Changing Out The P2V Shell

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I have a new shell coming in today or tomorrow, and I'm going to be swapping that and an esc very soon. I know there are few people who mentioned changing theirs, and I just wanted a little insight on anyone's experience. I've watched the long YouTube video where the guy swapped out a phantom shell with a P2 for extra space, but in his situation he kept the existing top. Mine is damaged so I will have to remove/reinstall the (GPS?) wiring in the top section as well.

Also, I know there are a ton of antenna mods & what-not on here. Would it make sense to pre-drill any holes in the new shell for "future expansion" while it's naked (I've already experience the joy of drilling into a device near a circuit board)? If so, Any suggestions on good spot to do this?
 
jimdenburg said:
I have a new shell coming in today or tomorrow, and I'm going to be swapping that and an esc very soon. I know there are few people who mentioned changing theirs, and I just wanted a little insight on anyone's experience. I've watched the long YouTube video where the guy swapped out a phantom shell with a P2 for extra space, but in his situation he kept the existing top. Mine is damaged so I will have to remove/reinstall the (GPS?) wiring in the top section as well.

It's a simple procedure - in the lid is compass/GPS "puck" - It's 2 wires & 4 phillips (tiny) screws. The Compass unclips at either end whereas the GPS connector is just a connector on back side of NAZA.
The hardest part of your whole swap over will be unsoldering & resoldering your ESC.
 
EMCSQUAR said:
jimdenburg said:
I have a new shell coming in today or tomorrow, and I'm going to be swapping that and an esc very soon. I know there are few people who mentioned changing theirs, and I just wanted a little insight on anyone's experience. I've watched the long YouTube video where the guy swapped out a phantom shell with a P2 for extra space, but in his situation he kept the existing top. Mine is damaged so I will have to remove/reinstall the (GPS?) wiring in the top section as well.

It's a simple procedure - in the lid is compass/GPS "puck" - It's 2 wires & 4 phillips (tiny) screws. The Compass unclips at either end whereas the GPS connector is just a connector on back side of NAZA.
The hardest part of your whole swap over will be unsoldering & resoldering your ESC.

Yes and it will be more of a challenge for me because I've never soldered anything. So I'll be diving into that art as well! The one time I did open my shell, I noticed a shield was covering all the business in the top part. Is that just a "unstick & restick" thing?
 
Yes, it's just a pressure fit insulator. There's plenty of good youtube vids on soldering - and that too is easy.
 
I replaced my shell two weeks ago. Your shell will come with a screw kit so you should have plenty if some get lost.

All the internals (except gps module) come across as one piece but there are lots of screws. First, the gps module is covered in a sticky mat that you will see has an internal layer of copper shield. You can gently pull it off and reuse it. I disconnected the compass cable and left the compass installed on landing gear. The screws holding gps are tiny and mine were very tight. You can't mess up orientation as the screw pattern only fits one way. Thats generally the case for most components.

On the lower shell I took many pics at each stage to assure I got everything back OK. You will see that each ESC is screwed thru the shell into the clear LED lens below. All the cabling is installed at minimum lengths so its hard to handle at some phases but it also means its hard not to get everything back where it belongs due to the cable length.

Under the main board is the RC receiver, battery power connector, and usb port. I think when I reassembled I had to install usb port, then battery connector, then RC receiver, then main board. On RC receiver pay attention to the clear round piece on bottom that touches hole in hull that allows a binding of the receiver to the ground controller. Also make sure the camera gimbal wire (3 prong connector) goes thru the battery compartment and is taped down so it doesn't interefere with battery insertion.

As to holes for mods at this point its up to you. The only mod I think would be upgraded external 5.8ghz antennas and you can splice those to the coax (current antennas) outside the shell.

I strongly suggest bright light. reading glasses (if needed) and top notch tools -- 1.5 and 2.0 hex and a variety of phillips screwdrivers, and of course tweezers and needle nose pliers.

Good luck and count on an hour or two.
 
mra1228 said:
I replaced my shell two weeks ago. Your shell will come with a screw kit so you should have plenty if some get lost.

All the internals (except gps module) come across as one piece but there are lots of screws. First, the gps module is covered in a sticky mat that you will see has an internal layer of copper shield. You can gently pull it off and reuse it. I disconnected the compass cable and left the compass installed on landing gear. The screws holding gps are tiny and mine were very tight. You can't mess up orientation as the screw pattern only fits one way. Thats generally the case for most components.

