iFlight just recently released another high performance and efficient motor to their range, the iFlight ION motors.
These motor bells and bases are milled from 7075 grade aluminum and counter-sunk heat-dispatch holes at the top of the bell. I think the counter-sunk feature of the motor bells would really help to minimize the risk of damaging the motor coil from small branches or leaves getting into the motors if you happen to crash into bushes or trees. Unlike typical motors bell designs that have “more” exposed vents where it is more prone to debris getting into the motor and damaging the windings
iFlight ION motors comes nicely packed and well protected in plastic boxes, two motors in a box, included are mounting screws and M5 lock nuts. The motors also boast hallow titanium 4mm shafts for extra strength with reduced weight, the shaft are mounted on highly dependable Japanese NMB bearings. With the material used, the titanium shaft and 7075 aviation grade aluminum bell and base, it seems iFlight really take durability of the motors seriously.
Removal of the bell for maintenance is really easy with the screw mounted shaft instead of a C-clip at the bottom of the shaft. iFlight even jokingly said on their website store that “No more C clips shooting across the field and disappearing into the grass or into your girlfriends right eye”. I don’t know why they only mentioned the right eye, don’t ask me…
iFlight sent us the following motor to test:
- ION 2205 2500kV – Weight 34.4g
- ION 2207 1660kV – Weight 37g
- ION 2207 2500kV – Weight 37.2g
- ION 2506 2100kV – Weight 42.5g
*Weight are with wires and prop nut
We thought it will be worthwhile to do a bench test before actually flying them on our quads, see the results below. I compared them to three other motors that I usually used. These are not directly comparing the other motors head to head with our IONS but more of a personal comparison as these motors are of different stator sizes , did it just for kicks!
This test was done on 100% throttle with Infinity 1500mAh 4S RS Force battery with ambient temperature at 23.3 Celsius. Propellers used are DALProp Cyclone T5050C and GEMFAN5251 which are my personal favorite.
Summary:
- With the materials used for iFlight ION range of motors, like titanium shaft, NMB 4mm Japanese bearings, N52H arc magnets and milled 7075 grade aluminum alloy, seem to indicate that iFlight does put quite a bit of consideration on durability and reliability.
- The well-designed screw lock of the centre shaft for bell removal makes for easy maintenance or repair on the field or on the work bench.
- The motors are well balanced improves efficiency from reduced vibration, they are quiet even on higher pitch props like DAL 5050
- The larger core single strand windings not only provides for higher current handling but also less prone to damage from external debris. Trust me, I had encountered damage to motors, with multi strands windings, in a single crash from twigs and the likes getting into the motors.
- ION 2506 2100 is a big motor but it flies very well and surprisingly efficient. My flight time averages 4mins, even flying at race conditions. In my opinion 2100kV is more for long range but if used on a racing quad I would suggest it should be on a stretch type frame like the iFlight Strider V2 or the Total Rotor KATAK Stretch SE or the TRP KATAK frame series.
- ION2207 2500kV, tested by Marion from OrangeFPV , were installed on a Chameleon frame. He felt these motors work well with 5.0 pitch props such as the DALProp Cyclone T5050CÂ . The ION 2207 2500 proves to be pretty efficient on a 290g build and below. For a 1300mAh lipo he achieved 2:50 mins flight time with DALProp Cyclone T5050CÂ flying race track style condition and about 4minutes with relax freestyle flying. His flight video can be found here.
- For me ION 2205 2500 is a great motor for a speed demon built on light weight frame such as the iFlight Ultralight Y or X 5 inch, quiet, well balanced and efficient; perfect for racing.
Full iFlight build with ION2506 2100 Motors.
Pilot: VergeFPV
Frame: iFlight Strider V2
FC: iFlight Revo Bee32 F7 V2
ESC: iFlight iPeaka 4in1 Blheli32
VTX: iFlight The Force V2
FPV Cam: Runcam Swift 2