Drowned P2Vision Plus, and couldn't be happier!

[iowahill]

Just received a newer style P2 V+ that I purchased off of eBay at a very favorable price which had apparently decided to commit suicide by taking a swim in a pool. Couldn't be happier so far, and hope the pool water chemistry was kept up! I bought it as-is without battery or controller, but I have batteries for my P2+. and have a P2V+ controller with WiFi extender expected to arrive in two days.

Overall appearance for everything including shell, camera, gimbal, original accessories and box couldn't be better. Question is, does anyone know if the main board is the same as used in the P2 non-vision series? I know that the flight controller is different because control and video frequencies are swapped, but the main board is what I'm thinking needs to be looked at first. Powering up with a good battery gives two brief flashes of the LEDs, then nothing, and Phantom Assistant sees the planet Mars (???). But I'm thrilled about the prospect of getting this bird rehabilitated and taking wing again!

 

[iowahill]

Okay... it's been about an hour since it arrived by USPS. I can't wait any longer and just have to open the bird up and see what it has inside!

 

[FVP2350]

It is the same

 

[RoyVa]

First thing I would do would be to download the assistant and plug in. Do all the calibrations and check for any errors showing up. Look at the firmware and start testing components and functions. Take it slow and easy to build up confidence in the hardware and it operation. Test test and test then go fly and have fun.

 

[iowahill]

First thing I would do would be to download the assistant and plug in. Do all the calibrations and check for any errors showing up. Look at the firmware and start testing components and functions. Take it slow and easy to build up confidence in the hardware and it operation. Test test and test then go fly and have fun.

I disconnected all of the ESCs, ran the Assistant, calibrated the IMU, updated firmware to 3.14, ensured that battery functions were reading normal, then momentarily connected each ESC to get the audible alerts. As luck would have it, the last (M2 forward port side) was the one that would kill the system. I have a new ESC on the way. Since I bought this sans battery and controller, I bought the newer style controller off eBay and it should arrive tomorrow. Batteries were no problem as I have three for my P2+.

All looks pretty good, the bird looks pretty new (likely less than 6 months old!), and the gimbal and camera seem to calibrate properly on power up. This weekend might be the maiden voyage!

 

[dirtybum]

Sweet, let me know how it goes! Where you flying, name suggests Iowa! I fly distance in the dsm area.

 

[iowahill]

My flights are generally around the Sacramento CA area and into the foothills of the Sierras, as well as the Las Vegas region a few times a year. Iowa Hill is where I have a mining property about an hour east of Sacramento.

 

[hunch]

I disconnected all of the ESCs, ran the Assistant, calibrated the IMU, updated firmware to 3.14, ensured that battery functions were reading normal, then momentarily connected each ESC to get the audible alerts. As luck would have it, the last (M2 forward port side) was the one that would kill the system. I have a new ESC on the way. Since I bought this sans battery and controller, I bought the newer style controller off eBay and it should arrive tomorrow. Batteries were no problem as I have three for my P2+.

All looks pretty good, the bird looks pretty new (likely less than 6 months old!), and the gimbal and camera seem to calibrate properly on power up. This weekend might be the maiden voyage!

glad it worked.
did you order the same ESC? there are like three different ones out there and you want all identical.
one version is with just a serial number on it and the other two types are serial number with small 2.0 on the bottom of it and
the third version has 2.1 printed bellow the serial number.
not a good idea to mix different ESCs on a P2.

 

[iowahill]

Not sure. The serial number appears to be a paper label, and nothing else near it. At the connector end is "301 bldc v2" etched on the board. As the bird is probably less than 6 months old I'm hoping that the new ESC that I ordered from Amazon is the same. If not, I'll just have to buy three more

 

[hunch]

if you bought it from the Amazon for ~$19 it is a 2.1, which is the only one available right now.
unless you find them from a crashed bird.

 

[dirtybum]

My flights are generally around the Sacramento CA area and into the foothills of the Sierras, as well as the Las Vegas region a few times a year. Iowa Hill is where I have a mining property about an hour east of Sacramento.

Nice, shoulda known you was westcoast! Alot of pilots out there! Not so many here in the middle. Most midwesterners act tough but when it comes down to it , they really dont like to get out in the cold[emoji41]

 

[hunch]

Nice, shoulda known you was westcoast! Alot of pilots out there! Not so many here in the middle. Most midwesterners act tough but when it comes down to it , they really dont like to get out in the cold[emoji41]

LOL... so right. here in MN i'd go to a January 1 new year opener until 2 years ago when it was -20 that day and we were flying helis
at the field i used to belong to.. it's just not fun when it's so cold!

 

[iowahill]

Here's a snap of my blown ESC on the M2 leg. Note the highlighted region which shows four of the six motor driver chips. The one on the lower right has a visible "bubble" on its right upper top. This is likely where a driver transistor overheated and shorted. If I had a donor board and more ambition I'd be tempted to replace that chip just for grins. As hunch noted above about three versions of ESCs, I would guess that this is likely an earlier board.

Still, I'd be curious to see how this performs when I replace it with the newer 2.1 and retain the other three originals. Logic suggests to me that functions should be the same as motor speed is controlled by 400 Hz and LEDs by 1000 Hz coming from the NAZA module. Conventional wisdom from others who've commented on this forum agree with hunch that all ESCs should be matched, but logic and common sense has never been an obstacle to me!

 

[iowahill]

LOL... so right. here in MN i'd go to a January 1 new year opener until 2 years ago when it was -20 that day and we were flying helis
at the field i used to belong to.. it's just not fun when it's so cold!

