Phantom wont turn on

[Hughie]

I had been flying for around 15 mins on a fully charged battery (second flight)

I landed and stopped the motors. Then tried to restart them and found the Phantom was switched off.

When I do a test on the battery it shows 3 lights out of 4, also I got no low battery warning lights before landing.

Trying to turn the battery I get a very quick flash of the leds and a very short quiet beep.

Battery is stock and brand new and firmware was the latest (2.6 ?)

Any ideas ?

 

[sar104]

I had been flying for around 15 mins on a fully charged battery (second flight)

I landed and stopped the motors. Then tried to restart them and found the Phantom was switched off.

When I do a test on the battery it shows 3 lights out of 4, also I got no low battery warning lights before landing.

Trying to turn the battery I get a very quick flash of the leds and a very short quiet beep.

Battery is stock and brand new and firmware was the latest (2.6 ?)

Any ideas ?

Sounds like one or more bad ESCs. If you disconnect them one by one you should be able to identify which.

 

[SteveMann]

I had been flying for around 15 mins on a fully charged battery (second flight)
I landed and stopped the motors. Then tried to restart them and found the Phantom was switched off.
When I do a test on the battery it shows 3 lights out of 4, also I got no low battery warning lights before landing.
Trying to turn the battery I get a very quick flash of the leds and a very short quiet beep.
Battery is stock and brand new and firmware was the latest (2.6 ?)
Any ideas ?

Same battery? After 15 minutes of flight I would expect to see one to two greens on test, but my Phantom won't start either with a battery that had flown 15 minutes.

 

[Hughie]

Thanks for your replies.

I recharged the battery and tried again - this time the craft did turn on and play its tune, along with a big puff of smoke from one of the arms

Inspection reveals that an IC on one of the ESCs has overheated.

Does anyone know whether this type of fault normally takes the motor out too (I realise the motor actually took the ESC out, but you get my drift)

Also, does anyone know where I can source an ESC for a new Phantom 2 V2.0 ('WM 301 BLDC V2 V' (no V2 on white label though)) in the UK? Most suppliers dont seem to hold or have stock.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[4wd]

Without checking, RGeeks is a good bet.

 

[Hughie]

Thanks will check RCGeeks out.

One other thing. The phantom has a dead Esc, but turns on ok.

Should I be able to start the other three motors - because I cant. Do I have another problem apart from the Esc.

[Edit] Oops. The other 3 start fine if I refit the lid and plug in the GPS.

Thanks.

 

[hunch]

Let me know if you still need help.
You will need a new esc for sure and motors can be tested.

 

[Hughie]

What is the procedure for testing the motor.

Is it as simple as a resistance test between sets of wires, or is there an inductive/capacitive element to the motor which would make that hard to do ?

Thanks

 

[hunch]

there is a resistance test yes, but i want to be 100% sure so i always test them with a ESC i know it works.

 

[hunch]

you are correct, motors will NOT start unless GPS is functional and plugged in.

Thanks will check RCGeeks out.

One other thing. The phantom has a dead Esc, but turns on ok.

Should I be able to start the other three motors - because I cant. Do I have another problem apart from the Esc.

[Edit] Oops. The other 3 start fine if I refit the lid and plug in the GPS.

Thanks.

 

[Hughie]

there is a resistance test yes, but i want to be 100% sure so i always test them with a ESC i know it works.

Is this the only test you can do on a motor to check it out?

Are there any other modes of failure which do not show up just by connecting to a new ESC; especially if that arm has just had an impact.

 

[hunch]

use a multimeter and check for continuity between phases, you should have 0 or very close to 0 ohms resistance since there is very little wire.
Also check between phases and the motor casing, this should read infinite, no continuity.
If you have an open between the motor leads then you have a bad motor,
if you have continuity between a motor lead and the motor can then you have a shorted wire which means a bad motor.

 

[Hughie]

Hunch, thanks.

Not that it makes a jot of difference to the tests and conclusions drawn on their results, but do you know if these motors wired as Y or Delta ?

ESCs arriving Tuesday so Iron and Meter will be dusted off.

 

[Hughie]

Just as a follow up...

A new ESC arrived.

I tested the motor with a meter - this is important to do this before trying it with the new ESC. In the unlikely and unfortunate event that the motor is permanently damaged, connecting to a new ESC may burn that one out as well.

As guided by hunch (below) I made the six continuity tests (each phase for continuity (~ 0.1R) and each lead to the case for open circuit.) and all were fine so the motor was OK.

The new board took about 10 minutes to fit and all appears fine now - test flight to confirm tomorrow.