but if the actual repair is only $150, I'd much rather pay an extra $100 and the cost to ship it to them than do that repair myself. After watching the YouTube video on how to replace the arm, I'm surprised the repair cost is only $150. Has anyone else had Autel replace a broken motor arm on the EVO II?

100% agree...looks daunting!

lugin · Dec 18, 2021

Steverino said:
Thanks for the replies. The motor arms cost about $50 on eBay or Aliexpress but if the actual repair is only $150, I'd much rather pay an extra $100 and the cost to ship it to them than do that repair myself. After watching the YouTube video on how to replace the arm, I'm surprised the repair cost is only $150. Has anyone else had Autel replace a broken motor arm on the EVO II?

Advexture sells the drone only without camera batteries or accessories around $630.

Steverino · Dec 21, 2021

Autel support wouldn't give me an estimate on the cost but they did say this:
"A complete Arm/Motor assembly is $75 before tax and labor. Labor is $60/hr."
I would think they could replace the motor arm within about 2 hours of labor which would put the repair cost at up to about $200 or less. I think I might just send it in for repair. I started the disassembly process and got the upper shell removed but then could not remove two very tiny Philips screws without stripping them. There's still a lot of work ahead to get the motor arm replaced and the concern I could possibly run into another problem, maybe with the tiny solder connections. I'm going to watch the video again before I make up my mind. Thanks again for the replies.

lugin · Dec 21, 2021

I did the same thing and said "screw that"!

gschulzuio · Dec 21, 2021

Steverino said:
Autel support wouldn't give me an estimate on the cost but they did say this:
"A complete Arm/Motor assembly is $75 before tax and labor. Labor is $60/hr."
I would think they could replace the motor arm within about 2 hours of labor which would put the repair cost at up to about $200 or less. I think I might just send it in for repair. I started the disassembly process and got the upper shell removed but then could not remove two very tiny Philips screws without stripping them. There's still a lot of work ahead to get the motor arm replaced and the concern I could possibly run into another problem, maybe with the tiny solder connections. I'm going to watch the video again before I make up my mind. Thanks again for the replies.

Those little screws are a bugger and pita.

Dave Pitman · Dec 21, 2021

gschulzuio said:
Those little screws are a bugger and pita.

They are made of the highest quality metalish.

michael2002 · Dec 21, 2021

I have done two arm repairs on the same unit. While you can get the parts for ~$50, you have to take almost all of the drone apart, unsolder, resolder, then reassemble. I have some training in electrical engineer so I decided to do it myself (primarily because autel would not repair it for me). But for someone who does not have experience with electronics it will be very difficult. It is worth it to pay someone else to repair it for you.

crabberman1969 · Dec 24, 2021

gschulzuio said:
Yes, excluding shipping, was around $150 iirc. Including shipping took a couple of weeks, you could reduce that time if needed by going faster shipping.

If u want t to buy one, I have a new RR motor arm that I'll sell ya

jeff · Nov 24, 2023

If it is the enteprise carbon arm they will not sell the arm to dealers. 600 dollar repair with shipping . If it was a dealer repair it would be 250.

nobes · Dec 5, 2023

Steverino said:
Autel support wouldn't give me an estimate on the cost but they did say this:
"A complete Arm/Motor assembly is $75 before tax and labor. Labor is $60/hr."
I would think they could replace the motor arm within about 2 hours of labor which would put the repair cost at up to about $200 or less drone motor price. I think I might just send it in for repair. I started the disassembly process and got the upper shell removed but then could not remove two very tiny Philips screws without stripping them. There's still a lot of work ahead to get the motor arm replaced and the concern I could possibly run into another problem, maybe with the tiny solder connections. I'm going to watch the video again before I make up my mind. Thanks again for the replies.

I am trying to source motors for testing with a view to incorporating them into my product as an OEM. One Chinese company. T-Motor, has motors that are 3x the price of another Chinese drone motor company, Technomotor, but with similar specs, ie KV value, stator height, width, 4-6S, etc. I asked them why 3x the price? They said its because they are 'better' and 'airspace' companies use them but when pressed they cannot give specifics about why they are better but just that they are better or companies would not buy them. T-Motors website is impressive. However, I shake my head as that doesn't tell me a thing except that they are good and marketing and that I could become a lemming . The pricing and specs of drone motors seems to be the wild wild west. It's hard even to get efficiency curves out of them. Can someone enlighten me to this rarified world of trying to source drone motors? Why is it so difficult and the companies so secretive? I don't have this problem with other parts I am trying to source.