LEDs not always lighting

[fly-catchers]

I noticed today that after the first boot up where all the front and rear LEDS briefly light- the front right LED does not come on when you start the motors. And sometimes the rear left LED does not carry on flashing either. If you pulse the motors they do tend to come on and stay on (at least in my short tests indoors on the ground) So that might explain why I have not noticed anything while flying in the field. However when I tested the craft without the props all LEDs lit!
Does this suggest at least one or two ESC going bad? Particularly as I have had one prop which has been erratic for a while prior to my flying last week (for the first time) And briefly erratic today when the prop was fitted. I guess with the props fitted there is more drag and pressure on the motor/ESC.

My soldering skills are non existent and I have been considering a P3. But this issue puts me off getting another craft as I had hoped to continue to use the P2 as a backup craft. Are the ESC more reliable on the P3 as I remember that there was a lot of discussion over the ESC on the V2 Phantom 2 with a later V2.1 ESC being released.

 

[N017RW]

While it is concerning, the intermittent LEDs do not necessarily indicate a problem with the flight related ESC components.

Next time you can get or notice them off try wiggling the arm to see if you restore them. It may be a simple loose connection or poor solder joint in that portion of the circuit board. The motor pulsing you mentioned would be similar to this in that connection is reestablished by virtue of this movement.

 

[fly-catchers]

While it is concerning, the intermittent LEDs do not necessarily indicate a problem with the flight related ESC components.

Next time you can get or notice them off try wiggling the arm to see if you restore them. It may be a simple loose connection or poor solder joint in that portion of the circuit board. The motor pulsing you mentioned would be similar to this in that connection is reestablished by virtue of this movement.

What does restore the LED at least to the front one is pulsing the motors so that motor works harder. The same applies to the sticky prop one. Though that one when the LED goes out produces the different tone and sometimes the prop briefly stops and recovers! For a short while both the two front LED's and one of the rear went out. As if the issue is getting worse. I am not alas one of DIY/soldering experts so don't often look under the hood! But will open the craft and see what the solder joints look like. I have had about 8 hours worth of flying since November 2014 as I am not a hard core flyer but do really enjoy this hobby!

Wriggling the arm might be dangerous as the props are fitted! If the motors are run without the props the LEDs seem to usually come on.

 

[N017RW]

Restore meant the LEDs come back on.

Well the extra details you have added would make me more concerned about flight worthiness.

These things are difficult enough to diagnose remotely let alone intermittently. Good news is the ESCs are discrete PCBs which can be replaced individually. I'm sure you must know someone who could solder if necessary???

 

[fly-catchers]

Yes restore meant the LEDs came back on. As they mainly seem to be off when it is idling means that while flying they might have appeared ok as they would be working harder? Alas the only person I know who has done any soldering is me!! But while I did a rather botch job on my original P1 when I wired up a gimbal I am less happy to trust my soldering skills to ESC's! So a return to the dealer by post might be the only option. Or just get myself a P3 which I had been considering anyway as I do like the software/Lightbridge options which would be difficult or impossible with my P2.