First crash in 3 years....Replace unit or repair?

[Nicoloks]

About 2 weeks ago I got the Sunday morning off from family duties to go flying my P3 Pro for the first time in several months. Absolute treat until I had some sort of brain fade where on returning home I flew my P3 into a tree rather than away from it.

This has never happened to me before in 3yrs of flying quads. I have never flown in headless mode, so have always been used to inverse controls on return legs. Damage included two snapped rotors, battery broke free of its compartment and the shell has a broken leg as well as multiple cracks on two arms.

The shell will need to be replaced, which is fine. I have a spare for this sort of rainy day. What concerns me is that after powering back on I was able to connect, however the IMU was reporting as in need of calibration. I tried calibrating for a good 1~2hrs, and the process would not complete.

Is there anything else I can do here to confirm what damage might have been done to my P3 systems?

If worst comes to worst and I need to purchase a new P3 Pro unit. Is there anything I need to do to link the new quad to my existing controller?

 

[Droneted]

Pop the top off and check the connections. You may find one off or worse yet broken. If the main board has broken connectors I would be looking for a good used one to replace it. How bad is the camera? can u upload photos.?
Linking your controller to a new AC is pretty easy. When you are about to do that we will help you.

 

[alokbhargava]

I suggest you to take two projects:
1. Plan to buy a new drone
2. Repair your broken drone

You are such a safe flier, I'm sure you will enjoy looking for another model. You will also enjoy and experience re-building a broken piece.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots

 

[flyNfrank]

It does sound like a connection issue of some kind. Btw, are you using a different battery to attempt the IMU calibration, or the one from the crash?

 

[RJ_Make]

3 Years? That's great.. I flew mine PS3 into a tree in about ~3 months.. , and I consider myself a safe pilot..

 

[Nicoloks]

Thanks all. I'll open it up over the weekend and see what I can find. Even before this I had been thinking about a second quad. Looked at the P4, however I have invested so much in the P3 platform with extra batteries, lens filters and a hard case backpack I think I might just get another P3 Pro. Good to know it is not a onerous task to get a new drone hooked up to my controller.

For a new PR Pro with no controller, battery or charger, I believe the DJI P/N I want is CP.PT.000322 ? I see B&H have these, but have a 6~10 week eta from ordering. Anywhere else more likely to have these in stock?

 

[WetDog]

Thanks all. I'll open it up over the weekend and see what I can find. Even before this I had been thinking about a second quad. Looked at the P4, however I have invested so much in the P3 platform with extra batteries, lens filters and a hard case backpack I think I might just get another P3 Pro. Good to know it is not a onerous task to get a new drone hooked up to my controller.

For a new PR Pro with no controller, battery or charger, I believe the DJI P/N I want is CP.PT.000322 ? I see B&H have these, but have a 6~10 week eta from ordering. Anywhere else more likely to have these in stock?

You can buy aircraft only from DJI but you lose quite a bit of buyer / warranty protection compared with B&H or Amazon. You can often find used P3s at a decent price. But ... the price for just an AC is $800. For $1000 (B&H price) you get another battery (always useful) and a 'backup' RC that you can sell or mod with a different antenna, Might be worth the extra few dollars.

 

[Nicoloks]

Not a bad suggestion when you put it like that. What are DJI's delivery times like these days? When I first purchased my P3 Pro I was advised to steer clear of them.

 

[WetDog]

Not a bad suggestion when you put it like that. What are DJI's delivery times like these days? When I first purchased my P3 Pro I was advised to steer clear of them.

I would steer clear of them simply because of their return policies. Every other dealer has them beat hands down. Read the fine print in the returns. It's not terribly friendly.

 

[Nicoloks]

Well, I ended up ordering another Phantom 3 Pro while I decide what to do with my current unit. When you factor in the controller, charger and battery the sums just didn't add up going down the drone only route. I plan on selling these off to subsidize the cost of the additional unit, not too fussed if I don't though.