We have a number of spare T200 thrusters of bought at different times in the past but I am unsure as to which generation they are. Is there an easy way to identify them?
They are still in the cardboard cylinder tubes. The only labels on them are some are T200-R1, some are T200-R1-RP, one is T200-SPARE and the last ones are unlabelled but are marked by us as AUG-2019. The majority of them are not potted.
The latest ones I’ve seen on the store have a SKU code of T200-THRUSTER-R2-RP.
Would I be correct to assume that the different generations of the motors are compatible? The main reason to identify the motors is there was problems in the past with the very early generation T200s and reliability and now we’re looking to add the two additional thrusters for a heavy conversion.
There aren’t exactly specific “generations” of T200 thrusters. We only recently began changing the “R” revision number at the end of the thruster SKU recently to make tracking certain changes easier in our system, but the T200 has been constantly evolving with numerous major and minor changes over the years even before this point.
There is no difference in the performance of any of the T200 iterations, the changes are limited to improving manufacturability and durability. All performance specifications, mounting, and usage instructions will be the same between a thruster off the line today, and 6 years ago.
The only notable incompatibility is as follows:
The black potted stators (as opposed to green coated or clear coated) must be used with rotors and propellers that have the two 4 mm cooling holes at the top. The older stators green/clear stators can be used with either rotor.
The newer M4 (2 mm drive) set screws/shaft collars are only compatible with the newer rotors that have a flat on the shaft for the set screw. However, the older M3 (1.5 mm drive) set screws/shaft collars may be used with both the older and newer rotors, as long as they are not tightened down on the shaft flat.