ESC Status error

[pounder35]

I paid shipping. I didn't think to ask if they would. I sent USPS Priority Mail and insured for $700. That cost me over 40 bucks. I only sent the bird and controller. They told me to make sure I took out my SD card and NOT to send a battery with it.

 

[mpshev]

I paid shipping. I didn't think to ask if they would. I sent USPS Priority Mail and insured for $700. That cost me over 40 bucks. I only sent the bird and controller. They told me to make sure I took out my SD card and NOT to send a battery with it.

Ok I don't have problem with the shipping. What do you think the issue is? Are you getting new one or repaired?

 

[mpshev]

Ok I don't have problem with the shipping. What do you think the issue is? Are you getting new one or repaired?

So I call them?

 

[buford]

I have heard nothing bad about DJI Support LATELY.

That's probably because if most everybody feels like I do, they don't even consider dji support. I figure I was on my own from day one, pay for it myself, fix it myself.

 

[pounder35]

I assume it'll be repaired. It most likely is the ESC board. Probably a simple repair. It's now one board for all four motors. I replaced one in my P2V which used a separate board for each motor. I also replaced two motors and the lower shell. I crashed the P2V and it landed upside down. I signaled to kill the motors but apparently that failed. By the time I got to it two motors had overheated and melted the plastic motor mounts in the shell. So far I haven't had any problems flying the P3A. I consider the P2V to be my trainer. It went through some rough times.

 

[pounder35]

So I call them?

I would call first. I can't find the **** number right now. I also printed my address label and attached one to the aircraft and one to the controller.

 

[pounder35]

That's probably because if most everybody feels like I do, they don't even consider dji support. I figure I was on my own from day one, pay for it myself, fix it myself.

I could do the repair myself but what if I misdiagnosed the problem? Then I've wasted money on parts. Plus it's under warranty. I'll take my chances and let DJI deal with it this time.

 

[buford]

I'm just saying how I look at it. I had big problems when the thing arrived back in sept of last year. Had no firmware loaded on it. I struggled for two weeks just trying to get the motors to spin. YT is my service dept now. Dji was no help at all. Pitiful.

 

[mpshev]

I would call first. I can't find the **** number right now. I also printed my address label and attached one to the aircraft and one to the controller.

Ok thanks. It's a shame that a brand new bird has a bad board

 

[gringorio]

I spent hours and hours researching and trying different things before I gave up and called tech support.

It is interesting that these ESC errors are occurring on birds that have had no prior symptoms, or crashes. An ESC is a solid state component and should either work, or not. If it works, it should work for quite some time. I'm beginning to wonder if there is some firmware glitch that occurs at a very specific set of circumstances and they have not yet figured out what those circumstances are.

When I had my ESC failure I had 11 perfect flights. Loving life. No crashes, no problems. and then a failure. With my limited understanding or what's going on, this should not happen.

Thinking back on the conversation with DJI tech support, I was informed "Oh, an ESC error, we're definitely going to need to see your phantom." Almost like they were anxious to see it. Wondering how many ESC errors (on perfectly functioning birds) prior to the latest batch of firmware.

This is an interesting thread... I've had about 90 flights on my P3P, always hand caught and no crashes. Yesterday I flew three times in the morning, once in the afternoon, all great flights, then in the evening I went to fly and zap! "ESC Error" I've tried everything to resolve it too. I guess I'll have to send it back for repair. So sad ...

 

[pounder35]

My repair ticket said the main board was replaced. I'm thinking the ESC board is a separate board but of course they have to communicate with each other. I'll post a copy of my repair ticket. Thankfully the failure occurred between flights. I'm afraid to know what would happen if the board(s) failed during a flight. When my problem occurred I had one successful flight mostly over water then landed to check my video and tried to take off again. That's when I got the ESC error message and the motors wouldn't start. I had swapped batteries but I really don't think that would make any difference. As far as being solid state devices they are very reliable but can and do fail. I spent 20+ years in camera repair and though most of work was mechanical in nature in the early years when the revolution occurred and things went more digital IC's and solid state boards would go bad.

 

[Okwaho]

My repair ticket said the main board was replaced. I'm thinking the ESC board is a separate board but of course they have to communicate with each other. I'll post a copy of my repair ticket. Thankfully the failure occurred between flights. I'm afraid to know what would happen if the board(s) failed during a flight. When my problem occurred I had one successful flight mostly over water then landed to check my video and tried to take off again. That's when I got the ESC error message and the motors wouldn't start. I had swapped batteries but I really don't think that would make any difference. As far as being solid state devices they are very reliable but can and do fail. I spent 20+ years in camera repair and though most of work was mechanical in nature in the early years when the revolution occurred and things went more digital IC's and solid state boards would go bad.

The ESCs are built into the main board on the P3, unlike the P2 which had the ESCs separately in the arm.

 

[varangian]

Hundreds of flights with my FC40, some crashes, but always ready to fly. Now I drive a hour to begin a day of shooting several locals and at the first site I get the esc error. The p3p has great qualities but the many problems that come up at time makes me wish I'd gone with a different company. Maybe next time.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[NorthGAP3Pilot]

It's frustrating, I know. I just had to send mine back for warranty repair (DJI paid shipping) because the SD card slot broke. The card will no longer seat in the slot; it pops back out when you push it in.

The one good thing in all of this is that competition is heating up. That can only be good for us as consumers. The upcoming Typhoon Hex, Autel X-Star, and new offerings from 3DR should put major pressure on DJI to elevate quality standards.

 

[AngelPilot4u]

In case your bird is out of warranty ESC errors can be fixed, boards can be repaired, cek us out jogjasky.com

 

[varangian]

This is a follow up to my escape error problem. In another thread I had posted that my P3P had hit a small branch, dropped five feet to the ground, and refused to shut down even after repeated CSC commands. The aftermath was a slightly warped arm on the quad from the extreme heat that was generated. I opened it up and found no evidence of heat related damage other than the aforementioned plastic case, which I warmed up and straightened. I flew it a couple more weeks before the out of the blue "escape error".
Sorry for the preamble, but it probably figures in to the response from the DJI repair center. I contacted the repair center by email and they sent me a prepaid return label. I sent the quad in and received a repair notice no later than the day after they received it. It was for one motor and and the upper and lower case. I contacted them to make sure that the repair was addressing the escape error and they assured me everything would be checked before returning it. It was shipped the next day and as of this morning I've put three packs through it with no problems.
So, although the quad had been flying fine after the crash, was the motor internally damaged enough to eventually cause an escape error message? Even so, that doesn't explain why those of you who haven't suffered any damage would be getting this message for no reason.
BTW, the whole down time was less than two weeks,
about eight of those days it was in transit. They paid for the shipping, and my total was $94.00, of which $65.00 is their flat labor charge.