Motor warnings with few hours

Buk

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i have a P3 professional with somewhere around 20 hours of flight time. Today flying in 80 degree F temperature and humidity of 60%. Not too unusual for this time of year. I got two warnings: Warning - Motor Idling (Propeller Loose or Missing), Warning - Motor Obstructed.

I landed and everything checked okay. Motors were free and props tight. Finished that battery and during the second, same warnings. Third and fourth batteries, no warnings.

This P3 is well cared for, travels in a case and has never had any warnings in operating temperatures of 10 degrees F to 100 degrees F. Although used on construction sites a lot, I hand catch and launch from clean concrete when possible.

Isn't 20 hours early for motor failures?


Thanks.
 
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Reactions: jeronesi2k2002
Ah, that good ole' obstruction message!

Check that the props are properly attached, and there is no dirt in the motors and no hair around the prop shafts. Spin the props by hand and check for any strange noises or difficulty to turn the props. Fire up the drone, let it hover for a while and notice if there are any tendencies to drift. Land and turn off the motors and check if one of the motors seem excessively hot.

If all these tests pass, it's likely a false alarm. I have seen that message once or twice and have flown many hours and many miles since then. However if the message keeps returning, maybe one of the motors may actually be going.

// Tom
 
Thanks. In addition to those "tests", I put it in attitude mode to watch behavior. Responded to controls correctly and floated in the prevailing breeze as expected when sticks released.

I'll charge batteries and run some tests later this week and open the shell to see what's entailed for motor replacement, if those pesky warnings pop up again.
 
Thanks. In addition to those "tests", I put it in attitude mode to watch behavior. Responded to controls correctly and floated in the prevailing breeze as expected when sticks released.

I'll charge batteries and run some tests later this week and open the shell to see what's entailed for motor replacement, if those pesky warnings pop up again.

This message is issued when the controller finds a certain discrepancy in the speed of the motors - one is spinning with a speed outside the expected range interval (too fast: loose prop, too slow: obstructed, or jammed motor or possibly a bad power connection).

However, if you would truly have had a motor rotation speed issue, the message would have been followed by a nasty "thump" as the Phantom hit the ground. Since you could fly without any apparent issues, to me it more sounds like a temporary software glitch, a bug strike (causing some momentary additional strain) or a bad sensor.

The motors are actually pretty reliable creatures, if they look OK, they most likely are.

//Tom
 
I'm guessing now, but not having a method to directly monitor RPM, it's watching amp draw on motor power leads and an uncharacteristic increase relative to the quad's level position generates an error. ???

I haven't opened the shell or looked at a photo, but isn't everything soldered into or onto a single circuit board on the P3? Making ESC or motor replacement tricky?
 

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