leopard vs tacon motors

[Brushless55]

there so good we are talking about copies of copies of clones that now have clones??

or we could call them generations?

[Fluid]

We will see how they perform compared to the Fieago 2 pole motors I am replacing.

You will likley see a stronger low end right away, that's what I remember when I replaced my Hackers with Neus. That is due to the 4-pole construction versus 2-pole. Top end power will vary depending on prop choice. I would expect at least slightly better performance from the Tacons.

Dealing with the Chinese you never know what you will get. They will actually change parts to save $0.02 in order to recover their profit. Don't expect a 'way cheaper version of one motor to be the same as the "original". The difference may not be noticeable by the average boater, but total performance and life expectancy may be by more serious boaters.

The Feigao line is an example. Copied almost exactly from the Hackers they "looked" about the same, but we now know the mags are weaker and more fragile, the windings not quite as nice and the bearings were just above junk grade. But they performed well enough for the price and helped to lower the price of top-end motors too. I set several SAW records with Fiegaos just to prove they worked (but I had to upgrade the bearings). I do realize that had I used Hackers instead my records would have been at least 5 mph higher. Most owners would never know the difference if they never ran a Hacker.




.

[Igoreski]

What should I run for timing,I just stuck my 120a ESCs on the programmer and I was at 7.5 Deg. from last settings on the 2 pole motors.

[LaMoparPower]

Love to see a picture of your setup!

5s 40c turnigy's on an octura 642 s/b....

[ray schrauwen]

5s 40c turnigy's on an octura 642 s/b....

Which motor?

[LaMoparPower]

2150 KV, 4074 TACON.... ill try to get some video tomorrow!

[the savy fluxer]

2150 KV, 4074 TACON.... ill try to get some video tomorrow!

that would be awesome!

[Brushless55]

that would be awesome!

[Alexgar]

ec5's i use em to great connectors

[LaMoparPower]

ok, got the video, 15-20 mph winds all day so never got to open her up and was stuck on a small pond... Highest i was able to see was 58.5

Like an idiot i forgot to de-rate the video quality so its 170mb... i tried posting it last night but had some issues.. ill try again tonight..

[LaMoparPower]

Dont mind the plumbers crack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz3HdaV-qFs

[ray schrauwen]

Very nice. In Canada we call that a slight breeze

[dag-nabit]

Very nice. In Canada we call that a slight breeze

Not to nit pick the small details, but in Canada we call that a slight breeze... with -64*C wind chill

Kevin

[G1ST]

I also ordered a Leopard 4074 - 2200 and got shipped a Tacon. I finally got an ESC to complete my electronics package and went to bench test my setup today. I calibrated the ESC to transmitter and that went fine. I pwer up the the ESC and get the proper flashes and beeps. When I hit the throttle nothing. I have swapped motor wire positions etc. I was able to get it to run once by holding about 1/4 throttle and spinning the collet by hand (like old school gas days) but that only worked once. Any ideas what I may be doing wrong or is it possible motor is bad?

Tacon 4074 - 2200
Castle Hydra 240
2 - 7.4v 5000 mah Nanotechs

PS Driveline is free.

Thanks for the help
Greg

[ray schrauwen]

Try solder joints on motor?

[G1ST]

I put new 5.5 bullets on motor today. They passed the "pull em real hard" test.
I can re solder them tomorrow.
Any thing else I can check?

Greg

[Basstronics]

I ordered the Tacon 4074 2150KV motors for my twin Miss Geico- $59 a piece.

I ordered the 4074 Leopard 2000KV motor for $59 way back when they first went to that price. They had pictured the Red/Pink motor but mine arrived green.

I thought I read somewhere that people got into trouble for selling Leopard motors bellow MAP? My guess is these people are now buying the same motors in different colors screened with a different name to be able to sell them at whatever price they like. Makes perfect sense.

Want to sell Leopards? Then its all the same price no matter who you buy them from. Or you can buy/stock 100 pieces of the same motor with your logo on it and sell them for whatever you like...

[G1ST]

Try solder joints on motor?

I just re did the solder joints on the 5.5 bullets I installed yesterday. They seem fine. Is there any chance the wires got hot enough to de solder something inside the motor can?
If I take the rear cover off of the motor is anything going to spring out at me ?
Thanks for the help
Greg

[m4a1usr]

I also ordered a Leopard 4074 - 2200 and got shipped a Tacon. I finally got an ESC to complete my electronics package and went to bench test my setup today. I calibrated the ESC to transmitter and that went fine. I pwer up the the ESC and get the proper flashes and beeps. When I hit the throttle nothing. I have swapped motor wire positions etc. I was able to get it to run once by holding about 1/4 throttle and spinning the collet by hand (like old school gas days) but that only worked once. Any ideas what I may be doing wrong or is it possible motor is bad?

