Not sure why they ended power functions. Imo, their new control plus stuff isn't that great and can't be customized as much as power functions, not to mention the cost.
Control plus and powered up are basically power functions but programmable. I think it’s pretty neat but like you said the cost is just... too much. I could buy a 300 dollar Technic set with 5 C+ parts and sell them on eBay and get my 300 dollars back.
Thankfully I still have quite a bit of PF stuff, the only component I'm lacking sometimes is the XL motors, currently, I only have two (and considering the current price of those, that number's not gonna change any time soon)
As much of a Lego purist as I am, I will seriously consider buying some of these. Don’t think of them as knockoffs, think of them as aftermarket parts 😂
As someone who has used official power functions motors for years, I can say that the only difference between these and the official ones is that these don’t say LEGO on the side.
@@Calthecool LEGO is so famous (and expensive) because their production tolerances are insanely good. These are probably a lot sloppier by comparison, and you can even see evidence of that by the weaker fit of the axle. That said, it's still ultimately a toy, and the flex of most parts under strain will be much more apparent than the tolerances anyway so it's a moot point 90% of the time.
Yeah Lego isn’t making them anymore, so it’s not like they’re losing money from this. Power functions fans clearly still prefer it over ctrl+ so we aren’t buying it anyway.
Great video! I'm going to pick up some of their "L motors" and give them a go. I've always found Lego motors to be slow, so these upgrades would be nice
Thanks for the feedback! According to the listing’s specs, the L motors should behave the same as the M motor, with a much higher RPM and torque. Just remember that they aren’t made by LEGO, so we have no idea whether they will last a long time or not. Here is the specific listing I bought from. www.ebay.com/itm/233855363530
@@alessioram6631 great question! I'll have to give you a raincheck on this one as I'm still designing a model for them, but I've since ordered and recieved them. They're indeed very fast, and I have substituted the rechargeable PF box for the AA box from the power consumption. Long-term is still uncertain though
I remember these from like 15 years ago. Damn i loved building stuff with this and just messing around Also, i NEED to see an original lego technic set working with these strong bois. Imagine a big excavator with these fast motors in them
I have been using knockoff lepin motors for years now, and with one exception they have been holding up great! (I got 10 of them) Sadly they dont have any overcurrent protection, which is something I found out the hard way: I like using lipo (litium polymer) batteryes for my builds, as they are much smaller and lighter than AA batteryes. They also can output a TON of current.. so imagine what it looks like when you stall one of these motors.. it catches on fire! Yeah not ideal.. Solved it with an easy fix, just solder on some fuses inside the motors, just like they are in genuine lego motors. This little fiasco did cost me one of my v2 ir recivers dough.. rip Also lepin makes recivers too, but they are not infra red like the lego ones. Instead they use 2.4ghz which is a huge upgrade, and they work great, and have a longer range, are not affected by sunlight or obstacles.
Every time a fuse blows you gotta take it apart again! That sounds... inconvenient to say the least. I cannot comment on overcurrent protection for these red ones, but LEGO PF battery boxes have overcurrent protection built in.
@@LegoTechnicsRule well fuse is not really the right word, its a little thing that is soldered on the motor tab in series with the motor, and it limits current. I have no idea what the name of that is. So its not a fuse, no need to replace. Lego motors have the same little thing soldered on them. So even if I use lego motors with a lipo battery, current can not go above unsafe amounts.
@@Gwenpool2369 It's a capacitor, not a resistor. Current limiting via a resistor is just a waste of power. I have many brushed motors that have capacitors on each of the brush, to limit the current intake.
I feel like I finally need to make this a pinned comment. I know I messed up with the sound level section. Now I know it’s a logarithmic scale, not a linear one, so if you would like to make me aware of that, no need! Edit: After using one of these for an hour straight in my latest video(100 googol ratio video at the time of writing), the motor only got hot. Not untouchably hot or anything, but just hot. Motors get hot after all, so I would fully expect the genuine LEGO motors to approach a similar temp. I repeat, the motor only got hot, there was no burnt electronics smell, the cable wasn’t warm at all, the motor itself just got hot. This is a test I should have done in this video, but didn’t because I’m stupid. Hope this adds to the story!
I bought my first lego motor a power functions L and the triple A battery box. It was a lot of fun but I wanted more. So, I purchased a “fake” ir receiver and controller and it works a dream. Then, I bought a copy m motor. I noticed it was strong and good. Had it for a few months. It works great in every way and doesn’t suck up too much power when paired with the 1 large power functions motor. You can check it out on my TH-cam channel. I have made 2 videos with the m and l motor.
It seems all of the “fake” LEGO motors are built off the same design. The reason I say this is some of them are gray and some are red. I have even seen a transparent one on eBay. The gray and red ones(from different sellers) I have tested have the exact same RPM, strength and current draw. Therefore if you’d like to buy more sooner or later, any listing of fake PFs should suffice.
I have Chinese motors and the Chinese interface, but as you say, the power and torque is much higher, besides being more reliable, and they do not stick or lose polarity, and it is much more reliable, and there is no loss of power or control.
Its crazy these are so expensive now! I had no idea they stopped producing them! Glad there's some sort of alternative, hopefully Lego changes course and starts another line of motors.
Once my parents bought me 2 fake L motors for Christmas and they work like a charm. They are still working until now and survived nearly 2 months already
Glad to hear that, but it really depends on how you use them, how often, and for how long. DC motors usually don’t die immediately unless you do something crazy like stall them for a long period of time. They tend to go out fairly slowly. They might start to whine, produce a strong burnt electronics smell, or slow down and lose power. What worries me with these red ones in particular is that the massively increased speed WILL cause the brushes to wear out faster than the original slower Lego ones. With that being said, 2 months is great, but what about 2+ years? If one ever breaks on you, let me know. I would be interested in the longevity of these motors.
The speed of a DC motor is directly related to the voltage. So fresh unused batteries will produce a higher RPM than worn batteries, due to higher voltage. These motors are not servo controlled so they run a speed determined by voltage, current and load.
