Replaced shell

[Uncle Stumpy]

I replaced the shell on a P3A and did everything by the book. Watched videos and I was very precise.
Everything works perfectly, except the motors won't spin.
I took it apart and checked all the connections again and everything is as it should be.
Could I have possibly damaged the motherboard or something like that?
The camera and the GPS work fine and the controller is linked but the motors wont spin.

I know asking this question is kind of a stretch but I figured I would give it a try.
Thanks in advance guys.

 

[JamesT1950]

Might be a dumb question but is the RC linked up with the quad?

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

Might be a dumb question but is the RC linked up with the quad?

Yep. I get the lady saying ready for take off but the motors won't fire up. I must have damaged the motherbard somehow.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Its hard to believe that some how in the transfer over process that you have done damage to the mother board..was their any soldering involved and just a wild thought...You might have popped a chip on the mother board with static electricity as walking to the work area over carpet and with rubber soled shoes on and picking UP the mother board ...! I just hope its something s i m p l e !

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

Its hard to believe that some how in the transfer over process that you have done damage to the mother board..was their any soldering involved and just a wild thought...You might have popped a chip on the mother board with static electricity as walking to the work area over carpet and with rubber soled shoes on and picking UP the mother board ...! I just hope its something s i m p l e !

No soldering involved. The only thing I messed up was attatching a wire for one green light.
but I can't see how that would affect anything. If static electricity would cause problems, then that is entirely possible. I guess I have to look into buying a new motherboard. Thank you for the input.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

When i or any one works on the mother board as replacing a hard drive or power supply or a video card .......or memory sticks we always wear a wrist strap thats connects to a ground.....that way any static build UP is sent to ground thru the conductive wrist strap......yes static could have popped a chip or two...I hope not But its a possibility !

And solder guns that use the copper replaceable tips.....put off a whole lots of magnetic field in
the step down transformer and that can sure mess things up Big Time as you solder wires
around a sensitive chip circuit board in fact you can even de magnetize a screw driver by
" passing it thru the copper u shaped tip "...that should tell you something !


A Bit On ESD :
Electro Static Discharge is a subject that technicians are becoming increasingly aware of in the computer/electronics industry. Electro Static Discharge or ESD is the shock that is felt when a person walks across a carpet and touches a door knob and a discharge of electricity occurs between that person and the door! That shock was actually a discharge of electricity in the range of 2000 to 3000 volts as the shock voltage has to be at least 2000 volts before the human body can feel it... The reason the 2000 volt ESD discharge does not kill someone is that the current is very low but that same voltage can kill electronic components or even worse damage the components to where the a chip acts erratic or fails months later. Furthermore did you know that studies have shown that a static charge built up by scuffing shoes on a carpet can exceed 20,000 volts?

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

When i or any one works on the mother board as replacing a hard drive or power supply or a video card .......or memory sticks we always wear a wrist strap thats connects to a ground.....that way any static build UP is sent to ground thru the conductive wrist strap......yes static could have popped a chip or two...I hope not But its a possibility !
A Bit On ESD :
Electro Static Discharge is a subject that technicians are becoming increasingly aware of in the computer/electronics industry. Electro Static Discharge or ESD is the shock that is felt when a person walks across a carpet and touches a door knob and a discharge of electricity occurs between that person and the door! That shock was actually a discharge of electricity in the range of 2000 to 3000 volts as the shock voltage has to be at least 2000 volts before the human body can feel it... The reason the 2000 volt ESD discharge does not kill someone is that the current is very low but that same voltage can kill electronic components or even worse damage the components to where the a chip acts erratic or fails months later. Furthermore did you know that studies have shown that a static charge built up by scuffing shoes on a carpet can exceed 20,000 volts?

My sisters husband works for ComEd and tried to explain electricty to me and it was a waste of time. It makes no sense to me! My house has carpet everywhere and I am sure static electricity could be involved if that could be the culprit. I appreciate the info. I'm going to look into a new motherboard, which I am sure won't be cheap.

 

[Alan Russel]

Done a P3P shell replacement myself and as you say no soldering just transfer the whole assembly (or guts) very unusual..check motor wires on board one may have broken loose or check for a pinched wire. I just recently repaired a P4 and after re assembly was getting a esc error and i put a shell screw through the motor wire.

