SOLVED Battery not charging - Custom USB Connector mod ! Bypass micro usb port + always have charger

[EvolvedPhotography]

Hey guys,
I recently did a we bit of modding to my P3S and added some pigtails to sma connectors to play with the antennas a bit and preparing to get fpvlr or dbs mod after reading some more reviews. OR getting a ibecrazy crosshair style antenna which looks awesome stat wise foe 49 bucks in combo with a patch or eve 1 and 1 of the stock ones. ((slightly off topic with the antennas for a second but comments welcome BUT now for some reason the battery wont charge anymore. I think that it actually did 1 more time (maybe) but i wasn't paying as much attention and thought maybe it charged without blinking due to an update or something till i realized that it really was not doing anything.

So I'm thinking i have a few options.. 1 Remove the batter y and use a standard 18650 charger, the kind used for the many e-cigarettes and then replace it every time. This could be useful because i have several, one with 3000mah capacity also at 3.7 volt but i noticed the cables come out the side so i'm not sure where they end u p on the battery. BUT i think i could modify something to juts hook the pos and neg up to and touch it to the side of the battery like you normally would if they didn't want to make it difficult. Maybe i could even daisy chain a couple of them for higher capacity is this works .. Anyone tried that ?

2) I could buy the micro usb cable they sell as a spare part and see if that the bad seed but would make much send since it looks fine so maybe i messed up something on the circuit board. Can you buy a replacement remote circuit board for cheaper then the $150 of a new remote ?

3) i really screwed up and need a new remote.. (ugg) hope not,.

ANy opinionsor info welcome !

Link to a similar crosshair antenna in case anyone has opinions on those vs dbs/fpvlr mods because they sound way better.

TrueRC - 5.8 GHz X-Air 10dBic Crosshair Antenna (RP-SMA) [TRC-RPSMA-58G-CROSSHAIR] - $64.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

or this one

the IBCrazy 5.8 GHz 10dBic Crosshair Antenna (RHCP)

 

[Adil J]

Hey guys,
I recently did a we bit of modding to my P3S and added some pigtails to sma connectors to play with the antennas a bit and preparing to get fpvlr or dbs mod after reading some more reviews. OR getting a ibecrazy crosshair style antenna which looks awesome stat wise foe 49 bucks in combo with a patch or eve 1 and 1 of the stock ones. ((slightly off topic with the antennas for a second but comments welcome BUT now for some reason the battery wont charge anymore. I think that it actually did 1 more time (maybe) but i wasn't paying as much attention and thought maybe it charged without blinking due to an update or something till i realized that it really was not doing anything.

So I'm thinking i have a few options.. 1 Remove the batter y and use a standard 18650 charger, the kind used for the many e-cigarettes and then replace it every time. This could be useful because i have several, one with 3000mah capacity also at 3.7 volt but i noticed the cables come out the side so i'm not sure where they end u p on the battery. BUT i think i could modify something to juts hook the pos and neg up to and touch it to the side of the battery like you normally would if they didn't want to make it difficult. Maybe i could even daisy chain a couple of them for higher capacity is this works .. Anyone tried that ?

2) I could buy the micro usb cable they sell as a spare part and see if that the bad seed but would make much send since it looks fine so maybe i messed up something on the circuit board. Can you buy a replacement remote circuit board for cheaper then the $150 of a new remote ?

3) i really screwed up and need a new remote.. (ugg) hope not,.

ANy opinionsor info welcome !

Link to a similar crosshair antenna in case anyone has opinions on those vs dbs/fpvlr mods because they sound way better.

TrueRC - 5.8 GHz X-Air 10dBic Crosshair Antenna (RP-SMA) [TRC-RPSMA-58G-CROSSHAIR] - $64.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

or this one

the IBCrazy 5.8 GHz 10dBic Crosshair Antenna (RHCP)

This is kinda why you shouldn't really mod a RTF drone, especially if you don't know what you are doing.

 

[Illina]

Are you sure that the wire to the battery didn't come loose when you had the controller apart? There's three wires that get unplugged that allows you to separate the controller halves.

A controller for a P3S runs about $100 on Ebay.

I'm really not sure why you'd change anything if you don't have the antenna yet, that is if I understand you right as to what you did.

 

[Jay H]

Hopefully you didnt turn on the remote with only the u.fl to rp-sma and no antenna.

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

Hopefully you didnt turn on the remote with only the u.fl to rp-sma and no antenna.

Nope did not do that. Definitely an easy mistake to make tho so def. a valid concern. Im sure there has been a few remotes killed by this.

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

Are you sure that the wire to the battery didn't come loose when you had the controller apart? There's three wires that get unplugged that allows you to separate the controller halves.

A controller for a P3S runs about $100 on Ebay.

I'm really not sure why you'd change anything if you don't have the antenna yet, that is if I understand you right as to what you did.

I did have the antennas, just not the DBS one. I basically just made the connectors to be able to change what is attached to the outside of it. such a 1 or 2 w amp with with a patch or a clover or any of endless combos ive tried on diversity controllers and other rx's.

The thing im not as familiar with are batteries so im just wondering if i can use the charger or my little lipos for this. same plug etc..