Good to know, yet another case of these cheap knockoffs performing well. I am genuinely surprised about the quality of these things, considering the fact that well, they are blatant knockoffs.
I have used them on and off after this video went up and I am happy with them. Also, they did manage to withstand being completely stalled for a brief period(several times before this video for other testing purposes), so that tells us that they have some resilient internal gearing. If I were to use them in GBC modules running for the time you specified, I would use them, purely because of the steep price of the genuine ones. Maybe buy an extra 1 or 2 for the off chance that one breaks.
I have 60-70 of these in various forms now. They've all been fantastic. The only complaint I have about them is the servos are not proportional. Otherwise theyve done everything Ive needed of them. I'd highly recommend the Mould King brand. They have been very consistent in quality and I havent had a single failure yet.
I don't own many modern motors, but have several 4.5v train motors from the 70s, and they all still work. Half of my technic motors from the late 90s failed spectacularly: some metal parts managed to oxidize within the fully enclosed case, in their original boxes stored in a dry attic... and turn into literal dust. Not great. The few that still work have little power. From recent technic sets I have one PF motor, that one seems strong, and a couple P-up that also perform fine. Personally I wouldn't really mind using knock-offs, but I'd want them the blend in with regard to performance. Too much power may break other parts!
That’s exactly what I mean! Some people say “more power go brrrr” and some say “too much it’s gonna break stuff.” It can be seen as a pos or neg. However, it can be a positive depending on the situation where more power/higher RPM is required.
I got a pack of these off amazon for 89.00. It came with the battery box, remote, 2 of each kinds of the motors and 3 sets of lights. They also can be controlled by Bluetooth on a mobile device. I like them. I have an XL running in a 4x4 truck. It climbs and runs through Lego piles with no issue. The company that I got them from is called Misini.
The prices of the knock off motors are actually very similar to what the genuine motors were before they were discontinued For example the power functions XL motor costed just $10 while the L motor costed $14 and the M motor costed just $7.49
Great video and thanks for taking the time to do it. I just purchased the Lego functions and not the knock offs. I am a believer in quality and I question- as you did- the longevity of the knock offs. Personally I'll give up the rpm and torque for longer battery life. Just need to gear properly to make up the torque end and rpm isn't really an issue. L&S👍
I have reason to believe it was corporate greed. The market was so flooded with Power Functions, LEGO needed to make something new and appealing with upgrades. They did deliver, but it’s... it’s just not the same.
The knockoff servo motor is the one motor that I definitely can’t recommend to use EVER. Instead of tracking its position and stopping at a given point like the genuine servo motor does, the knockoff ones quite literally stall the motor at +90 degrees and -90. It’s an extremely cheap way to do it, isn’t accurate at all, results in huge power draw, and won’t last very long.
my concern is that the m motor will heat up if stalled for a while. they use a stock 12v 130 stile motor but i know for a fact that you can get high current versions of the 130 motor that are used in small hobby rc cars designed to run off LiPo batteries. im guessing they just did a switcheroo since there was a gap in the market
@@LegoTechnicsRule thats what I'm afraid of, also wondering how things like the IR controller and speed controller on the lipo battery will deal with it since the components are probably not rated for such current however LEGO probably have safeguards for that. I would like to see how it would work for small lego vehicles though.
I wonder if this is one of those situations where some company got hold of the genuine molds and contacted the original suppliers to Lego (after Lego discontinued PF), and just kept making PF after shaving the Lego logos off
@@LegoTechnicsRule This is very likely, one of the most common ways Chinese manufacturers copy molds is by getting a hold of the digital files and editing them and creating new molds.
LEGO has very tight control of their molds, they never leave their own facilities and gets destroyed when no longer in use. So these parts are made with a copy of a mold, can either be from original drawings they've managed to get ahold of somehow or simply by just measuring/scanning the original and create their own drawings/molds based on this.
Powered up motors are much more complex than power functions. Power functions are just ‘dumb’ motors while powered up motors are servo motors with an encoder and feedback system for the hub. If any knock off powered up motors currently exist, the odds are they are just ‘dumb’ motors without the bells and whistles.
I am super against modifying LEGO parts, but if you REALLY had to, 2 of the 4 are neg and pos. Just gotta test with some alligator clips. Actually scratch that. I made a video explaining exactly(kinda) what you are asking. th-cam.com/video/Buk4Ge0FXC8/w-d-xo.html
Cool Thanks🙏🌟 Going into the wall is the best ever! I'll do that. It's just that I'd like to spin a 15 cm golden disco ball very slow and all the standard motors spin so fast, my easiest solution was with LEGO 🤸♂
@6:15, no, we know that their parts will not last necessarily a long time! I had too many cable break! With my brother being my successor in using these motors, pretty much every single cable broke, and my father luckily repaired a few of them.
If the M motor shut down the power supply by drawing over 2A, the XL motor would surely have the same behavior, but draw even more current than the M motor did.
@@BattleBricksRobots Another viewer gave me the idea to put two motors on the power supply and stall one. If both turn off, that means the power supply shut down, not the motor’s own overcurrent protection. I tried exactly that and sure enough, both motors shut down after stalling one. With that being said, I have no idea if these motors have overcurrent protection. I should have tore one apart in this video, but the idea never came to me beforehand.
I couldn't find any of those fake motors with working servo - all fake servos only work by going full left or full right, keeping position by stalling motor.
That is not good at all. The current draw must be huge, drastically reducing the life of your batteries, slowing down the other motors, and a potential fire hazard. However, read some of the other comments and replies on this video. People have had other experiences.
@@LegoTechnicsRule a clicked "more comments" few times, but didn't found any comment referencing servo motors. Even CaDa, according to comments on listings, doesn't have real servo.
Apparently The Lego Group used custom armatures in 130 motor cores in their M-motors, and most likely their L-motors too, and these Chinese knockoffs are using motor cores from standard production, so of _course_ their operating characteristics will be different. TLG may have used a standard production core for their XL motors though. This also means that you can replace a M-motor core with one purpose-made to upgrade flywheel dart blasters. If any of my M-motors die, I want to replace the core with an Out of Darts Kraken and see how much better that makes the M-motor!