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

Done a P3P shell replacement myself and as you say no soldering just transfer the whole assembly (or guts) very unusual..check motor wires on board one may have broken loose or check for a pinched wire. I just recently repaired a P4 and after re assembly was getting a esc error and i put a shell screw through the motor wire.

Allen, thats exactly what I am getting. After I rebooted everything and made sure all the firmware was updated, I keep getting an ESC Error. Would a shell screw through one wire cause all four motors not to spin?

 

[FL_Mike]

I replaced the shell on a P3A and did everything by the book. Watched videos and I was very precise.
Everything works perfectly, except the motors won't spin.
I took it apart and checked all the connections again and everything is as it should be.
Could I have possibly damaged the motherboard or something like that?
The camera and the GPS work fine and the controller is linked but the motors wont spin.

I know asking this question is kind of a stretch but I figured I would give it a try.
Thanks in advance guys.

I'll ask a stupid question, as I dont see it stated. Do the motors spin freely by hand? I've read a lot about people putting shell screws through the motor itself.

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

I'll ask a stupid question, as I dont see it stated. Do the motors spin freely by hand? I've read a lot about people putting shell screws through the motor itself.

Yeah they do, sigh. Allen suggested that a screw might have pierced a wire, but I checked and they are all fine.

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

The cheapest motherboard I have seen is $150 and I'm not doing it.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Uncle.....I betcha its something simple.....and you have over looked it...and was the shells replaced due to " Cracks or a Crash " !....theirs a big big difference between them words !

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

Uncle.....I betcha its something simple.....and you have over looked it...and was the shells replaced due to " Cracks or a Crash " !....theirs a big big difference between them words !

Oh it was crash all right. You ain't kidding. I am going to have to take it down to bare bones again and look for loose connections , bad wires, etc, etc, etc
God thing is that this P3A is my backup and I have some time on my hands. Harley?

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

(A Crash) That opens up whats going on with a new bunch of ideas....a swap of the shells was all that was mentioned and NOW with a crash as the real reason behind the swap...The crash has surely caused some much bigger issues then a few cracks in the drones shells ...like maybe a cracked circuit board or a bad connector ?...yes Harley Davidson .

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

(A Crash) That opens up whats going on with a new bunch of ideas....a swap of the shells was all that was mentioned and NOW with a crash as the real reason behind the swap...The crash has surely caused some much bigger issues then a few cracks in the drones shells ...like maybe a cracked circuit board or a bad connector ?...yes Harley Davidson .

Yeah I am beginning to think you and a couple of other guys are right. I am going to have to partially disassemble it agan. I was so proud of myself for actually doing it in the first place and putting it back together (with no leftover parts!) and everything worked.... until I went to actually fly it.
My brother and brother in law both ride. I bought a house so there went my Harley.
It is 60 degrees here for the first time in a long time and there are bikes everywhere. Ride safe!

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

"Uncle"......When ever i have to disassemble a electronic part with a zillion wires and connectors...and parts ....I always take some good pictures of the circuit board and the connectors and sub assembly's......And i always be sure i have good high quality pictures and put a paint dot on the connectors and a dot on the circuit board as the plug dot number one fits in dot number one place on circuit board and so on !... and i always check to be sure my pictures are Not fuzzy and un focused ones before i do the disassembly ....that's much better them trying to draw it all out..and then loosing the paper making for BIG Headaches in the re assembly process...I hope that you find a bad Boo Boo and then get things UP and going back in the Air again.....The best of Luck to you Uncle.

 

[Uncle Stumpy]

"Uncle"......When ever i have to disassemble a electronic part with a zillion wires and connectors...and parts ....I always take some good pictures of the circuit board and the connectors and sub assembly's......And i always be sure i have good high quality pictures and put a paint dot on the connectors and a dot on the circuit board as the plug dot number one fits in dot number one place on circuit board and so on !... and i always check to be sure my pictures are Not fuzzy and un focused ones before i do the disassembly ....that's much better them trying to draw it all out..and then loosing the paper making for BIG Headaches in the re assembly process...I hope that you find a bad Boo Boo and then get things UP and going back in the Air again.....The best of Luck to you Uncle.

You and I think alike Motor, I did just that. I'm a retired truck driver and have a woodworking shop in my garage and make jewelry boxes so I am used to detailed work and couldn't just open up a drone and just start pulling stuff out. It would drive me nuts! What makes you so detail oriented?
I also have another P3A that I have never crashed that keeps me flying!