T-Motor F80–Should you go for it?
If you are looking for motors for your next race drone, you probably already heard about the F-Series motors by T-Motor. We have tested the F20, F40 and F60 already and thanks to T-Motor finally got our hands on the new F80 motors. We are going to make some thrust tests and compare the F80 to the F40 and F60, so you can find the best one for your race drone.
Details:
- Dimension: Φ28.8×33.5mm
- Stator Diameter: 23mm
- Stator Length: 8mm
- Magnet Poles: 14
- KV: 1900 / 2200 / 2500kv
- Weight: 41.9g
The F80 is a 2308 type motor and so the biggest and heaviest motor in the F-Series. The build quality is as always great and we haven´t experienced any issues with broken shafts etc. The wires are long enough for any 250mm race quad and T-Motor used 18AWG wires.
The design isn’t changed a lot compared to the F40II motor, but the F80 features arc magnets. The hollow steel shaft has a diameter of 5mm. Mounting holes pattern is M3 19x16mm.
Thrust tests
On all motor thrust tests, we have used three different propeller types: KingKong 6×4, HQ5040 3-blade Skitzo and HQ5045 3-blade. For the 4S LiPo tests, we used our best performing Aikon SEMF 30A ESC and for the 6S LiPo tests the new 6S version of the Aikon.
The 1900kv version of the F80 is great for a 6” prop. You will not only get the best thrust result (almost 1.4kg), but also the best efficiency – 2.85g/W. The motor is absolutely cool at the end of the test, so you should no worries of burning it.
The F80 got warm after the static thrust test with the KingKong 6×4 propeller, but it shouldn’t be a problem in flight. You may be concerned about you ESC and battery because the current reached 42A. Using the 5” propeller it was around 32-35A, which is fine for every 30A rated ESC.
The F80 2500kv (and the Aikon ESC) got very hot after the test! Because of the voltage drop on my battery (16.000mAh 4S), we couldn’t reach the 2kg thrust line. The current popped up to 58A. No battery at the moment can´t handle over 200A current on mini-drone 
Now let examine the results with a 6S 1300mAh Nano-Tech battery. We have only used the popular Skitzo HQ5040 3-blade prop.
First of all do not wonder why the thrust on max throttle is lower than on 1900us: battery voltage drop. During the test with the 2500kv version, the current reached 55A and voltage dropped to 18V, which almost killed my 6S battery.
Should you get the F80 or better stay with F40 and F60?
We compared the results from the F60 and F80 2200kv version and also deducted the difference in the weight of both motors, so the data is more accurate. Here is the result:
If you are going to use a 6” propeller, there is really a difference in the thrust ratio. However, on a 3-blade 5” prop there is almost any. If you are interested in more F60 thrust results, check here.
Below you can also find a comparison between the “old” F40 2500kv and F80 2500kv with a standard HQ5045 propeller. The difference in the motors weight was already deducted from the thrust results of the F80.
As you can see there is about 200g more thrust with the F80 motor, which will give you a lot more speed. However, the additional weight of 55g (for 4 motors) will decrease the flight time of your drone.
Update: Below you can find the complete exported thrust data from the RCbenchmark Tool.
Summary
The F80 motors, as well as all F-Series motors, have great build quality. It is up to you, using the provided test results, to find out which kV-version is the best for your drone. All T-Motors are available at Banggood and are genuine.
Update 2017.10: Check out the newest review and comparison of the F40 Pro and F40 III.
Update 2019.02: As of today there is a newer version of the F40 Pro available – read more about the F40 Pro III
Thank you for reading! If you like our articles, please follow us on Facebook and stay tuned!
Usama
Hi,
Thanks for a very informative review and post. I was wondering, according to the specs on T-motor website, the kv1900 seems to actually be of higher power rating. Also the current rating on all of them are way below 55A. From their specs, it seems that the 1900KV can go near 2000g but not the 2200kv and 2500kv ones. What do you think?
Sergey
Hi, all of the motors can go near the 2kg. It just depends on the propeller and battery type you are going to use. The 2500kv version can easily reach the 2kg with a HQ 5″ 3-blade prop on 6S, if the battery is a healthy one. On what configuration you are planing to use these F80?
Fred
Hi,
Any idea on how many amps reached during the thrust test of the F80 1900kv on 4S with KingKong 6×4 props?
Many thanks!
Sergey
Hi Fred, it reached about 30A with the KingKong 6×4 on 4S. If you need the complete excel sheet data I can upload it here. Best, Sergey
Christian
Would appreciate it a lot if you can upload your Excel sheet for the F80 1900kv and 2200kV Version 🙂
Thanks in advance!