If i had to guess, the reason why they outperform original lego motors is because they might not have a voltage limiter, which is good for making power but unsafe for the motor and its components. The original Lego motor would win in longevity.
@@politicallyinaccuratetoast4757 It all comes down to how the motor is wound. I don’t know the math behind it, but DC motor speed at a given voltage is determined mainly by number of turns of wire around the armature. (Number of poles also plays a role.) These motors must have less turns than the original ones. Less turns means faster and stronger but also shorter lifespan as more heat is generated and the higher RPM will wear out the brushes/bearings/gears faster.
I wouldn't be so certain that the power supply shut down to protect itself. Decent DC motors have protection built into them that will shut down if they stall.
Another commenter said the same thing and gave me the idea to run two motors at a time on the same power supply. I tried this, stalled one, and they both shut down, indicating a power supply overcurrent trip.
If you do, please tell me about your findings. I have no idea of the longevity of these things, and it would be nice to see someone speed up their lifespan to see what happens.
I haven’t used them much, but I will link you to a video where I torture tested one for an hour. After I was done with it, it was warm but sounded the same and seemed to work fine, so suffice to say these things are solid units. th-cam.com/video/nI-PCRkGQ8o/w-d-xo.html
That is possible, but unlikely. Since the genuine LEGO motor didn’t shut down while stalled, the knockoffs will likely behave the same way given enough current. Also, the RPM and torque measurements would indicate the knockoffs would have a MUCH higher stalled current. This, compounded with the fact that the power supply can only output 2A, indicates that these motors will draw more than 2A if the power supply was beefier.
@@runforitman Oh no no, proving others wrong is never my intention. My intention was to get the facts right. If you didn’t have me test that we wouldn’t have known if it was the psu or the motor. Again, good test.
I personally would buy the motor set from CaDa. Also in grey and even with lights. And they are way more trustworthy in my oppinion that a random shop on Ebay.
I have gotten a few comments and replies from people who have used these particular ones. The verdict is that they aren’t nearly as good as the original LEGO ones. They do not allow fine tuning and are ‘absolute’.
@@noahater5785 I don’t think they would contain electrolytic capacitors. All the small brushed dc motors I’ve seen have small ceramic disc capacitors in parallel with the motor.
They don't use the logo but they do use the same everything else but probably is enhanced also the reason why they don't use the logo is so they don't get copyrighted and sued.
The motor is different. It’s much faster and more powerful at the cost of drawing much more current. This can be a good thing and a bad thing as it’s not even close to the originals in terms of speed and power, but... there’s more of it.
Your percentage quieter when comparing the db is inaccurate because db are logarithmic so a difference of 20 decibels is about 10x while a difference of 6 decibels is 2x (30 db to 56 db is a difference of about 20x)
I never bought the servo, so I don’t know. However, I have heard that some of the knockoff servos literally just stall the motor at +/- 90 degrees, which isn’t what you want.
I never thought of that! However if I linked them with two extension cables, wouldn’t the one that has a higher battery level back feed into the other?
Are you sure the motor exceeded 2 A? Many advanced motor drivers have stall detection. Unless this is a very crude uncontrolled DC Motor, I guess it shut off instead of burning itself out
in Chile the only way to get "lego" motors without paying an Iphone price is buying this red ones :/ even the lego official store dont sell any set with motors
In your situation, I would even go as far as to make my own “lego” motors. It can be done and might be a viable option for you if stock is that hard to find.
I am in fact ultimately comparing the internal motor. However better is defined differently by different people. Maybe better means closer to the standard LEGO spec to one and faster and stronger to another. I think the original is better for one of two reasons. The first is that since the motor is much faster and stronger, it is being driven harder and the brushes won’t last as long as a motor that isn’t being driven as hard. Secondly, gearing down the motor is much harder as more gears are needed to achieve a (lower) given speed compared to the original LEGO. This can also be a positive to those who desire higher speeds.
I think you measured the length when doing the torque test incorrectly: total length 18 studs, minus 1 stud for the position of the axle 1 stud in, minus 1/2 stud for the brick distributing the force equally over 1 stud = 16.5 studs = 13.2cm, all in you've lost around 5% of the actual torque
@4:57 the percentages for the noise were calculated incorrectly, as dB is a logarithmic scale, and 0 dB is pretty meaningless, and -20 dB is possible as well.
I think your db math was a little off there, the difference between 26.5db and 61 is nowhere near 130!!! Its a logarithmic scale, the knockoff motor was somewhere on the order of 1000 louder than the real one!
I didnt get why you wont use them if they look like lego and perform way better. I did similar test to the L motors, results was similar. I never had those red motors, maybe I'll get them soon. I used the cheapest motors from ali (3$). And they cool, nothing happen to them with time. Only the lego servo is totaly other case. There is no good replacment for that. Personally - I'll never use lego motors again. All my other lego things is only original.
"But one small problem is that I'm a Lego purist" Me owning a 80€ lego emerald night chinese knock off bcs I didn't want to pay 800€: 😶 (Ps : For 80€ its a good product there are just rubber bands for the wheels that are missing)
I started using a lot of knock-off Lego -especially with tecnic and motors and pneumatics. First, they discontinued PF and , I think pneumatics,, so we have that. Then I don't care for the control plus. And the tecnic prices are getting too high. The quality isn't that bad, for the Chinese knock-offs. I don't feel bad about cutting the connectors off and controlling them with microcontrollers (IR, BT, or WiFi) because the price isn't that bad.
I am also a purist, but I make an exception for all things electrical. That is because TLG group has dropped the ball in a big way. Twenty years ago it became apparent that IR would become outdated by Bluetooth (1998); especially with the advent of smartphones (2007). Yet it took TLG until 2018 before bringing their Bluetooth products to market. Much later than Sbrick (2014) and Buwizz (2016). The benefits of Bluetooth over IR are so obvious that this is an inexcusable mistake. It is the point TLG lost me as a customer of their electronics. It should be mentioned that the slow adoption of Bluetooth is far from the only miss TLG has scored when it comes to its electronics products.
