Bad crash - P3S

[Ohioguy]

A couple of days ago, I crashed my P3S. The gimbal was broken off the bird, all four props were destroyed. One side of the landing gear was broken and there is a crack in the body about two inches from one of the motors. The gimbal was in tact with the exception of the antenna leads. One was hanging from the body and one was hanging from the gimbal. I thought I would try reconnecting the gimbal ribbon cable and determine if the bird was worth a repair attempt. When I power the bird, I get the normal tones and the motor initialization, but no gimbal activity of and kind. The remote also doe not see the bird. I could replace the gimbal antennas but am doubtful that will correct the connect issue.

This would have been my 96th flight. When I readied the bird for flight I was getting intermittent interference indications but had a one time opportunity to capture an event. I chose poorly.

Any thought on repairs would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Curt

 

[Neon Euc]

It may something as simple as a damage ribbon cable between the drone and camera. It may even just have popped out the socket. Have you had a look? You will need to open the shell to get to it. But be careful as inside the GPS chip is stuck to the top of the shell, so don't just pull the shell off as you will rip the wire in half

 

[Neon Euc]

Sorry curt, I missed most of the thread as I skimmed through it. Hopefully someone will chime in

 

[WV. Rootman]

The remote can't see the bird because of the broken antenna wires. $18 US. for new black and grey WiFi antenna wires and you will possibly see the information from the p3 and if the camera is working.

 

[Ohioguy]

Sorry curt, I missed most of the thread as I skimmed through it. Hopefully someone will chime in

Thanks, I priced all the components I need and I'm around $130, be happy to do that but I could put that money toward a replacement. I'll pop the top as you suggested and see what's inside. I have watched a couple of Youtube videos, so I'll be close to the antenna replacement anyway....

 

[Ohioguy]

The remote can't see the bird because of the broken antenna wires. $18 US. for new black and grey WiFi antenna wires and you will possibly see the information from the p3 and if the camera is working.

Thanks, I priced all the components I need and I'm around $130, be happy to do that but I could put that money toward a replacement. I'll pop the top as you suggested and see what's inside. I have watched a couple of Youtube videos, so I'll be close to the antenna replacement anyway....I may try the P3P upgrade on the antennas, it looks like I can do that externally?

 

[Neon Euc]

Thanks, I priced all the components I need and I'm around $130, be happy to do that but I could put that money toward a replacement. I'll pop the top as you suggested and see what's inside. I have watched a couple of Youtube videos, so I'll be close to the antenna replacement anyway....

Its a win/win situation by the sounds of it. If you repair it that will save you money, if you buy another bird then you will have open that one up, giving you experience and it will also look cool having another drone on the shelf even if it busted. Plus.... Always got spare parts at hand [emoji4]

 

[vroomys]

Forget the useless phantoms and get a mavic air. I had both p3 and p4 Both crashed, both very bad damaged , I love both machines but very bulky to carry around.Mavic air blows all of them away!

 

[Ohioguy]

So after some disassembly, I decided to replace the body, landing gear and antennas. I was happy I regained the ability to connect and it seems I just have some minor gimbal issues I hope to work out. A couple of test flights went fine, the only issue being a little jitter in the video. I replaced the mounting plate and the "shocks" yesterday, too rainy to fly today. As Neon suggested, I learned a lot from that disassembly.....
Thanks for the help!
Curt

 

[Just_nick]

Forget the useless phantoms and get a mavic air. I had both p3 and p4 Both crashed, both very bad damaged , I love both machines but very bulky to carry around.Mavic air blows all of them away!

My Phantom has longer range, battery life, a better gimbal, and better wind resistance than my Mavic. Calm down with your conjecture.

 

[Brother Dave]

Forget the useless phantoms and get a mavic air. I had both p3 and p4 Both crashed, both very bad damaged , I love both machines but very bulky to carry around.Mavic air blows all of them away!

Umm, forget it.

 

[Sirsly]

Mavic air is a good paper weight

 

[KMixson]

I can understand the portability in a Mavic Air or Mavic Pro. I would rather have the larger size of the Phantom to be able to see it at greater distances with ease. I have even put a red skin on my drone to better spot it at a distance. The white is easy to lose sight of on certain days.

 

[Brother Dave]

Lol, I like the white,Because it’s hard to see. In my neighborhood, they like moving targets, [emoji4]

 

[WV. Rootman]

Great idea. I'm dying mine sky blue with white clouds camo. Unfortunately we have few eagles because people here like targets in the air.