Christian
Sergey
Hello Christian, added the data for all three F80 motors: 1900kv, 2200kv and 2500kv. Grüße, Sergey 😉
Sergey
Whether the F80 was tested on 7 inch 3 blade propellers?
Sergey
Hello Sergey, no I haven´t. I do not have any 7″ propeller. Which one do you want to see? Best wishes, Sergey
Jake Rupprecht
Hi I was wondering the thrust and amp draw of the 2500kv version on 6s with a 6″ prop. This is what I plan to run but am not sure if an esc could take it
Sergey
Hi Jake, I would not recommend using the 2500kv on 6S LiPo and 6″ prop. The amp draw on 4S was almost 60A! Of course this is a static thrust test and in the air it will be less, but as said this was with 4S battery. You are going to burn your ESCs and moreover damage any battery, as the total current will be over 200A. You will be more than satisfied with a setup on 4S LiPo! Best, Sergey
Vince
Hi,
I’d like to put a F80 2500kv on a flying wing with 4s lipo 75C, do you think I can use a 7 inch prop or something will go wrong ? What do you think ?
Sergey
Hello Vince, I am also going to put one of my F80 2500kv on a flying wing, but with 6″ prop. 7″ on 4S will give you a lot of thrust, but there is a chance if you push it to the limit to damage the ESC or motor. Why do you need 7″ prop? Do you have 6″ props, which you can use? Best wishes, Sergey
Adeva
Hello Sergey,
If you used a 4S battery as you said, then why in the excel sheets the voltage is greater than 14.8V?
Sergey
Hello Adeva, a cell charged at maximum has voltage of 4.2V. A 4S LiPo battery has max voltage 4 x 4.2 = 16.8V. Best wishes, Sergey
Justyn Markland
Thanks for doing these test. I would like to see the f80 1900kv on a 7″ prop with 4s lipo. I think it may be a really good setup.
Sergey
Thank you, Justyn! Yeah, should be fine, but watch out not to burn it 😉 Cheers, Sergey
JFA
Hi all,
I am really impressed by the performances of such motors of specific power. Usually, high torque motors are allowed today to develop between 3 to 6 kW/kg. This motor, according to data sheets, is able to develop around 25kW/kg. Same thing for the current density which is limited to 5-10 A/mm² with forced convection today. Here it seems the current density reached is around 60 A/mm². Here is now my question, you who tested these motors, did you try to make it works in continuous rating during a long time? I mean maximum speed and torque for, for exemple, 10 mn ! Did it burn?
Thank you for your responses
Sergey
Hello JFA, I haven´t tested the motors for a long period of time in 100% throttle. Currently I am not able to perform such test. However with a good cooling on a drone, it shouldn´t be a problem due to the airflow. Best wishes, Sergey
Justyn Markland
This motor would not survive at these power levels. It does not have the mass to cool the motor at high watt loads. Just take my experience of using a 5s lipo and a dal 6×4 prop, at landing the motor was 130f. That was varying the throttle and only hitting full throttle a couple times. I would say that full throttle for more than 5-10 seconds and I would have burnt a winding. These new T-Motors are great and can handle huge burst currents, but are still limited by the mass and cooling the motor can do.
LeRAW
Nice review!
I have difficulties to buy the F80 KV1900. In the regular stores, they do not have it or the price is very high. In getFPV says it is discontinued.
Five days ago I order four directly from T-Motor, first on the website, but was some problems and finally on the eBay account. Today I just received a message saying that my order cannot be fulfilled because they have a(nother) problem. They have not specified what kind of problem.
I was wondering if you could guide me in looking for an alternative to these engines.
I am looking for Trust and maximize flight time.
Theoretically, (www.ecalc.ch) in a 280 drone with 6030 props, AUW 848g and 2×1550 LiPoo I get 20m fly.
Thrust: 4:1
Not overheating: 40ºC
Batt. Load: Low
Thanks
Sergey
Hello LeRAW, thank you for you comment. The 2200kv is currently available on Banggood (link at the end of the article). The other two version are indeed under restock. You could find the 2500kv version on Flyduino (the manufacturer of KISS flight controller). Cheers, Sergey
Flynn203
Very helpful review, thanks for taking the time to complete it. Looking for a pair of hi performance motors for a flying wing twin puller with 6″ props using 3-D printed nacelles.