Well said. The only thing that IR has going for it though(and I personally like) is that it’s so dang simple. No connections needing to be established, cheap, and less things that could go wrong. Just push a button and things happen! However I do realize that Bluetooth is *much* more versatile, but the simplicity of IR still holds a place in my heart lol
Just bought a red XL for $5 because ebay gave me a $5 off coupoun (reg price is $10). I always had issues with the genuine motors dying on me (probably 3 or 4 overall) so im hooing this one lasts longer
Not sure why they ended power functions. Imo, their new control plus stuff isn't that great and can't be customized as much as power functions, not to mention the cost.
Control plus and powered up are basically power functions but programmable. I think it’s pretty neat but like you said the cost is just... too much. I could buy a 300 dollar Technic set with 5 C+ parts and sell them on eBay and get my 300 dollars back.
because lego, as any corporation, doesn't care about consumers. Money is the only suitable option
The retirement of power functions and introduction of PoweredUp has taken the joy out of building mechanical builds for me.
I was feeling like learning how to learn mechanical stuff but now learning they’re discontinued,.. oh well not today
Thankfully I still have quite a bit of PF stuff, the only component I'm lacking sometimes is the XL motors, currently, I only have two (and considering the current price of those, that number's not gonna change any time soon)
As much of a Lego purist as I am, I will seriously consider buying some of these. Don’t think of them as knockoffs, think of them as aftermarket parts 😂
As someone who has used official power functions motors for years, I can say that the only difference between these and the official ones is that these don’t say LEGO on the side.
@@Calthecool LEGO is so famous (and expensive) because their production tolerances are insanely good. These are probably a lot sloppier by comparison, and you can even see evidence of that by the weaker fit of the axle. That said, it's still ultimately a toy, and the flex of most parts under strain will be much more apparent than the tolerances anyway so it's a moot point 90% of the time.
@@dustinbrueggemann1875 I can deal with half assed for 1/3rd of the price
Yeah Lego isn’t making them anymore, so it’s not like they’re losing money from this. Power functions fans clearly still prefer it over ctrl+ so we aren’t buying it anyway.
@@dustinbrueggemann1875 LEGO didn't build the motor, so most motors are done in China, Lego or not.
i have these and they are great, i had one running a GBC module for 2 days straight and it still works fine
Where did you got them?
aliexpress
Little correction concerning the loudness: db is not a linear scale, it's logarithmic which means that an increase of 10 db is double the loudness
I did overlook that. Thanks for pointing that out!
However, the human noise perception is also not linear
@@alexanderhorstkotter2910 thats one of the points of the decibel scale
You are only stating the amplitude increase here! The Power will double every 3dB - so it‘s quite a lot louder!
@@alexanderhorstkotter2910 that's why decibel isn't linear, to represent exactly that fact.
My favourite bit of this video, you opening the packets with the table saw.
Great video! I'm going to pick up some of their "L motors" and give them a go. I've always found Lego motors to be slow, so these upgrades would be nice
Thanks for the feedback! According to the listing’s specs, the L motors should behave the same as the M motor, with a much higher RPM and torque. Just remember that they aren’t made by LEGO, so we have no idea whether they will last a long time or not. Here is the specific listing I bought from. www.ebay.com/itm/233855363530
@@LegoTechnicsRule that's fair for durability I'm not too concerned. I will have to consider power draw though 😅
@@flyboy7399 how are they holding up?
@@alessioram6631 great question! I'll have to give you a raincheck on this one as I'm still designing a model for them, but I've since ordered and recieved them. They're indeed very fast, and I have substituted the rechargeable PF box for the AA box from the power consumption. Long-term is still uncertain though
@@flyboy7399 Awesome! Be sure to update me, I am very interested in buying a few.
I remember these from like 15 years ago. Damn i loved building stuff with this and just messing around
Also, i NEED to see an original lego technic set working with these strong bois.
Imagine a big excavator with these fast motors in them
I have been using knockoff lepin motors for years now, and with one exception they have been holding up great! (I got 10 of them)
Sadly they dont have any overcurrent protection, which is something I found out the hard way: I like using lipo (litium polymer) batteryes for my builds, as they are much smaller and lighter than AA batteryes. They also can output a TON of current.. so imagine what it looks like when you stall one of these motors.. it catches on fire! Yeah not ideal.. Solved it with an easy fix, just solder on some fuses inside the motors, just like they are in genuine lego motors. This little fiasco did cost me one of my v2 ir recivers dough.. rip
Also lepin makes recivers too, but they are not infra red like the lego ones. Instead they use 2.4ghz which is a huge upgrade, and they work great, and have a longer range, are not affected by sunlight or obstacles.
Every time a fuse blows you gotta take it apart again! That sounds... inconvenient to say the least. I cannot comment on overcurrent protection for these red ones, but LEGO PF battery boxes have overcurrent protection built in.
@@LegoTechnicsRule well fuse is not really the right word, its a little thing that is soldered on the motor tab in series with the motor, and it limits current. I have no idea what the name of that is.
So its not a fuse, no need to replace. Lego motors have the same little thing soldered on them. So even if I use lego motors with a lipo battery, current can not go above unsafe amounts.
@@-FARKI sounds like a resistor, is that what it is? - electrical engineering student
@@Gwenpool2369 yeah thats it
@@Gwenpool2369 It's a capacitor, not a resistor. Current limiting via a resistor is just a waste of power. I have many brushed motors that have capacitors on each of the brush, to limit the current intake.
I feel like I finally need to make this a pinned comment. I know I messed up with the sound level section. Now I know it’s a logarithmic scale, not a linear one, so if you would like to make me aware of that, no need!