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

SOLVED IT! So i modded the controller and added a guitar like 3 way switch. with the middle as a neutral, ifu u click it one way it connects the battery to the charger and if you move it the other way it connects the cables from the battery to an external usb plug which i took off a charger that i used for another uav.

I figured this out by removing the battery and plugging the little plug into the usb charger from my Blade nano QX. these little 3.7v lipo chargers and it charged the battery.

THere Lipo usb chargers can be purchased online with the usb plug on one side and a female matching the battery inside the p3S remote connector on the other so i just cut the line between the battery and the plug to the remote and connected the side going into the remote into the left side of the switch. The middle is the side that goes into the battery and the right has the charger.
Then drilled a hole into the remote for the the switch and a small hole for the cable to come out which goes to the USB charger. Then cut the female connector off the 3.7 charger from amazon and connect that to the other side. This is Actually an AWESOME mod. now i can just have the usb Charger built into the remote. So basicaly i now have a niocely place velcro with a usb plug on the side with a switch next to it and can just olug the USB into whatever i want, flick the swith and bam im charging. Then when im done i can either put the switch in neutral, kinda like an extra safety OFF or move it back tothe normal battery to main board conenction. VOLA. SOLVED

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

Little diagram

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

and she flies !

 

[TWebb]

Sorry, but Evolved just totally lost me. Is it just me?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[EvolvedPhotography]

Sorry, but Evolved just totally lost me. Is it just me?


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

Ok so you know the little connector used on lipo batteries > the tiny ones for smaller drones etc ? That he connector used to attach the battery of the p3S controller to the circuit board. By basically splitting that cableand adding a second connector, along with a switch, i was able to charge the battery without taking apart the case every time. So basically whe you turn the switch one way, it connect the battery to the normal circuit board to power the remotte, when i turn the switch the other way it connects the battery to the plug that i added onto it. That plug is normally attached to a USB charger. Instead of plugging it in each time, i just cut the cables and wired the USB charger straight to the cable going into the remote (the new cable i added) So now 1 way = power to remote, the other way = link to usb plug. SO anywhere i got i hit the switch and plug in the usb to charge the battery. The reason for the switch is that i wasnt sure if i should have power going in to that side so i wanted to be safe and only have the plug charge the battery rather than also be going into the remote itself. ? make sense ?

 

[ksims]

I'm with you TWebb....
So you were having to dismantle the controller to charge it?
I'm sooo confused here?

 

[dirkclod]

Thank you for your AWESOME, welcoming and extremely intelligent comment, it was so helpful the remote fixed itself, flew to your house on the drones back and shoved all 3 of its antenna where your sun don't shine. So ask yourself without edducating on and actually doing it, How is one supposed to become good at something ? To step outside the norm you must take risks and in this case the reward outweigh the risk. As noted i can get a new remote for $100 bucks but given the fact that i want to learn and improve (rather than sit the and criticize others who's experience or level of intelligence i have no idea about, until they leave a very revealing comment about their personality such as your fine example above). So yes .... if i was you, i probably wouldn't trust myself even attempting this. But given my prior experience with electronics, Rc Planes etc which you have no clue about, i will continue to attempt new projects to learn and further improve upon existing skills which have ld to many a great results along the way while you waste your time attempting to make yourself feel better than others proving the obvious fact that no one around seems to give you the validation you need to confirm that your existence on this planet is not as pointless as you've likely come to realize after long nights of sitting alone in your moms basement eating McDonalds for the 17th time this week and looking for people who may have encountered a problem so you can copy and paste that comment and enjoy your 3 seconds of greatness before returning to your path of what will be a long, lonely and forgettable days on a planet that would gratefulness if people like you were never born .Cheers to you troll.

I think you might ought to chill how you address members here and read from our guidelines here Community Guidelines | DJI Phantom Forum
before you post such nonsense and start threatening members and calling them names .
You see something inappropriate then hit the report button .
As far as ...Troll ..What I just read in Adil's profile you wrote is what one might do.

 

[Providian623]

It's amazing to me how many "experts" we have in the various forums that may know how to fly a drone but nothing about how they are electronically controlled. Anyone who attempts to modify the electronics w/o a basic knowledge of same, is asking for real problems. Obviously Adil J was just posting his personal opinion, but I can see how Evovl might take it personally, although I am sure it was not meant that way. Take me, for example, new to drones, new to forum, already received a direct smart assed email about crashing mine, from someone I am sure considers him/herself a Phantom 3 expert, and that person may be. However, I fly RC's, I was Signal Corps in the army, am a Ham Radio Operator who repairs my own equipment, and can solder the wings back on a fly, if necessary. But I didn't put all that stuff in my profile because it's only important to me. So I was a bit miffed that some 22 year old ? living in his/her mother's basement, would send me a B.S. comment, but in all fairness, then again, he/she didn't know my background. To me there is no need to post critical "advice" nor a need to reply by referring to anyone as a "Troll", unless of course, they really are. We need to help each other, as most do, so everyone chill out, drink some (place choice of beer/liquor here), and prepare for the really important things in life, such as the return of the X-Files ! (Repaired my drone and flew some tests today, flew great)

 

[Ron Arnson]

SOLVED IT! So i modded the controller and added a guitar like 3 way switch.

WIth a guitar like switch that sticks up, I would be afraid of bumping it and shutting off the power in midflight.