Useless P3P!! Compass broke..... Please help!!!

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First of all, hello to everyone! new to Phantom pilots but have discovered a wealth of info so keep up the good work:)

Now then! I bought a P2 with H4-3D gimbal in July this year, had it about two weeks or so and it flew offf never to be seen again.... saga number 1:(
Soooo i then took a risk of buying another DJI phantom, but this time the P3P. I though my problems were over... or so i thought.
Having acqauinted myself with it i, stupidly, decided to fly it around my garden. The inevitable happened and it hit the garage door flipping it onto its props, ie upside down.

No problem i thought new props and off we go. But no, because i now started getting compass magnetic interference errors and now unable to calibrate the compass. So having decided i knackered the compass i set about about purchasing a new one. Took the top off only to discover that the gps socket which sits on the mainboard had come away and was hanging by a single connector. (see photo)
Having caused my own problems and i thought DJI wont honor any sort of warranty claim because i damaged through my own stupidity, i set about finding an electronics engineer to repair the socket. I did, he did, but its still knackered coming up with the same error. Tried the new compass same propblem. Tried IMU calibration a million times, still wont calibrate, even though during the IMU calibration it says the compass is calibrated?!! WTF:(
Now that i am totaly skint i cant afford yet another replacement, how the hell do i get to fly the dam thing without a calibrated compass, it simply wont let me take off:( I realise course, home lock RTH etc wont work, but at least i could fly it.
Done a DJI flyway form thingy for the P2 but i am not expecting much help quite frankly based on some of the posts on your forum.

So any ideas how to fly it without a compass?


Thanks, all for reading, and the next time you pop the top off check the gps socket as i am sure it shoulndt break that easily....
 

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First of all, hello to everyone! new to Phantom pilots but have discovered a wealth of info so keep up the good work:)

Now then! I bought a P2 with H4-3D gimbal in July this year, had it about two weeks or so and it flew offf never to be seen again.... saga number 1:(
Soooo i then took a risk of buying another DJI phantom, but this time the P3P. I though my problems were over... or so i thought.
Having acqauinted myself with it i, stupidly, decided to fly it around my garden. The inevitable happened and it hit the garage door flipping it onto its props, ie upside down.

No problem i thought new props and off we go. But no, because i now started getting compass magnetic interference errors and now unable to calibrate the compass. So having decided i knackered the compass i set about about purchasing a new one. Took the top off only to discover that the gps socket which sits on the mainboard had come away and was hanging by a single connector. (see photo)
Having caused my own problems and i thought DJI wont honor any sort of warranty claim because i damaged through my own stupidity, i set about finding an electronics engineer to repair the socket. I did, he did, but its still knackered coming up with the same error. Tried the new compass same propblem. Tried IMU calibration a million times, still wont calibrate, even though during the IMU calibration it says the compass is calibrated?!! WTF:(
Now that i am totaly skint i cant afford yet another replacement, how the hell do i get to fly the dam thing without a calibrated compass, it simply wont let me take off:( I realise course, home lock RTH etc wont work, but at least i could fly it.
Done a DJI flyway form thingy for the P2 but i am not expecting much help quite frankly based on some of the posts on your forum.

So any ideas how to fly it without a compass?


Thanks, all for reading, and the next time you pop the top off check the gps socket as i am sure it shoulndt break that easily....
Are there any readings when you go to sensors heading? Or are there just blank spaces?
 
Hi, yes there are readings. 0,1,0. All seems normal really. I don't understand why the magnetic error keeps coming back. Hmm does this mean the compass is working and the problem could be something else?
 
Ok,
x0,y0,z0, MOD 0

so i guess it is the compass? But when i check imu it says it doesnt require doing. If i do an imu recalibration it says it done with no problems.....
 
Ok,
x0,y0,z0, MOD 0

so i guess it is the compass? But when i check imu it says it doesnt require doing. If i do an imu recalibration it says it done with no problems.....
Yeah the mod should read 1400/1500. The cheapest way to see if is the compass itself that has failed is to buy new landing gear, one of which has a compass already fitted, cost about $20. Then connect to the main board where your pic has the orange highlight, and boot it all up, there should be readings....but if that doesn't fix it, there must still be a problem with the terminal connector. HTH. BTW which country are you in?
 
Yeah the mod should read 1400/1500. The cheapest way to see if is the compass itself that has failed is to buy new landing gear, one of which has a compass already fitted, cost about $20. Then connect to the main board where your pic has the orange highlight, and boot it all up, there should be readings....but if that doesn't fix it, there must still be a problem with the terminal connector. HTH. BTW which country are you in?
Also are you doing the calibration correctly? It has to be enabled before doing the 360 "dance", if you know what I mean.
 
Yeah the mod should read 1400/1500. The cheapest way to see if is the compass itself that has failed is to buy new landing gear, one of which has a compass already fitted, cost about $20. Then connect to the main board where your pic has the orange highlight, and boot it all up, there should be readings....but if that doesn't fix it, there must still be a problem with the terminal connector. HTH. BTW which country are you in?

I am in the uk. the compass thats on it is brand new since its knock, so it must be the connector:(

But its odd that when i do the compass calibration it knows when i have spun through 360 on both axis, unless the g sensor is picking that up.

can i still fly without it and if so how?

Thanks
 
I am in the uk. the compass thats on it is brand new since its knock, so it must be the connector:(

But its odd that when i do the compass calibration it knows when i have spun through 360 on both axis, unless the g sensor is picking that up.

can i still fly without it and if so how?

Thanks
Probably not, though I've not tried myself. When you do the 360 holding it horizontally then vertically, did the rear strobe lights flash slow green? Also not knowing the compass reading means if you lift off you can get uncontrolled crazy flight path
 
...Took the top off only to discover that the gps socket which sits on the mainboard had come away and was hanging by a single connector. (see photo)...
Your photo is not very clear, but it seems the connector has detached from the main board, right?

Is it similar to this?
E3isSLQ.png
 
Probably not, though I've not tried myself. When you do the 360 holding it horizontally then vertically, did the rear strobe lights flash slow green? Also not knowing the compass reading means if you lift off you can get uncontrolled crazy flight path


Just checked again now and they are flashing green red and yellow, continously.

I phone uk agent yesterday and he said if it was the main board it will £330 to replace, hoping dji might stump up something for first fly away, but i am not holding my breath. Otherwise i am out of the game..
 
Your photo is not very clear, but it seems the connector has detached from the main board, right?

Is it similar to this?
E3isSLQ.png


Yes thats it. Am i right in that i can see the right hand connector has come away from the mainboard in the photo as well? or is it soldered on further back?
 
Yes thats it. Am i right in that i can see the right hand connector has come away from the mainboard in the photo as well?
Here's something, a bit of a long shot maybe....power everything up in correct sequence, look at the app for the sensors/ compass mod value then push the connector down to see if it makes contact and gives a reading?
 
Yes thats it. Am i right in that i can see the right hand connector has come away from the mainboard in the photo as well?
Ok, that is unlikely caused by the crash, but may instead be caused by improper use of a screwdriver when taking the top of. Prying with a screwdriver to deep may actually break the connector.
 
Here's something, a bit of a long shot maybe....power everything up in correct sequence, look at the app for the sensors/ compass mod value then push the connector down to see if it makes contact and gives a reading?

I like your thinking, didnt work though. Nice idea. So now that its knackered and it looks like i cant fly it without a compass, i think i (or proberly some else!) **** or bust will have a go at re connecting the socket on again. See how that goes....
 

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