On the lower shell I took many pics at each stage to assure I got everything back OK. You will see that each ESC is screwed thru the shell into the clear LED lens below. All the cabling is installed at minimum lengths so its hard to handle at some phases but it also means its hard not to get everything back where it belongs due to the cable length.

Under the main board is the RC receiver, battery power connector, and usb port. I think when I reassembled I had to install usb port, then battery connector, then RC receiver, then main board. On RC receiver pay attention to the clear round piece on bottom that touches hole in hull that allows a binding of the receiver to the ground controller. Also make sure the camera gimbal wire (3 prong connector) goes thru the battery compartment and is taped down so it doesn't interefere with battery insertion.

As to holes for mods at this point its up to you. The only mod I think would be upgraded external 5.8ghz antennas and you can splice those to the coax (current antennas) outside the shell.

I strongly suggest bright light. reading glasses (if needed) and top notch tools -- 1.5 and 2.0 hex and a variety of phillips screwdrivers, and of course tweezers and needle nose pliers.

Good luck and count on an hour or two.

Thanks for the tips! I'm gonna take my time with it. Now that I'm thinking, might not be a bad idea to paint the thing while it's componentless!
 
Update on my progress with this...actually none. I secured a soldering set from a friend on my way home from work on Friday, found both packages waiting for me. Upon unboxing the shell, I immediately realized that I had received a Phantom shell thanks to the nice picture and descriptive words on the box. In a cold sweat I went and checked my order for that and the accompanying esc. and of course both were indeed for the Phantom and NOT the P2v that I own. So I immediately ordered the RIGHT components (note to self: resist the temptation to order parts for this craft after-bar).

Was actually a good thing because I had enough on my plate sans-Jimdenburg anyway. I will say that my re-order of the shell was through GONITRO on ebay. Ordered it on Fri eve and Received it from NY on Monday! Still waiting on the esc. and in-between have been watching soldering videos, ordered a 7th channel gimbal control, a new motor (just in case) and even some shades with bi-focals for flying & fishing--both of which I can do here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NNlvHc5ZIo

On Phantom Lake!
 
when I did mine after a crash. take loads of photos before you start you can all ways look at them to make sure your leads are in the right place. you just have to be very careful when taking the gps mat of
 
I'd recommend putting the screws in a separate compartment and labeling them.

There is a small clear piece of plastic that fits under the control RX to illuminate the RX led that will fall out as some point and you 'll wonder WTF is this. Now you know.
 
Thanks guys! I did see a YouTube video where they used one of those daily pill boxes for sorting/separating screws. Gonna pick one up too!
 
I have all way found is to keep the screws with the parts and set them out in order in which they came off. if you have got someone to help you can left the board and motors of in one and just place's it on top of the new shell that way you are not pulling on the wires and solder joints to much
 
I have a question about the P2V naked shell, how much does it weight?

Greetings!
 
jimdenburg said:
Update on my progress with this...actually none. I secured a soldering set from a friend on my way home from work on Friday, found both packages waiting for me. Upon unboxing the shell, I immediately realized that I had received a Phantom shell thanks to the nice picture and descriptive words on the box. In a cold sweat I went and checked my order for that and the accompanying esc. and of course both were indeed for the Phantom and NOT the P2v that I own. So I immediately ordered the RIGHT components (note to self: resist the temptation to order parts for this craft after-bar).

Was actually a good thing because I had enough on my plate sans-Jimdenburg anyway. I will say that my re-order of the shell was through GONITRO on ebay. Ordered it on Fri eve and Received it from NY on Monday! Still waiting on the esc. and in-between have been watching soldering videos, ordered a 7th channel gimbal control, a new motor (just in case) and even some shades with bi-focals for flying & fishing--both of which I can do here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NNlvHc5ZIo

On Phantom Lake!

The shell for the vision and non-vision is the same is it not?
 
FedeVision said:
jimdenburg said:
FedeVision said:
I have a question about the P2V naked shell, how much does it weight?

Greetings!
about 185g

Thank you!

"The shell for the vision and non-vision is the same is it not?"

As long as I have read and watched on you tube, there are some differences, like the battery compartment on P2V is bigger,
and the holes for the gimbal have different locations, read somewhere the upper half of the shell fits on both versions.

Hope this help.

Disagree, I received a P2V shell today to fix my P2 and the vision shell is exactly the same as the non vision one.
 
markab said:
Disagree, I received a P2V shell today to fix my P2 and the vision shell is exactly the same as the non vision one.

You are completely right, my mistake, I thought was P1 vs P2/P2V shell, erased my comment. :roll:
 

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