Edit: After using one of these for an hour straight in my latest video(100 googol ratio video at the time of writing), the motor only got hot. Not untouchably hot or anything, but just hot. Motors get hot after all, so I would fully expect the genuine LEGO motors to approach a similar temp. I repeat, the motor only got hot, there was no burnt electronics smell, the cable wasn’t warm at all, the motor itself just got hot. This is a test I should have done in this video, but didn’t because I’m stupid. Hope this adds to the story!
It's a logarithmic scale
@@DryPaperHammerBro It’s only a matter of time before someone tells me I had it right and it’s a linear scale.
@@LegoTechnicsRule Dw, I'm just messing with ya. :p
Bruh I got some of these from a goodwill outlet store FOR ALMOST FREE. Cuz it was sold by weight and its not even 1 pound.
If they were genuine LEGO, you scored mega bigtime.
I bought my first lego motor a power functions L and the triple A battery box. It was a lot of fun but I wanted more. So, I purchased a “fake” ir receiver and controller and it works a dream. Then, I bought a copy m motor. I noticed it was strong and good. Had it for a few months. It works great in every way and doesn’t suck up too much power when paired with the 1 large power functions motor. You can check it out on my TH-cam channel. I have made 2 videos with the m and l motor.
It seems all of the “fake” LEGO motors are built off the same design. The reason I say this is some of them are gray and some are red. I have even seen a transparent one on eBay. The gray and red ones(from different sellers) I have tested have the exact same RPM, strength and current draw. Therefore if you’d like to buy more sooner or later, any listing of fake PFs should suffice.
I have Chinese motors and the Chinese interface, but as you say, the power and torque is much higher, besides being more reliable, and they do not stick or lose polarity, and it is much more reliable, and there is no loss of power or control.
Interresting find. Thanks for the review.
Now if that manufacturer would just make a half length medium PF motor, that would be awesome!
Its crazy these are so expensive now! I had no idea they stopped producing them! Glad there's some sort of alternative, hopefully Lego changes course and starts another line of motors.
They did, they started so many lines that I don’t even keep track anymore. Now there’s Powered Up, Control+, Robot Inventor, and Spike Prime.
Once my parents bought me 2 fake L motors for Christmas and they work like a charm. They are still working until now and survived nearly 2 months already
Glad to hear that, but it really depends on how you use them, how often, and for how long. DC motors usually don’t die immediately unless you do something crazy like stall them for a long period of time. They tend to go out fairly slowly. They might start to whine, produce a strong burnt electronics smell, or slow down and lose power. What worries me with these red ones in particular is that the massively increased speed WILL cause the brushes to wear out faster than the original slower Lego ones. With that being said, 2 months is great, but what about 2+ years? If one ever breaks on you, let me know. I would be interested in the longevity of these motors.
@@LegoTechnicsRule sure! Weird that my lego m motor just broke after a week of playing with it
The speed of a DC motor is directly related to the voltage. So fresh unused batteries will produce a higher RPM than worn batteries, due to higher voltage. These motors are not servo controlled so they run a speed determined by voltage, current and load.
Their internal winding construction also determines speed, which is the case here vs the genuine motors.
i bought one of these, and after a year its still good as new
Good to know, yet another case of these cheap knockoffs performing well. I am genuinely surprised about the quality of these things, considering the fact that well, they are blatant knockoffs.
@@LegoTechnicsRule i mean, for a DC motor in a plastic housing they are not really that cheap when completed to for example the 2$ RC servos
Great job analyzing the data!
“(Lego motors) will last a long time” literally none of my genuine lego motors lasted me more than a month. Hmmm….
Hmmmmm……
I’ve had mine for 5+ years, not one failure.
@@LegoTechnicsRule maybe I over stressed mine
Any idea on how reliable they are? I build GBCs and run them at shows; I need motors that will hold up for two days of 6+ hours continuous running.
I have used them on and off after this video went up and I am happy with them. Also, they did manage to withstand being completely stalled for a brief period(several times before this video for other testing purposes), so that tells us that they have some resilient internal gearing. If I were to use them in GBC modules running for the time you specified, I would use them, purely because of the steep price of the genuine ones. Maybe buy an extra 1 or 2 for the off chance that one breaks.
i bought a m motor and, i have no regrets
I have 60-70 of these in various forms now. They've all been fantastic. The only complaint I have about them is the servos are not proportional. Otherwise theyve done everything Ive needed of them. I'd highly recommend the Mould King brand. They have been very consistent in quality and I havent had a single failure yet.
I don't own many modern motors, but have several 4.5v train motors from the 70s, and they all still work. Half of my technic motors from the late 90s failed spectacularly: some metal parts managed to oxidize within the fully enclosed case, in their original boxes stored in a dry attic... and turn into literal dust. Not great. The few that still work have little power.
From recent technic sets I have one PF motor, that one seems strong, and a couple P-up that also perform fine. Personally I wouldn't really mind using knock-offs, but I'd want them the blend in with regard to performance. Too much power may break other parts!
That’s exactly what I mean! Some people say “more power go brrrr” and some say “too much it’s gonna break stuff.” It can be seen as a pos or neg. However, it can be a positive depending on the situation where more power/higher RPM is required.
You should try the newer motors from cada. Mine lasted over a year now and they seem much stronger and faster in my creations
I got another recommendation for those. I ought to try them out.
I got a pack of these off amazon for 89.00. It came with the battery box, remote, 2 of each kinds of the motors and 3 sets of lights. They also can be controlled by Bluetooth on a mobile device. I like them. I have an XL running in a 4x4 truck. It climbs and runs through Lego piles with no issue. The company that I got them from is called Misini.
Even 2 L motors? 2 Servo motors? Sounds too good to be true
When you get an offbarnd but it's better than the original.
The prices of the knock off motors are actually very similar to what the genuine motors were before they were discontinued
For example the power functions XL motor costed just $10 while the L motor costed $14 and the M motor costed just $7.49
I was able to cop M motors off bricklink for 3 bucks back in the day.
Great video and thanks for taking the time to do it.
