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Bought a phantom (old one I know lol ) today, got it cheap figured be fun for me and my 2 boys to learn with. Got it home charged the battery installed and it flashes the green and red led finds the satellites fine pull joy sticks down and out to activate the motors and then one motor starts to spin very slowly and kinda jerks the other 3 do nothing. I’m I doing something wrong or do I have some issues to repair ?
 

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Bought a phantom (old one I know lol ) today, got it cheap figured be fun for me and my 2 boys to learn with. Got it home charged the battery installed and it flashes the green and red led finds the satellites fine pull joy sticks down and out to activate the motors and then one motor starts to spin very slowly and kinda jerks the other 3 do nothing. I’m I doing something wrong or do I have some issues to repair ?
Hello - and welcome! :)

Well, you're certainly in the right forum as you seem to have a Phantom 1. As you say, they are considered pretty 'old' now. I don't know much about the P1, but from what you have described, yes, you have a problem and the problem could be the mainboard and/or ESCs, or a problem with 3 motors (possible, but more unlikely). A very common problem is that people use motor screws which are too long, so they cause damage to the motor windings when the screws are tightened up. Or maybe someone has attempted a repair and it's been done badly - In reality, only careful, logical diagnosis of the fault will tell you.

Sadly, you may well find that the cost of repair exceeds the value of the aircraft.

Hopefully, some fellow P1 owner might be along soon to offer you more advice... However, don't forget about the useful search facility here (magnifying glass, top right) which may help you discover more about what the problem could be, while you are waiting...

Good luck!
 
Hello - and welcome! :)

Well, you're certainly in the right forum as you seem to have a Phantom 1. As you say, they are considered pretty 'old' now. I don't know much about the P1, but from what you have described, yes, you have a problem and the problem could be the mainboard and/or ESCs, or a problem with 3 motors (possible, but more unlikely). A very common problem is that people use motor screws which are too long, so they cause damage to the motor windings when the screws are tightened up. Or maybe someone has attempted a repair and it's been done badly - In reality, only careful, logical diagnosis of the fault will tell you.

Sadly, you may well find that the cost of repair exceeds the value of the aircraft.

Hopefully, some fellow P1 owner might be along soon to offer you more advice... However, don't forget about the useful search facility here (magnifying glass, top right) which may help you discover more about what the problem could be, while you are waiting...

Good luck!

parts do not seem to be very expensive for it as I’ve already looked into them before I bought it knowing it would more than likely need parts for the price I gave for it esc is $20 and Mc board is $60 I just hate to throw parts at it that are not needed i have tons of experience with electric rc cars and do HVAC for a living so I can problem solve just not sure about the functionality of these drones where to start checking or what exactly I’m looking for
 
parts do not seem to be very expensive for it as I’ve already looked into them before I bought it knowing it would more than likely need parts for the price I gave for it esc is $20 and Mc board is $60 I just hate to throw parts at it that are not needed i have tons of experience with electric rc cars and do HVAC for a living so I can problem solve just not sure about the functionality of these drones where to start checking or what exactly I’m looking for
Hi you need esc for each motor the wires have a coating on them so have to remove before soldering you might look on ebay for parts I got mine for 125.00 so not to bad considering it flies. Good luck with it
 
Bought a phantom (old one I know lol ) today, got it cheap figured be fun for me and my 2 boys to learn with. Got it home charged the battery installed and it flashes the green and red led finds the satellites fine pull joy sticks down and out to activate the motors and then one motor starts to spin very slowly and kinda jerks the other 3 do nothing. I’m I doing something wrong or do I have some issues to repair ?
I'm no expert, for sure, but my P4P often has one motor turning slower upon start up but before liftoff and I always considered this to be due, apparently, to the drone not being on a level surface. Never worried about it since every drone I ever owned did the same thing.
 
I'm no expert, for sure, but my P4P often has one motor turning slower upon start up but before liftoff and I always considered this to be due, apparently, to the drone not being on a level surface. Never worried about it since every drone I ever owned did the same thing.
Never heard that one motor turning slower is normal. Must be something with that motor. I think sooner or later you'll find out.
If the cause is not level surface there must be at least two motors that are not spinning as the other two. But I don't think this is the cause at all.
 
