Neo brushless motor Allen screws - Hot Air on Allen key solves Threadlock problem

[LEE_2017]

Neo brushless motor Allen screws are notoriously tight straight from the factory.
There are many reports of stripping the motor case Allen key hole when wanting to drive a pinion onto shaft as per factory instructions.
If you don’t use a high quality 1.5mm Allen key and doggedly ensure it is driven completely into screw head you will end up with a rounded out hole which is a major hassle.
A moments inattention results in hours of grief. (ask me how I know x3 after supervising this operation over several years)
I’ve just worked on yet another neo brushless motor and have finally had no problem with the screws after heating the firmly seated Allen Key with a soldering hot-air gun.
I didn’t specifically heat the motor itself, most of the heat was directed at the Allen Key.
When the motor body began to feel warmish next to the screw I found the screw was only moderately hard to unscrew instead of the mind numbing forces needed without heat.

Checklist

• High quality 1.5mm Allen Key
• Ensure key is fully seated in screw head (Don’t let student ‘just try’ to turn it before seated - you WILL be sorry)
• Heat Allen key with hot air gun (Don’t heat motor body overly)
• Putting a sharpie mark on screw lets you see if it is actually turning.

[chadr03]

If you did not know. The V1.1 has made the removal of these screws essentially a thing of the past. The tapped hole in the back of the cover allows you to support the shaft in pressing operations without having to remove the cover.

If you are still using the original neos then I am glad you figured out this process.

[jepperson]

The falcon spline shaft retention screws have sort of the same problem. What I’ve found to work also is if you clamp the torx key onto a vice and then put downward pressure while rotating the entire motor about this fixed torx key, it tends to not strip/skip.