Propellers spin slow and errratic

[Robert Fletcher]

I've been flying my Phantom 1 for a couple years with no problems. This year I charged up 4 batteries for a flight. As usual I powered up the receiver, installed a battery in the Phantom, lights went thru the powering sequence as usual. When I pulled both joysticks down to the left the propellers started turning slow and erratic. I tried 3 more batteries and the same thing, props turning slow and erratic
My last flight (last October) with the Phantom was without incident, perfect flight as usual using all 4 batteries running and flying perfectly thru all 4 batteries. Can anyone help?

 

[IflyinWY]

Welcome to the party Robert,

What happens when you spin the props with your finger? Do you feel any difference between motors?
Was your Phantom collecting dust while stored? Maybe you've got some debris in them.
How was the weather for your last flight in October.

Here is something to help you find info within our forum. It's Google Custom Search.
Enter your text in the middle of the page, not at the top.
https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=014775389315664725445:ejku2ysgyhi

Enjoy the show

 

[Robert Fletcher]

Welcome to the party Robert,

What happens when you spin the props with your finger? Do you feel any difference between motors?
Was your Phantom collecting dust while stored? Maybe you've got some debris in them.
How was the weather for your last flight in October.

Here is something to help you find info within our forum. It's Google Custom Search.
Enter your text in the middle of the page, not at the top.
https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=014775389315664725445:ejku2ysgyhi

Enjoy the show

All 4 props feel the same. I only fly on sunny days. Phantom was hanging on the wall in my computer room which stays pretty clean.

 

[IflyinWY]

Have you been able to run the motors for a couple minutes to see if they clear up?

Could the shell have warped and be touching the motor?

Did you remove prop guards and put the long screw in where you should have used a short screw?

 

[Robert Fletcher]

Have you been able to run the motors for a couple minutes to see if they clear up?

Could the shell have warped and be touching the motor?

Did you remove prop guards and put the long screw in where you should have used a short screw?

I've tried running the motors to see if they straighten out, no luck. Nothing touching motors they are all running free. I pulled the pro guards off and all the correct screws are in place

 

[IflyinWY]

I've tried running the motors to see if they straighten out, no luck. Nothing touching motors they are all running free. I pulled the pro guards off and all the correct screws are in place

Your symptoms seem to be typical of the too long of screw issue. You might want to confirm the length of the outboard motor screws are the same length as the inboard.

 

[Robert Fletcher]

Your symptoms seem to be typical of the too long of screw issue. You might want to confirm the length of the outboard motor screws are the same length as the inboard.

I am running prop guards, all 8 inboard motor screws are short and all 8 outboard screws are long. I've had these guards on ever since my Phantom was new and never had a issue with them.

 

[IflyinWY]

Can we confirm that the only reason you removed the guards, was to check the screw length?

Did you ever put too long of a screw into any motor mount hole?
The screw simply has to touch motor windings to cause your issue.

I'll suggest you do a very close visual inspection to see if any of the motor windings have ANY damage to them.

 

[Robert Fletcher]

Yes the only reason I pulled the screws out was to confirm that I used the proper screws, usually I read the instructions when I install something. When I installed the prop guards the only screws I only had to replace were the 8 outer screws which were originally short screws. I just pulled all 8 inner screws, which I have never touch and they are all short screws. Still using prop guards no other modifications. I will examine the exposed part of the windings on each motor for issues

 

[IflyinWY]

Thanks Robert.
Have you connected to the NAZA assistant recently? Perhaps it's time to check things out there. I suggest checking all settings and doing an IMU calibration, and then an Advanced IMU calibration.
The more level and cool the bird is, the better.
http://www.phantompilots.com/thread...mbal-horizon-issues-a-must-watch-video.45058/

While you're in the TOOLS tab, take a look at your Compass(raw) numbers.
XY&Z should be zero +- 300,
MOD should be 1,600 +-200.

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Control stick calibration would also be a good thing to do.

My next suggestion will be to move a good motor to a bad motor location to troubleshoot for an ESC problem.

I hope you have used the search link to look for similar problems. I'm probably forgetting something.

 

[Robert Fletcher]

I connected to my NAZA assistant and my Compass readings were within > X 255, Y -109, and Mod 1591.8. I also removed all 4 props and spun the motors with my fingers and one motor seemed to have what felt like something binding within the motor. Can I safely remove the allen screw which secures the stator to to the shaft to see if there's any problems within?

 

[IflyinWY]

I connected to my NAZA assistant and my Compass readings were within > X 255, Y -109, and Mod 1591.8. I also removed all 4 props and spun the motors with my fingers and one motor seemed to have what felt like something binding within the motor. Can I safely remove the allen screw which secures the stator to to the shaft to see if there's any problems within?

J Dot recently posted a video of disassembling a motor. I do not know of an allen screw securing the stator to the shaft. The 4 screws under the motor hold it to the Phantom Shell.
I seem to remember a "C" clip holding the 2 parts of the motor together.

click on Members at the top of the page and enter "J Dot", look at his posts for a thread about bearings.

 

[Robert Fletcher]

I replaced all four motors. It took almost 2 and a half months to get two of the motors from DJI. After replacing the motors I had no problem getting my Phantom air born again. I ran approximately 10 batteries with no problem but today I charged-up 4 batteries and when I went to fly 1 motor was turning erraticly and the other 3 were running perfectly....everything on the Phantom is stock including the controller

 

[pws328]

Hey Robert, sorry to hear about your ongoing motor issue. I had something similar happen to my P1, where a few motors were acting erratically, meaning they would stutter and not spin at the correct speed until I physically bumped the prop, which would cause the motor to speed up. This was problematic though because if I gave a hard input, the motor would cut out mid flight, which caused a few issues.

I ended up swapping out the offending ESC's and motors, both of which turned out to be my CW rotational motors, which I thought was a little odd. I had been using some self tightening props which probably shouldn't have fit but I somehow managed to screw them in, but I'm wondering if something about that damaged the motor in some way.

Sorry for the rambling reply, but my advice would be swapping out the ESC. I bought mine from B&H for about $18 each.