Tacon 4074 - 2200
Castle Hydra 240
2 - 7.4v 5000 mah Nanotechs

PS Driveline is free.

Thanks for the help
Greg

Are you running 2S2P or 4S? Your not very clear on battery arraingment. That motor runs best on 4S. If your running 4S on the Hydra you should be running a Rx battery. Not using the internal BEC. So the red rx wire should be removed from the ex plug.

John

[G1ST]

Sorry
Yes I'm running 4S and a receiver battery with red wire disconnected from plug
Greg

[Basstronics]

Ok I just got my two Tacon Leopard clones...

I might be crazy but it does feel as if the magnets are not as strong and the Leopard. I am going to have the magnets gauss'ed to confirm or deny that theory. I hope to get that information by the weekend.

Whoever said the bearings are probably different deserves a prize.

The Leopard motor I have utilizes an NSK bearing, which is a good brand (for those that dont know). Leopard Bearing reads "Indonesia NSK 625Z"- which is NSK part number 625 ZZ (Z being shielded). Using a light weight oil the bearing is rated at a maximum of 43K RPM.

The Tacon bearing is labeled "Thailand NMB R-1650 HH". I cant say Ive ever heard of NMB ball bearings. In the industry I work in we use a LOT of taper roller bearings (Timken, SKF & rarely NSK). But I found them. Japanese company- so I would assume quality is good.

Here is a link to the manufacturer:
http://www.nmbtc.com/bearings/part-n.../R-1650HH/5870

Here is NMB's full catalog (38 MB! beware):
http://pibsales.com/pdf/nmbcatalog.pdf

Spec for spec all I can compare is the dynamic and static ratings between both. NMB doest list a maximum RPM. In the ratings the NMB is slightly higher- but not enough to be different. Dynamic rating of (NSK vs NMB) 1730/1735 (Newtons) and Static rating of 670/671 Newtons.

The last thing noteworthy is in the preload spacers on the motors. The Leopard had one long one on the wire side and three smaller ones on the drive side. The Tacon just had one spacer each side. This leads me to believe more labor was spent makign sure the Leopard motor was aligned properly with the correct spacers.

The conclusion I will draw is this. Providing the NMB bearing is a true quality bearing I dont see any reason to panic. We will however need to see what this baby gauss'es at. I believe they are relatively close, but I think somewhat different.

[Basstronics]

Oh ya, pictures! Yes I took pictures for you guys!

Leopard:

[Basstronics]

Tacon:

[Igoreski]

Great job on the review,I have used the NMB bearings before and they are ok probably medium quality.The motor spacing Is off slightly on one of my Tacon motors allowing some movement of the shaft in and out similar to my Feiago motors the other is tight.I will see how these hold up with the QC not as tight as Leopard I still had to try them.The size I got were $34 per motor less.

[Brushless55]

very cool, thanks for the input and pitures!!

[the savy fluxer]

Great review!!!! finally the lowdown on this topic. pics were great also

[m4a1usr]

Oh ya, pictures! Yes I took pictures for you guys!

Leopard:

From the pictures it looks like both the Tacon and Leopard rotors are carbon fiber wrapped but not like the CC/Neu motors. So that means they are no where near duplicates of CC/Neu motors coming off the same assembly line. Theirs look nothing like those 2 rotors. Those rotors look to be constructed just like the Feigao 580 rotors that were having issues either last year or the year before. I remember a problem with the rotors coming apart.


John

[m4a1usr]

Here is a picture of a CC/Nue 1515 1Y rotor. They look way different.


John

[Basstronics]

Im not sure of the materials used here.

Whats what and whats the difference. I mean I can see the leopard/Tacon rotors are black. Whats the white on the Neu?

[m4a1usr]

Im not sure of the materials used here.
Whats the white on the Neu?

The black wrapped rotors are carbon fiber but not sealed in epoxy. The CC/Neu rotors are wrapped in carbon fiber and have been set in epoxy. There is probably a final inspection process involved from the vendor who assembles the CC/Neu rotors, hence the lighter/ see thru color. And probably none for the black wrapped rotors since you cannot do a visual inspection when built as such. Maybe quality of inspection process, maybe the black carbon fiber is just cheaper. Who knows. But its obvious that the motors and their components do have varying degree's of differences right from just doing a visual. Hoping to hear good news from you about the magnet strength testing.

John