Earlier this summer I lost a Leopard motor and I decided to replace it with a TP Power.
In the past I have torn down a TP Power and a Leopard to look at manufacturing qualities. I noted back then that the TP Power had a much better build quality than the Leopard. However this review is about the new style motors and is much less favorable.
First impression out of the box is good. Motor looks solid, nice wire wrap over the heat shrink. Again these are magnet wire armature leads right off the coil- THESE ARE NOT WIRE!
For boating applications it is necessary to remove the stickers to install a good water jacket. I also like to coat it in Corrosion X. So upon removing the stickers the first thing I notice is one of three set screws is missing. I put my wrench into one of the sockets and just the pressure from inserting it the set screw fell right out. Same thing with the next hole. Matter of fact is ALL THREE HOLES ARE STRIPPED. The ONLY thing holding the endbell on was whatever glue they used...
So I get it out, pull the rotor out. Previously they used a kevlar wrap over the rotors- now they use carbon. While I have not confirmed it the magnets seemed to be weaker than the previous TP Power I had apart (One day I will get a gauss on these things!).
Next I look at the laminated stack the wire wraps around. Previous TP design the stacks appeared to be ID ground for a tighter clearance. This motor IS NOT. the workmanship on this end seems to be on par with Leopard. I dont see anything that sticks out as extraordinary or bad here.
So now Im to the point where I will have to redrill & tap the endbell. Instead of using the set screws I intend to install socket head cap screws. After fixing this I will coat in Corrosion X. Reassemble then I might try to run it this year still!
Bookmarks