I just purchased the Lego functions and not the knock offs. I am a believer in quality and I question- as you did- the longevity of the knock offs.
Personally I'll give up the rpm and torque for longer battery life. Just need to gear properly to make up the torque end and rpm isn't really an issue.
L&S👍
My thoughts exactly! Thanks for the kind words!
You can also get knock off grey motors at even cheaper prices now. Because Lego have become greedy I have no problem getting knockoff parts
I left electrical Lego a couple of years ago, and now these motors are not being produced now? HOW
I have reason to believe it was corporate greed. The market was so flooded with Power Functions, LEGO needed to make something new and appealing with upgrades. They did deliver, but it’s... it’s just not the same.
So i have a question can i plug a buwizz motor ( the powerful one da big boy) with the knock of servo motor
The knockoff servo motor is the one motor that I definitely can’t recommend to use EVER. Instead of tracking its position and stopping at a given point like the genuine servo motor does, the knockoff ones quite literally stall the motor at +90 degrees and -90. It’s an extremely cheap way to do it, isn’t accurate at all, results in huge power draw, and won’t last very long.
Do you have a video on making that table saw out of Legos and a strong motor
my concern is that the m motor will heat up if stalled for a while. they use a stock 12v 130 stile motor but i know for a fact that you can get high current versions of the 130 motor that are used in small hobby rc cars designed to run off LiPo batteries. im guessing they just did a switcheroo since there was a gap in the market
It will for sure heat up and even potentially damage the motor or cause a fire if there is not proper protection implemented in these things.
@@LegoTechnicsRule thats what I'm afraid of, also wondering how things like the IR controller and speed controller on the lipo battery will deal with it since the components are probably not rated for such current however LEGO probably have safeguards for that. I would like to see how it would work for small lego vehicles though.
I wonder if this is one of those situations where some company got hold of the genuine molds and contacted the original suppliers to Lego (after Lego discontinued PF), and just kept making PF after shaving the Lego logos off
I was wondering something similar. I thought that the knock off maker could have got hold of some kind of blueprint.
@@LegoTechnicsRule This is very likely, one of the most common ways Chinese manufacturers copy molds is by getting a hold of the digital files and editing them and creating new molds.
LEGO has very tight control of their molds, they never leave their own facilities and gets destroyed when no longer in use. So these parts are made with a copy of a mold, can either be from original drawings they've managed to get ahold of somehow or simply by just measuring/scanning the original and create their own drawings/molds based on this.
@@Gin-toki I was leaning towards the second option, measuring. This would explain some of the extreme tolerances I noticed.
@@LegoTechnicsRule That would explain those yes.
I wonder if their servo is any good - the knockoff servos I've seen seem to only have 3 positions so steering becomes quite erratic.
If I’m not mistaken, they are only 10 bucks. At that price, it could be worth trying.
i have the same original battery box are you sure it can power two of the knock off red m motors
Yes, unless they are completely stalled or under a VERY heavy load.
@@LegoTechnicsRule thanks dude
im trying to find out if anyone has made knock-off Powered-UP motors but any videos i find are just for the power functions 1.0 system
Powered up motors are much more complex than power functions. Power functions are just ‘dumb’ motors while powered up motors are servo motors with an encoder and feedback system for the hub. If any knock off powered up motors currently exist, the odds are they are just ‘dumb’ motors without the bells and whistles.
Can I connect my lego motor directly to a 9v battery? there are four wires... could I just cut and solder stuff together?
I am super against modifying LEGO parts, but if you REALLY had to, 2 of the 4 are neg and pos. Just gotta test with some alligator clips. Actually scratch that. I made a video explaining exactly(kinda) what you are asking. th-cam.com/video/Buk4Ge0FXC8/w-d-xo.html
Cool Thanks🙏🌟 Going into the wall is the best ever! I'll do that. It's just that I'd like to spin a 15 cm golden disco ball very slow and all the standard motors spin so fast, my easiest solution was with LEGO 🤸♂
decibel work logarhytmically. 60dzb is twice as loud as 50db. 70 is twice as loud as 60.
The Best off-brand Motors you can buy are the ones made by Mould-King (Dark gray transparent) and the ones from BuWizz.
0:47 YOOO that's actually really cool
Personally I don’t care if it’s 3rd or 1st party. As long as the quality is the same or better than the 1st party one, then it’s ok for me.
Bruh. The week before they discontinued powerfunctions, we ordered a set and then we realised this….
dint expected knockoffs motor be that fast lol
Sometimes, the motors don't work with different systems such as lego mainly because of the plug pin positions
@6:15, no, we know that their parts will not last necessarily a long time!
I had too many cable break! With my brother being my successor in using these motors, pretty much every single cable broke, and my father luckily repaired a few of them.
Did you attempt to stall the knockoff XL? I'm curious of what the results of that would be.
If the M motor shut down the power supply by drawing over 2A, the XL motor would surely have the same behavior, but draw even more current than the M motor did.
@@LegoTechnicsRule Ohh I see, the power supply shut down, not the motor's thermal resist. Does the motor even have a thermal resist?
@@BattleBricksRobots Another viewer gave me the idea to put two motors on the power supply and stall one. If both turn off, that means the power supply shut down, not the motor’s own overcurrent protection. I tried exactly that and sure enough, both motors shut down after stalling one. With that being said, I have no idea if these motors have overcurrent protection. I should have tore one apart in this video, but the idea never came to me beforehand.
upgrades people, upgrades!
is there a link I can go to to get some of these?
The listing I bought from can be found here. www.ebay.com/itm/233855363530
@@LegoTechnicsRule thank you
@@LegoTechnicsRule thanks
the knockoff looks like that one classroom pencil sharpener
I would have liked if you had tested the servo motor
I really should have. I would have if I knew beforehand how popular the servos were.
I couldn't find any of those fake motors with working servo - all fake servos only work by going full left or full right, keeping position by stalling motor.
That is not good at all. The current draw must be huge, drastically reducing the life of your batteries, slowing down the other motors, and a potential fire hazard. However, read some of the other comments and replies on this video. People have had other experiences.
