I recently scratch built an FT Explorer as my first FPV craft. I skimped on the powerplant and bought one of those cheap A2212 1000kv / 30A esc combos off of aliexpress. I paired this with a 9x6EP prop which, in retrospect, I believe was too big. I was running this on 3S batteries and I got three flights out of it before the ESC caught on fire. When I inspected the damage, I found one of the motor leads had come lose from the ESC. I'm not sure if a broken solder joint caused the fire, or if the fire caused the lead to detach. In any case, I'd like to stick with the 9x6EP props and 3s batteries, and purchase a new motor and esc. Was hoping you guys could help me avoid a bad purchase if my selections aren't going to work out.

I'm leaning towards the DYS D2836 1120KV but I don't know if I should go with the 880KV version instead. I'm assuming a 30A ESC will work for both these motors.
Are these motors too small for this plane? Do I need to buy something bigger, like the DYS D3548 1100KV?

In the future, I'll likely retire the Explorer and build a sleeker/faster foamboard plane to put this powerplant in. I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on that as well.

I'm really loving FPV so far. I really, really appreciate the wealth of knowledge and good advice that's been afforded to me by this forum. I'd like to give a big thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to reply to my super noobish questions.

If I would have to guess, I'd say that the pitch of your prop is what caused your ESC to overheat and cause the fire, as your setup should be sufficient. You may want to go with a 2215 1100 kv motor like the Emax
https://www.hobbypartz.com/66p-160-gt221...v1100.html
but more importantly drop down to a 10 X 4.5 slow fly prop