Crashed P3P worked fine, then started to smoke

[goalie_brent]

Hey everyone, I tried to keep the title brief but what really happened is I crashed the P3P into a tree, it tumbled down on the branches and had a seemingly soft landing. Broke three blades, but I was prepared. I switched the blades and turned it back on. However I noticed some smoke starting to appear so I quickly powered off and removed the battery. I decided to try another battery to see if it was a battery issue. A different battery worked fine. I have flown several hours since this incident. However it seems to be happening again. I am thinking there is some sort of a short that comes and goes. I have read other posts where it seems like the motherboard may be toast but that doesn't make sense to me since I have flown several hours since the crash. Any thoughts?

 

[Steve7777]

Hey everyone, I tried to keep the title brief but what really happened is I crashed the P3P into a tree, it tumbled down on the branches and had a seemingly soft landing. Broke three blades, but I was prepared. I switched the blades and turned it back on. However I noticed some smoke starting to appear so I quickly powered off and removed the battery. I decided to try another battery to see if it was a battery issue. A different battery worked fine. I have flown several hours since this incident. However it seems to be happening again. I am thinking there is some sort of a short that comes and goes. I have read other posts where it seems like the motherboard may be toast but that doesn't make sense to me since I have flown several hours since the crash. Any thoughts?

The first thing you need to do is open up your drone to try to see what the trouble is. Although it's not guaranteed to be visible, there may be some scorching/burning in the area where the problem is.

If you can't see anything obvious, the next move would be to connect up a battery, still with everything exposed and switch on. If you still can't see anything obvious causing the smoke, then (gently) shake the drone around a bit, all the while being ready to pull out the battery if necessary.

Preferably do all this 'diagnosis' outside, and preferably where it is not too bright, so that it's easier to see any glowing hot-spots...

If anything should go wrong while using these methods, then at least your house will still be in one piece...

Assuming all goes well, fix the problem yourself - or pay someone else to do it.

 

[goalie_brent]

I took the drone apart as you had recommended. It took me a while to get psyched up for it as it's a pain to do. I don't mind all the screws but I'm always afraid of breaking the locking plastic pieces. One of the cables was frayed and I think that was my problem. I'm guessing when it crashed some wires pulled out of the plug a bit and shorted out. In moving it around these two wires moved away from each other. Luckily I had bought a crashed P3 Advanced for the spare controller and batteries and so I had a spare set of cables. Put everything back together and I'm flying again! Thanks for taking the time to respond!

 

[Steve7777]

I took the drone apart as you had recommended. It took me a while to get psyched up for it as it's a pain to do. I don't mind all the screws but I'm always afraid of breaking the locking plastic pieces. One of the cables was frayed and I think that was my problem. I'm guessing when it crashed some wires pulled out of the plug a bit and shorted out. In moving it around these two wires moved away from each other. Luckily I had bought a crashed P3 Advanced for the spare controller and batteries and so I had a spare set of cables. Put everything back together and I'm flying again! Thanks for taking the time to respond!View attachment 107764

Ummmm... yes, that probably was your problem....

Although there are quite a few vids online about it, here's just one showing a good method of opening up a P3 shell:-

You can also minimise the risk of breaking the tabs by doing the work in a warmer environment or even warming the areas, (but carefully), where you know the tabs are. Judicious application of heat in those areas using a hairdyer, or even a heatgun, will make the tabs less brittle and thus less liable to break.

Glad you finally got there!