Getting the fingers to work in the cold is hard enough, and the batteries aren't too happy with the cold either!

 

[iowahill]

Since the formerly drowned bird seems to be amply dried, groomed, and mostly functional (save for the bad ESC which I am going to replace), I got to thinking and wondering and doubting about the wisdom of replacing one ESC into a bird that has three different/older versions for the same P2. I'm going to go ahead and replace the one so that I can determine for myself if there is a functional difference in the three versions. But just for a backup position, I ordered three more of the v.2 ESCs "just in case"!

 

[hunch]

good move

 

[iowahill]

Update for breathing life back into the formerly drowned bird. I replaced the one shorted ESC (older style with just the paper serial number style) with the newest v2.1 ESC bought from Amazon. Everything fired up the way it should, I successfully did the binding to the new controller, the camera gimbal is doing its thing (though I don't have video yet on my iPad Mini2... still figuring things out!), and one motor has a bad stumble when I throttle up that I suspect is another motor driver chip that has failed from the original dunking.

I have three more of the newer v2.1 ESCs coming from Amazon, as well as a set of the 2312 motors as this bird has the older 2212 motors in it. This P2V+ is not a new as I first thought, but I'm still a pretty happy guy with what I got for the money, and the repairs are dirt simple for me after pimping up my first P2+ with Zenmuse H4-3D and GoPro. So my plan is to first try replacing the suspect ESC on the buggy motor if my diagnoses and suspicions are correct. If it IS the motor that is bad, I have the new set of 2312's coming in next week anyway and will just upgrade the power components including the motors and ESCs once and for all.

But my curiosity about mixing the newest version of the ESC with the older ESC's and 2212 motors has to be tried first. The more I learn about failures of the system, the more confident I get.

 

[jnshane]

Interesting to learn from your tinkering, Iowahill. Bit of a newbie myself with electronics, but not at all with mechanics. Your input is great appreciated.

 

[iowahill]

Update: The bird is up and running with the only damage being the slight crack at lower body shell where one arm connects (repaired with a dap of thin CA (Super Glue), one shorted ESC (old style used with my older 2213 motors as noted above, and one more ESC that is causing a rhythmic "stutter" on one motor that won't spool up with throttle. I'm running two of the v2.1 ESCs and two of the originals with my older 2212 motors until the new 2312 motors arrive later in the week. I'll replace the two old ESCs when I put the new motors in, probably over the weekend.

I bought this bird as-is after it took a long drink in a swimming pool, so wasn't sure if the camera, gimbal, flight controller, compass, GPS, and transmitter were going to work, But it all DOES! Since I bought it without the controller, I bought one with the WiFi extender for $47 off of eBay. Figuring out how to pair the new controller wasn't too hard for the flight control, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to pair the camera. I thought I was following all the steps correctly, but it turned out I missed one small but vital one. It took me watching one Youtube video about 6 times before I caught my mistake. Finally, SUCCESS!

The weather is terrific around here now, so later this afternoon I'll take the bird out for a test flight. First, with normal control, then I'll try out the Ground Station ap on my iPad Mini2. Setting the P2V+ is VERY different than what I went through with my P2+ with GoPro H3+ and Ground Station. Jason suggested removing the Vision gimbal and camera, and install my spare Zenmuse H4-3D and GoPro. He provided links to his previous posts on how to do it. My GoPro3+ Black is about to get its stock (and damaged) lens removed and replaced with the Peau Enterprises f4.35 non-distortion lens. While I'm in there I'm going to try my hand at replacing the damaged USB connector that came with my "refurbished" GoPro. If I'm successful I'll have saved about $125. If not, that's what a new main board for the camera goes for.

 

[iowahill]

Update: The bird is up and running with the only damage being the slight crack at lower body shell where one arm connects (repaired with a dap of thin CA (Super Glue), one shorted ESC (old style used with my older 2213 motors as noted above, and one more ESC that is causing a rhythmic "stutter" on one motor that won't spool up with throttle. I'm running two of the v2.1 ESCs and two of the originals with my older 2212 motors until the new 2312 motors arrive later in the week. I'll replace the two old ESCs when I put the new motors in, probably over the weekend.

I bought this bird as-is after it took a long drink in a swimming pool, so wasn't sure if the camera, gimbal, flight controller, compass, GPS, and transmitter were going to work, But it all DOES! Since I bought it without the controller, I bought one with the WiFi extender for $47 off of eBay. Figuring out how to pair the new controller wasn't too hard for the flight control, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to pair the camera. I thought I was following all the steps correctly, but it turned out I missed one small but vital one. It took me watching one Youtube video about 6 times before I caught my mistake. Finally, SUCCESS!

The weather is terrific around here now, so later this afternoon I'll take the bird out for a test flight. First, with normal control, then I'll try out the Ground Station ap on my iPad Mini2. Setting the P2V+ is VERY different than what I went through with my P2+ with GoPro H3+ and Ground Station. Jason suggested removing the Vision gimbal and camera, and install my spare Zenmuse H4-3D and GoPro. He provided links to his previous posts on how to do it. My GoPro3+ Black is about to get its stock (and damaged) lens removed and replaced with the Peau Enterprises f4.35 non-distortion lens. While I'm in there I'm going to try my hand at replacing the damaged USB connector that came with my "refurbished" GoPro. If I'm successful I'll have saved about $125. If not, that's what a new main board for the camera goes for.

As a side note, I always coat areas that I've soldered with clear nail polish to both waterproof and protect from corrosion!