@@LegoTechnicsRule a clicked "more comments" few times, but didn't found any comment referencing servo motors. Even CaDa, according to comments on listings, doesn't have real servo.
you should check out green gecko workshop, they make quality lego power functions
Just checked it out. They do look high quality, but they are still the same price as used or even new genuine ones from eBay or bricklink.
Apparently The Lego Group used custom armatures in 130 motor cores in their M-motors, and most likely their L-motors too, and these Chinese knockoffs are using motor cores from standard production, so of _course_ their operating characteristics will be different. TLG may have used a standard production core for their XL motors though.
This also means that you can replace a M-motor core with one purpose-made to upgrade flywheel dart blasters. If any of my M-motors die, I want to replace the core with an Out of Darts Kraken and see how much better that makes the M-motor!
That could explain why the imposter and genuine XLs sound similar.
If i had to guess, the reason why they outperform original lego motors is because they might not have a voltage limiter, which is good for making power but unsafe for the motor and its components. The original Lego motor would win in longevity.
@@politicallyinaccuratetoast4757 It all comes down to how the motor is wound. I don’t know the math behind it, but DC motor speed at a given voltage is determined mainly by number of turns of wire around the armature. (Number of poles also plays a role.) These motors must have less turns than the original ones. Less turns means faster and stronger but also shorter lifespan as more heat is generated and the higher RPM will wear out the brushes/bearings/gears faster.
I wouldn't be so certain that the power supply shut down to protect itself. Decent DC motors have protection built into them that will shut down if they stall.
Another commenter said the same thing and gave me the idea to run two motors at a time on the same power supply. I tried this, stalled one, and they both shut down, indicating a power supply overcurrent trip.
I might buy a few and put them through hell if they don’t crap out i’ll buy some more as I seriously need some new PF Motors.
If you do, please tell me about your findings. I have no idea of the longevity of these things, and it would be nice to see someone speed up their lifespan to see what happens.
Wait, they discontinued it? NOW THE ONCE I HAVE ARE THE ONLY? :(
You can still get them second hand, but you will have to sell a kidney to get them.
Could you do an endurance test?
Maybe strap the motor under a load and run them until they break or something.
I suggest reading the comments on this video. A lot of people are speaking about their experiences with these knockoff motors.
3:21 Honestly I’d take a loss of some runtime for more power!
Batteries are expensive though!
What's the efficiency, then?
I am not advanced enough to measure that.
those knock off motors might have a more powerful motor inside it
My thoughts exactly, with the trade off of a much higher power draw.
It’s been 9 months, did they last?
I haven’t used them much, but I will link you to a video where I torture tested one for an hour. After I was done with it, it was warm but sounded the same and seemed to work fine, so suffice to say these things are solid units.
th-cam.com/video/nI-PCRkGQ8o/w-d-xo.html
@@LegoTechnicsRule thanks I’ll subscribe
I have a knock off emerald night train set that still needs a XL motor, not only are these cheaper but also faster and stronger is great news!
If you want the link to the listing I purchased from, just ask and you shall receive.
3:56 ooooor the motor has an overcurrent protection
testing method is inconclusive
That is possible, but unlikely. Since the genuine LEGO motor didn’t shut down while stalled, the knockoffs will likely behave the same way given enough current. Also, the RPM and torque measurements would indicate the knockoffs would have a MUCH higher stalled current. This, compounded with the fact that the power supply can only output 2A, indicates that these motors will draw more than 2A if the power supply was beefier.
@@LegoTechnicsRule a simple test would be plugging two motors in, stalling one, and seeing if the other still turns
@@runforitman I just tried that with the XL and the M, stalled the M, both shut down. Great test, thanks for the tip!
@@LegoTechnicsRule ay nice. glad to have been proven wrong :)
thank you for trying it
@@runforitman Oh no no, proving others wrong is never my intention. My intention was to get the facts right. If you didn’t have me test that we wouldn’t have known if it was the psu or the motor. Again, good test.
I personally would buy the motor set from CaDa. Also in grey and even with lights. And they are way more trustworthy in my oppinion that a random shop on Ebay.
6:08 did you forgot, that they produce stickers rather than prints?
would like to see how servo motors and other "electronic" motors from this brand perform
I have gotten a few comments and replies from people who have used these particular ones. The verdict is that they aren’t nearly as good as the original LEGO ones. They do not allow fine tuning and are ‘absolute’.
This was super helpful! Thanks!
Any news of longevity yet?
I haven’t used them since the making of this video, mainly due to what I said in the conclusion.
I have some knockoff motors too, the only complain i have abt them is, after a certain time they get oily at the front. Sometimes it even tripps
Strange. I haven’t had that happen. Yet.
Probably due to leaky capacitors, if there are any capacitors to begin with?
@@noahater5785 I don’t think they would contain electrolytic capacitors. All the small brushed dc motors I’ve seen have small ceramic disc capacitors in parallel with the motor.
I can really say that CaDa motors are pretty good… eventually you’ll test em?
Genuine: Pros: Less power draw, quieter
Cons: Less torque, less RPM
Knock-off: Pros: More torque, more RPM
Cons: More power draw, quieter.
They don't use the logo but they do use the same everything else but probably is enhanced also the reason why they don't use the logo is so they don't get copyrighted and sued.
The motor is different. It’s much faster and more powerful at the cost of drawing much more current. This can be a good thing and a bad thing as it’s not even close to the originals in terms of speed and power, but... there’s more of it.
Your percentage quieter when comparing the db is inaccurate because db are logarithmic so a difference of 20 decibels is about 10x while a difference of 6 decibels is 2x (30 db to 56 db is a difference of about 20x)
I was corrected on that twice already but thanks for taking the time to let me know.
So basically the knockoffs are just the genuine parts but on steroids In almost every way 😂😂😂
But what about longevity? I’ve been getting mixed feedback on that one.
Ok, ill go find my lost power function, and sell it
You will make a heck of a profit.
