ESC Status error after replacing shell - what now?

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Hello everyone,

I've recently replaced my P3P's outer shell after a crash broke one of the motor connections. Everything booted up fine on the first try, and after calibrationg IMU and compass I tried to take off. However, this just gave me the well-known ESC status error (rebooting doesn't change anything). So I took off the top shell again to look at what could be wrong with the motors - they all turn just fine, however on one the cable appears to be damaged. This motor however still worked after the crash, just until I put it in the new shell. I think something's wrong with the motor cable.
I've attached some pics of the motor's cable.

So, what's my best bet in this situation? If I just buy a new motor and put that in, will it work or is the ESC permanently fried?

Greetings & thanks in advance!
Closus

20160912_150116.jpg 20160912_150138.jpg
 
The insulation has been melted on all 3 wires.
This is an indication that there has been excessive current flowing in them.
This could have damaged the ESCs at the time it occurred or since you repaired it.

Are these photographs before or after you completed completed repair(s)?
Cause if they're left like that they can definitely short and cause further damage.

It's hard for me to imagine that this would not have been corrected before reattempting to fly.
 
ESC error simply means system is unable to control the motor currents as desired. You will see this error only when you load the motors. Reasons could be many. Replace the suspected motor and see what happens. Common mistake is incorrect motor connections.


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Incorrect connections will not cause melted insulation or ESC errors.
It will only cause reverse spin direction.

Melted wires = HUGE RED FLAG.

Motor coils likely damaged. This is a motor replacement at minimum.
 
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Hey everyone, thanks for the quick replies!
The pictures are from AFTER I replaced the shell - the wires looked like that before as well though.
The molten insulation is from the crash, but the motor worked perfectly fine for 10+ flights afterwards (I hadn't seen the molten wiring until now).
Could the ESC have been damaged from turning it on after replacing the shell? (event though everything worked before)
Sorry for being a noob :b

Greetings
 
If the wires were damaged (insulation melted) and not repaired during/after installing the motor in the new shell they were likely shorting and causing the error.

Now you may have caused additional damage.

At the very least you could try to separate the wires, add insulation tape, and test. Next would be a motor replacement, followed by a new main PCB which contains the ESCs.
 
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Update: I just separated the wires and took off the molten insulation. This revealed the source of the problem: both of the copper wires in the RED wire have broken (this must have happened during shell replacement). Did I fry my mainboard by trying to power it on like that?
Should I just try soldering the wires back together and then insulating everything? At this point I can't lose anymore on this motor lol
Any help is much appreciated!
20160912_162810.jpg
 
Wires overheating, melted insulation, broken wires, is cause for concern.
Parts may be stressed but are working for now. This may result in additional failures in time.

You can band-aid whatever you wish but continuing to use visibly damaged parts for more than testing (in some circumstance) is asking for future troubles.

You're risking losing you entire aircraft to a mid-flight failure.

You need a new motor at a minimum.
 
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Your best hope right now is to replace the motor with a new one, about $20 on Amazon. Also, don't try to shortcut and splice the leads, re-solder the new motor directly to the mainboard, and mind the colors. The ends of the new motor should be "tinned" and ready to solder, which is a good thing, cause the windings themselves are epoxy coated and hell to strip properly...
 
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the windings themselves are epoxy coated and hell to strip properly...
A good reminder. This is a common "gotcha" when people replace motors.
 
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