I've only just got my old P1 back out- it's been some time, so my memory is a bit dull on the subject.
But I do remember this issue coming up a lot back in the day.
As suggested previously, the starting point is the motors. These got damaged by the removal of prop guards but the same longer screws put back in.
Get these motors out, visually inspect, then get a meter on them. Hopefully you can cannibalise and make just 1 runner to start accessing other damage. If you can't cobble together a test motor then you will have to beg, borrow or steal one!
Oh and, one or more slow motors is not normal.
 
I've only just got my old P1 back out- it's been some time, so my memory is a bit dull on the subject.
But I do remember this issue coming up a lot back in the day.
As suggested previously, the starting point is the motors. These got damaged by the removal of prop guards but the same longer screws put back in.
Get these motors out, visually inspect, then get a meter on them. Hopefully you can cannibalise and make just 1 runner to start accessing other damage. If you can't cobble together a test motor then you will have to beg, borrow or steal one!
Oh and, one or more slow motors is not normal.
Yeah I guess that would be a good starting point seeing as how the guards are removed and the screws holding the motors on are loose I guess I’ll order 1 new motor for testing purposes their only $18 and won’t hurt to have a spare if they end up being ok
 
Never heard that one motor turning slower is normal. Must be something with that motor. I think sooner or later you'll find out.
If the cause is not level surface there must be at least two motors that are not spinning as the other two. But I don't think this is the cause at all.
On a slightly unlevel slope, when I power up the drone, but don't lift off, with one motor a bit higher than the others, it seems logical that the drone senses the tilt and slows down the "higher" motor and speeds up the opposing one even though there's not enough lift to level it. At first I thought it was a motor issue but, by turning the quad one-quarter spin, the next motor would slow down. So, perhaps, I am wrong and I can make a motor go "temporarily bad" simply by using an unlevel surface. I can also do the same thing by lifting the drone and tilting it in various slopes. But if the other 3 blades are not turning, then I'd say it's got a problem.
 
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Make sure all four motors spin easily by hand, if not, as has been said, check that the screws are not interfering with them. If they spin easily then there is a control problem, probably with the ESC's. Spare shouldn't be too much of a problem even with this old bird.
Sorry, but spinning the motors will tell you little about whether the motor fixing screws have damaged the rotating windings as the screws always damage the stationary motor windings and not the commutator windings, which do rotate.

Also, (although not dji drones I will readily admit), there are some brands of drone motors, for example some made by Brotherhobby, which feel very 'notchy' when you rotate them, but are, in fact, completely healthy and normal.
 
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"Yeah I guess that would be a good starting point seeing as how the guards are removed and the screws holding the motors on are loose I guess I’ll order 1 new motor for testing purposes their only $18 and won’t hurt to have a spare if they end up being ok"
Definitely take all four motors off and check the windings as it is very possible the longer screws for the guards have been put back in. You can see in this picture, the holes are only 4mm deep.
IMG_7929.jpg
 
Make sure you get the proper length screws before you mount the new motor. Not sure about the P1, but I put new motors in a P3, unsolder the motors from the ESC board...don't cut the wires mid way and solder or twist them together. For some reason it makes a difference.
 
Make sure you get the proper length screws before you mount the new motor. Not sure about the P1, but I put new motors in a P3, unsolder the motors from the ESC board...don't cut the wires mid way and solder or twist them together. For some reason it makes a difference.
The reason is that the motor wires have an enamel coating on them. You can cut and solder together but you must make sure that all the enamel is completely removed beforehand...

If a person isn't competent at soldering then it's perhaps best to avoid soldering onto the ESC pads as the pad might get overheated and lift off the board.
 
Hi i have a dji phantom fc40 and when i do an update and plug it into a pc it gets a very dim green and it falshed red fast 4 times how do i fix?? Thank you in advance
 

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