Sergey
Hello Flynn, thank you. If you are looking for a pair of motors, I think the F80 would be too much for a flying wing. If you let me know, what the setup would like to be: are you going to use 3S or 4S battery and how much of a total thrust do you need, I can help on finding a suitable one. Best, Sergey
Flynn203
It’s just a fun project. The wing is a Crashtesthobby Rebel 14 40″, EPP, carbon spar, shock cord, lots of glass fiber tape, fully laminated – no ordinary wing. Twin 3-d printed puller nacelles, 4S 1800mAh 75C Tattu. With FPV gear – probably over 600g. Built a dozen CTH wings, rock solid. Looking for 130mph+, so hi thrust but sensible amp draw. Your comments on the F801900kv suiting a 6×4 caught my eye, so say max amps around 30-35 for each motor for 20sec bursts and the battery should not cook. What would be your view? The Tiger site shows the F80 PRO 1900 specs as just for 6S, and the only 4S on their chart was the 2500KV, but your spreadsheet shows 6×4 on 4S for the 1900, so that’s useful. I’m limited to the amp draw from the one battery. I normally use APC props.
Sergey
The battery should be absolutely fine for 70A burst. I was going to propose either the F60 or F40 versions, because you need two of them. However the current F60 Pro III is coming in two version: 2500kv and 2700kv. On 100% throttle with 4S battery and 6″ propeller, it will probably burn… I have tested the previous version of the F60 Pro with 6″ and 4S (2200kV) and the max thrust was 1.7kg at 45A. At about 70% throttle, the result was 1.24kg and 27A. So by having two of these motors, you will have very powerful fixwing and probably not going over 70% throttle. Hope this help you with your decision!
Flynn203
I’m coming back to your spreadsheet for the F80 1900 showing 1388g thrust at 30A on 4S and 6×4. I can also experiment with one motor and 6S. There are too many variants to make an easy decision! Thanks again.
Sergey
You are welcome. If I get the chance to test these new F60 Pro III, will provide you the results.
Flynn203
I had meant to ask – any reason you use KingKong 6×4 props rather than the well known APC? I also came across a comment on the Finwing site that said ‘for 6″ and 6S, use the the quad propeller rather than APC’. I’m wondering why APC was not recommended by this site either.
I bought 3 F80 motors for fixed wing use with 6X4, so these questions are of interest.
Sergey
Good question about the well known APC propeller. Is it also a 6×4 prop? They may recommend a quad propeller just because on 6S, the APC may generate much more thrust and be more power hungry. Therefore it may be too much for the motor to handle the heat and burn. APC is just a well-known brand and the quality of the props are good. Everything else is just physics. I will not be worried to use KingKong or APC or any other 6″ prop if you don’t push the motor to more than 70% throttle.
Justyn Markland
I have used the f80 1900kv motor on a ritewing 38″ wing with full size fpv equipment. With a 4s lipo it will swing an APC 7×5 if you want max thrust. For max speed on a 4s I used the APC 6×4 or dal 6×4, I can use full throttle with either 6×4 prop without fear of burning the motor. I have tried a 5s with the dal 6×4 but temps was hitting 130f and I didnt test any more.
Flynn203
Helpful.thanks.
Les Jack
Justyn – I’ve been flying the 2200kv with a 4S and 6×4 with the CTH wing and it’s quick, no heat, will check with a GPS soon just how quick. Interesting that you reckon your wing flew faster with a 6×4, rather than 7″. Just put the 1900 thro the test rig:
A W Thrust
4S 6×4 26 352 1070
4S 7×5 38 495 1300
5S 5x5x3 36 617 1280
5S 6×4 35 617 1380
5S 7×5 discontinued due to burning smell – no damage
Slightly more efficient with 5S, but I don’t have a small enough pack to try in flight.
Justyn Markland
That is awesome I will be interested to see the GPS data on speed. The 6×4 does look and feel faster but I have no data to back it up.
Flynn203
Sergey or any other posters can maybe help with this related query, rather stuck for an answer.
I have a T-motor F45A-32bit 3-6S ESC that I want to connect to an F80 motor on my flying wing. I bought this ESC as it is very light, runs 6S, and should work well with the motor. It has no BEC, so I connected up a separate UBEC. Not familiar with these, but the wiring looks fine. My problem is that when I connected the battery to test the system, there was immediately a smell of smoke from the motor which buzzed. This is a quad BLheli esc, and I’m not using an FC, so not sure how to program it, but can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t just work out of the box. Any ideas??
Sergey
Hello Flynn, I would say it is not normal. The smoke usually means, there is a wrong polarity connection… You dont need a UBEC for the ESC-Motor connection. The UBEC is there to provide other components, like FPV camera, with 5V. If you could post a picture, how you made the connection, maybe I will be able to help. Best, Sergey
Flynn 203
I took the leads apart and reconnected and the problem disappeared, so not sure why that happened. It looks like I need to calibrate the F45A ESC using a BLHeli 32 configurator via an FC – it doesn’t seem to accept Tx throttle calibration. I have an F405wing so I’ll try using that and hopefully the ESCs will then work without the FC.