I haven't used power functions in so long but maybe if I wait a few more years I can make some good money from selling them since they are original
Yes, their price is crazy right now.
Is the servo proportional?
I never bought the servo, so I don’t know. However, I have heard that some of the knockoff servos literally just stall the motor at +/- 90 degrees, which isn’t what you want.
@@LegoTechnicsRule ok thanks.
What is the next video about?
@@Notbruck My next video? A giant feature filled life size pinball machine. It’s completed and am in the process of filming it!
@@LegoTechnicsRule love these machines❤️
@@LegoTechnicsRule rjmbricks made one just before, but he dont have enough obscales
were can I find these I want some!
For the current issue just use 2 battery packs in parallel
I never thought of that! However if I linked them with two extension cables, wouldn’t the one that has a higher battery level back feed into the other?
@@LegoTechnicsRule No they won't, as long as they are in parallel, Since the + and - of the batteries dont contact each other
ive never had any issues with knockoffs, if anything they are better
Are you sure the motor exceeded 2 A? Many advanced motor drivers have stall detection.
Unless this is a very crude uncontrolled DC Motor, I guess it shut off instead of burning itself out
can you post an ebay link to these?
I bought them from this listing, but they seem to have changed since then. www.ebay.com/itm/233855363530
in Chile the only way to get "lego" motors without paying an Iphone price is buying this red ones :/ even the lego official store dont sell any set with motors
In your situation, I would even go as far as to make my own “lego” motors. It can be done and might be a viable option for you if stock is that hard to find.
I will definitely have to look into these
ive always found lego electronics prohibitively expensive for me to get many of them
Ur actually comparing the inner motors
Lego uses motors by hong kong company Hoi Po but the knockoff brand probably has a better inner motor.
I am in fact ultimately comparing the internal motor. However better is defined differently by different people. Maybe better means closer to the standard LEGO spec to one and faster and stronger to another.
I think the original is better for one of two reasons. The first is that since the motor is much faster and stronger, it is being driven harder and the brushes won’t last as long as a motor that isn’t being driven as hard. Secondly, gearing down the motor is much harder as more gears are needed to achieve a (lower) given speed compared to the original LEGO. This can also be a positive to those who desire higher speeds.
I think you measured the length when doing the torque test incorrectly: total length 18 studs, minus 1 stud for the position of the axle 1 stud in, minus 1/2 stud for the brick distributing the force equally over 1 stud = 16.5 studs = 13.2cm, all in you've lost around 5% of the actual torque
That would explain the slight deviation from Philo’s measurements.
A 100% "stock" LEGO flying machine is on the horizon...
@4:57 the percentages for the noise were calculated incorrectly, as dB is a logarithmic scale, and 0 dB is pretty meaningless, and -20 dB is possible as well.
Did you see the pinned comment..? Or are you joking xD
@@LegoTechnicsRule No, I didn't see it 😄
Can't be a purist when doing GBCs on a budget. :P
Red makes them go faster
Indeed. Wait a minute...
They don't ship here :(
There are probably other listings that will ship to your country. Just gotta find em.
I think your db math was a little off there, the difference between 26.5db and 61 is nowhere near 130!!! Its a logarithmic scale, the knockoff motor was somewhere on the order of 1000 louder than the real one!
Someone already corrected me on that, but thanks for taking the time to inform me.
@@LegoTechnicsRule Np, great video overall!
Nice.
I didnt get why you wont use them if they look like lego and perform way better. I did similar test to the L motors, results was similar. I never had those red motors, maybe I'll get them soon.
I used the cheapest motors from ali (3$). And they cool, nothing happen to them with time. Only the lego servo is totaly other case. There is no good replacment for that. Personally - I'll never use lego motors again. All my other lego things is only original.
I’m a purist, that’s why. It’s a blessing and a curse!
"But one small problem is that I'm a Lego purist"
Me owning a 80€ lego emerald night chinese knock off bcs I didn't want to pay 800€: 😶
(Ps : For 80€ its a good product there are just rubber bands for the wheels that are missing)
Is there even a LEGO set [that is currently produced] that costs that much?
@@LegoTechnicsRule There is the new Hogwarts Express Train that costs a respectable 500€ but I never heard of another set costing more than that.
I started using a lot of knock-off Lego -especially with tecnic and motors and pneumatics. First, they discontinued PF and , I think pneumatics,, so we have that. Then I don't care for the control plus. And the tecnic prices are getting too high. The quality isn't that bad, for the Chinese knock-offs. I don't feel bad about cutting the connectors off and controlling them with microcontrollers (IR, BT, or WiFi) because the price isn't that bad.
I am also a purist, but I make an exception for all things electrical. That is because TLG group has dropped the ball in a big way. Twenty years ago it became apparent that IR would become outdated by Bluetooth (1998); especially with the advent of smartphones (2007). Yet it took TLG until 2018 before bringing their Bluetooth products to market. Much later than Sbrick (2014) and Buwizz (2016). The benefits of Bluetooth over IR are so obvious that this is an inexcusable mistake. It is the point TLG lost me as a customer of their electronics. It should be mentioned that the slow adoption of Bluetooth is far from the only miss TLG has scored when it comes to its electronics products.
Well said. The only thing that IR has going for it though(and I personally like) is that it’s so dang simple. No connections needing to be established, cheap, and less things that could go wrong. Just push a button and things happen! However I do realize that Bluetooth is *much* more versatile, but the simplicity of IR still holds a place in my heart lol
@@LegoTechnicsRule Hmm yes, with simplicity IR wins. And simplicity is important as well of course.
I only have 1 non knockoff power function which is the switch
Edit: 2:46 ITS 406 NOT 407
Just bought a red XL for $5 because ebay gave me a $5 off coupoun (reg price is $10). I always had issues with the genuine motors dying on me (probably 3 or 4 overall) so im hooing this one lasts longer
Interesting. I haven’t had a LEGO product die on me ever. Anyway, I hope these work for you!
oh damn its got 61 Jessabelles