Motor Replacement and ESC Error

[huskyfan23]

Edit: Fixed! The motor-ESC connection needs to be strong. To get solder to stick when splicing wires, sand the coating off the wires and then tin, otherwise it won't stick.

Will the motors start if one motor is disconnected?

My story:

I attempted to take off on a windy day at the beach and my drone tipped backwards and two motors froze up with sand, so I turned the unit off. Unable to disassemble the frozen motors I ordered two new motors. Those came in today.

Because of the silicone used at the factory near the solder joints, I decided to cut the wires and splice/solder them further up the wire. I was surprised to see that DJI only uses two strands of wire. I attempted to tin them using flux and solder and the solder just wouldn't stick. Plan B was to splice the wires by hand and use heat-shrink tubing to protect and hold them in place.

After completing the first motor, I attempted to start the motors and got the "ESC status error". I updated the firmware and re-calibrated to no avail. I read that this error can have many causes, one of which is a lack of communication between the ESC and motor. I disconnected the new motor and attempted to start (three motors connected) and got the same error.

 

[AlexLim]

Same problem. The solder inside one motor was breaking off, but I didn't want to go through some lengthy mail-in warranty claim/fix, so I just bought a new motor and swapped it in... just fine (also spliced).

But then the ESC error popped up and nothing I've done has been been able to 'reset' it or fix the problem. Since opening the thing supposedly voids warranty, without a self-fix it's effectively a paperweight now...

I tried just reconnecting the original motor just in case the ESC was somehow linked/aware of a different motor, error persists.

Sounds like maybe a software/hard reset issue DJI must do, maybe to prevent people from doing their own work? Just a guess. Simply cutting two wires, and re-connecting two new wires, on working motors, shouldn't really be a problem..

 

[bobmyers]

Will the motors start if one motor is disconnected?

My story:

I attempted to take off on a windy day at the beach and my drone tipped backwards and two motors froze up with sand, so I turned the unit off. Unable to disassemble the frozen motors I ordered two new motors. Those came in today.

Because of the silicone used at the factory near the solder joints, I decided to cut the wires and splice/solder them further up the wire. I was surprised to see that DJI only uses two strands of wire. I attempted to tin them using flux and solder and the solder just wouldn't stick. Plan B was to splice the wires by hand and use heat-shrink tubing to protect and hold them in place.

After completing the first motor, I attempted to start the motors and got the "ESC status error". I updated the firmware and re-calibrated to no avail. I read that this error can have many causes, one of which is a lack of communication between the ESC and motor. I disconnected the new motor and attempted to start (three motors connected) and got the same error.

I had to replace one of my motors-- did the same thing, cut the wires and spliced them-- you have to sand the coating off the DJI wires before they will tin, have to get plenty of flux on them also-better to take of a little more insulation so you can clip a heat sink to each wire before soldering. - takes some patience. I also twisted the wires very tightly before soldering to make sure I had good connection. My replacement went ok with no issues. I would suggest to go back and check the continuity of each connection -- from the splice to the circuit board. If you cant resolve it, then the main board will have to be replaced because the ESCs are on that board. The ESC's are not motor specific as long as you use the same 960 KV motors. The P3 motors were not available when I replaced mine and I used the P2 Vision Plus Motors which are exactly the same electrically.

 

[huskyfan23]

I had to replace one of my motors-- did the same thing, cut the wires and spliced them-- you have to sand the coating off the DJI wires before they will tin, have to get plenty of flux on them also-better to take of a little more insulation so you can clip a heat sink to each wire before soldering. - takes some patience. I also twisted the wires very tightly before soldering to make sure I had good connection. My replacement went ok with no issues. I would suggest to go back and check the continuity of each connection -- from the splice to the circuit board. If you cant resolve it, then the main board will have to be replaced because the ESCs are on that board. The ESC's are not motor specific as long as you use the same 960 KV motors. The P3 motors were not available when I replaced mine and I used the P2 Vision Plus Motors which are exactly the same electrically.

Thanks for the tip. I've never dealt with soldering "coated" wires. Took some sandpaper to them and got the solder to stick. Connected everything and it works! It doesn't look like my previous connection method was good enough.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Oso]

I had to replace one of my motors-- did the same thing, cut the wires and spliced them-- you have to sand the coating off the DJI wires before they will tin, have to get plenty of flux on them also-better to take of a little more insulation so you can clip a heat sink to each wire before soldering. - takes some patience. I also twisted the wires very tightly before soldering to make sure I had good connection. My replacement went ok with no issues. I would suggest to go back and check the continuity of each connection -- from the splice to the circuit board. If you cant resolve it, then the main board will have to be replaced because the ESCs are on that board. The ESC's are not motor specific as long as you use the same 960 KV motors. The P3 motors were not available when I replaced mine and I used the P2 Vision Plus Motors which are exactly the same electrically.

This is an outstanding contribution to the forum!

 

[Jimmy1952]

Thanks all, I just had to replace a shell on My P4 and couldn't figure out why I couldn't get the wires to tin. I just hope when I go in and redo this my wires are not too short. Thought about splicing a good quality copper wire may adding an inch or two to the existing coated wires. I was surprised to say the least...never have ran into this issue on anything , a coated double wire. My problem was I did not want to go soldering around on the ECS boards so I opted to cut the wires. I sure don't want to try and find and replace an ECS board. You folks are always a huge help, especially to us newcomers. Thanks All

 

[David Norrington]

the esc error means your main board esc is dead these cannot be replaced like the phantom 2 basically the frozen motors fried the esc