As of today I have 102 successful flights with my Phantom 4 Pro 2.0. This also equates to over 24 hours of flight time on the motors. Is there anything maintenance related I should be doing to preserve the life of my bird? Any idea what the typical motor life is like? I have three well maintained batteries that still function as good as the day I bought them. I generally keep these charged up to "storage" when I'm done flying so that seems to help as well.

Any idea what the typical motor life is like?
Brushless motors typically have a useful life of tens of thousands of hours.
Yours probably still has a way to go.

My Phantom 4 Standard is four years old and has had something like 300 flights (and one crash - repaired) The batteries are still showing as 90% efficient (they're stored long-term at 50% charge). The bird shows no signs of slowing down, and still performs as I would like. I've changed the props several times, as you might expect. But other than that I'm still happy with it.

Blériot53 Posted at 7-18 00:01
My Phantom 4 Standard is four years old and has had something like 300 flights (and one crash - repaired) The batteries are still showing as 90% efficient (they're stored long-term at 50% charge). The bird shows no signs of slowing down, and still performs as I would like. I've changed the props several times, as you might expect. But other than that I'm still happy with it.

Aloha Roger,

     Good to see you back on the Forum!  I hope you are faring well with this pandemic.

     You really been working your bird!  Nice videos.

     Take care and be safe!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 7-18 00:16
Aloha Roger,

     Good to see you back on the Forum!  I hope you are faring well with this pandemic.

Hi Ken!  How are things in Hawaii? You still exercising the new Mini? My latest acquisition is the Mavic 2Zoom. It's results are extremely pleasing. You can see some of the results on the forum   Lockdown here has been onerous, but we are safe enough at the moment. You too, I trust?

Blériot53 Posted at 7-18 00:40
Hi Ken!  How are things in Hawaii? You still exercising the new Mini? My latest acquisition is the Mavic 2Zoom. It's results are extremely pleasing. You can see some of the results on the forum   Lockdown here has been onerous, but we are safe enough at the moment. You too, I trust?

Aloha Roger,

     Yeah, the Mavic 2 Zoom, I am torn between that and the Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic Air 2 and a P4 Pro V2, but I think that with so many of the other cameras offering such nice imagery, I would get the Zoom to.  That zoom capability does really improve the offering since it is not available for other cameras except in post.  How many hours after the flight is that!

     Hawai'i is actually doing very well in a Country that is doing so badly.  It is like we are a different country.  Hawai'i has the lowest daily cases and the lowest total cases in the US.  Our deaths are also second from the least, only Alaska has less - and that is probably because Alaska has their own refrigeration capability just out the door!  Everyone else has to get refrigerated trailers!  How is that for gallows humor!?!

     Lockdown has actually been good for me.  I have been able to have a vacation of sorts, a long vacation.  Considering how much work I do since I stopped working, it was a welcomed vacation.  But flying has been tricky.  This global warming and climate change has really screwed up the weather here.  Fortunately, I get a daily forecast at a neighborhood level.  I just did a survey and expressed my appreciation for how bold they are for attempting such a precise exercise.  Unfortunately, that does not make the flying weather any better.

     My birds are showing their age.  My P4 Remote Controller needs a new battery / charging system and I flew into the mountain with my P4 Pro, so now I have a spare Remote Controller, bummer.  I am thinking about getting the Version 2 so I can use my Goggles with OcuSync, but it turns out that I can also get the zoom with OcuSync.  But, the P4 Pro V2 has 20M and the zoom has 12M stills.  How cool would it be though, to wear goggles that  you can zoom with - you may be persuading me!  Still, I like the 20M photos of the P4 Pro V2.  Oh, decisions, decisions!

     But the pandemic is here!  What if I die tomorrow!  I should at least leave something for the survivors to fight over!  Oh well!

     Take care and be safe!

Aloha and Drone On!

Cetacean Posted at 7-18 02:40
Aloha Roger,

     Yeah, the Mavic 2 Zoom, I am torn between that and the Mavic 2 Pro, Mavic Air 2 and a P4 Pro V2, but I think that with so many of the other cameras offering such nice imagery, I would get the Zoom to.  That zoom capability does really improve the offering since it is not available for other cameras except in post.  How many hours after the flight is that!

You sound quite positive Ken, despite everything   On the subject of motor life, I'm pretty sure they have a reliability factor far in excess of what we are likely to impose upon them. BUT, everything wears out eventually (especially me, I've noticed recently )    If it helps you decide which model to choose, have a look at my recent posts on the DJI WORKS Forum. I've a few in City and some in Nature, comparing No zoom with Maximum (x4) Zoom combining optical and digital.  Chateaux, of course

Blériot53 Posted at 7-18 00:01
My Phantom 4 Standard is four years old and has had something like 300 flights (and one crash - repaired) The batteries are still showing as 90% efficient (they're stored long-term at 50% charge). The bird shows no signs of slowing down, and still performs as I would like. I've changed the props several times, as you might expect. But other than that I'm still happy with it.

You said you've replaced props several times. Is this out of caution or are the props visibly worn/damaged? I've replaced one prop in the two years I've had the bird since the tip of one prop got caught in my briefcase style case when it closed. Now that I'm mindful of that I haven't had an issue with that since.

iamjustjohn Posted at 7-18 08:45
You said you've replaced props several times. Is this out of caution or are the props visibly worn/damaged? I've replaced one prop in the two years I've had the bird since the tip of one prop got caught in my briefcase style case when it closed. Now that I'm mindful of that I haven't had an issue with that since.

Over time, chopping larger bugs during flight makes a mess of the props, most of which can be cleaned off. Occasional snicks of leaves from trees also cause micro dints in the leading edges. So precautionary changes were made.  A couple of years ago I swapped out the oldstyle props for the new design "quieter" ones. Not convinced they made a whole lot of difference. Back at the time of the crash I had the shell replaced, and the props.  That's about it. The bird still flies like a dream.

Hello there iamjustjohn. Thank you for reaching out and for these information you have given us. In addition to this thread I will post a link where in you can see some DJI guides on drone maintenance checklist ( https://store.dji.com/guides/properly-maintain-drone/ ) that can help you as well. Thank you and fly safe always.