Phantom 4 Shell and Forward Sensor Replacement... because I messed up

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Hi all,

So, I'm a total newbie here and I had to join for a rather unfortunate reason. While doing some filming today with a few cars I made a rookie mistake, and crashed my P4 after making contact with some leaves on a tree branch. Got too focused on what was happening on screen and backed the drone very gently into the leaves, causing it to instantly drop. As far as crashes go, it was almost a best-case scenario - the UAV dropped from about 3 meters up, was cushioned by the tree branches slightly, and crashed into grass (about 2 feet away from pavement).

Nobody was hurt, no cars were damaged, but my pride and my drone are both hurting a little. The forward left arm of the UAV has been bent slightly and buckled, but the UAV still flies fine and appears stable. Aside from the arm, the forward sensors seem to be damaged, or knocked out of place, and are producing an error message. My thoughts are that both the shell, and likely the sensors need to be replaced. While it appears okay after a test flight, I don't like the thought of flying with anything compromised.

I've done some searching on the forums here and elsewhere online, but can't seem to find any real instructions on shell replacement for the P4. (I guess not enough experienced repairmen have crashed them yet?). The other problem I'm running into is that I can't seem to find replacement forward sensors. All that said, I have two questions I was hoping someone might be able to help me out with, and point me in the right direction.

1. Are there any instructions anyone has found for a P4 shell replacement? Found this video which shows the disassembly, but it really isn't very detailed.
2. Has anyone on here attempted this repair themselves?
3. Can replacement forward sensors be found anywhere? Or am I SOL/need to replace the entire UAV to get these working again?

Thanks in advance for any and all help. Feeling really dumb, but I suppose this is one way to learn. I'm just really, really glad that nobody was hurt and nothing else was damaged.

-Theron
 
It's very easy. Once you take the main shell off the main assembly comes out in once piece. Your gonna need a soldering iron for the motors unless you cut and re splice.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
It's very easy. Once you take the main shell off the main assembly comes out in once piece. Your gonna need a soldering iron for the motors unless you cut and re splice.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I have a friend who has the shell ordered for his P4 . I recommended he do what you are talking about ....cut wires probably about middle ways from board they solder , and the motors. Solder together and use some god shrink wrap and all should work out well . He is a little afraid about soldering to the board itself , sense he don't do a lot of that type of work. I know there are many here who would not hesitate to desolder and desolder to one of the control boards , but sense he does not do much soldering , the safe route is best for him IMO.
 
I to am in a pickle as well . Mine got stuck in a tree for almost a week . Eventually was able to recover it, but it's damaged for to a 40-50ft fall. Landing gear jacked and couple of the inserts are out . New she'll is needed. I was thinking of splicing connectors for the motors so I can swap anytime and even upgrade the motors if possible . I am looking for new front sensors since I am leaving them and could have avoided the crash . Any ideas?
 

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